Stadium funding fears are allayed

A report due to go before York Council this month claims regional and national funding for the stadium – which would be shared by York City football club and York Knight's rugby league team and could cost as much as 32m – is available.

But it warns the point when the money would be released did not currently tally with the scheme's expected development.

A viable plan for the stadium is due to be in place by 2012, and the report warns failure to do this would "seriously jeopardise" York City's future.

Councillor Steve Galloway, the Council's executive member of city strategy, admitted yesterday that progress in attracting funding, particularly from the commercial sector, has been slow.

But he said he was confident about the future of the stadium.

"We recognise it is a challenging scheme which requires a lot of different partners to come together. But we remain committed to the construction of a community stadium.

"In the context of the recession I am worried about the scheme, but I am worried about a whole other range of projects in the city as well.

"When we come out of the downturn how quickly investor confidence returns remains to be seen.

"What we need to do is make sure we have a crystal clear project which will attract money."

The report, which is due before the Council's executive next Tuesday, will also provide an update on the search for a site.

It has claimed that the current homes of the two clubs, Bootham Crescent or Huntington Stadium, are far from ideal, but York has few sites large enough to house all the stadium's potential community facilities.