York City complete £7m sale of Bootham Crescent to Persimmon Homes Ltd

The club state that the sale has allowed the Minstermen to pay off both the Football Stadia Improvement Fund and the City Council who had assisted by the provision of historical funding to allow the club to contribute significantly to the cost of the building the new LNER Community Stadium.

The balance after payment of project related costs has been used to pay off a capped element of the capital invested by JM Packaging Ltd. All interest accrued on that capital as well as part of the capital itself being written off by JMP.

A club statement continued: "JMP have entered into a funding agreement to ensure generous funds will be made available to the club for the remainder of the season.

"JMP are prepared to provide further funding beyond this date if so required and if agreed with the Supporters’ Trust.

"The club has entered into a written protocol with the Supporters’ Trust to ensure that they work more closely together in the future. These parties have also put in place a streamlined procedure which could be utilised should any third-party who is interested in moving the club forward table a suitable offer.

"Such an offer would only be accepted if both the club board and Supporters Trust agree that it is in the best long-term interest of the club."

Scott Waters, managing director of Persimmon Homes Yorkshire said: "We’re delighted to have completed the purchase of a place with such a long and rich cultural heritage.

"We’d like to thank the football club and City of York Council for working with us over the years to help make the sale as smooth as possible and enable the football club to make the successful transition to the new community stadium.

"The preservation of the ground’s history is absolutely central to our redevelopment plans to provide a fitting and lasting legacy that fans, residents and the wider public can enjoy.

"As the new custodians of the site, preserving its heritage in a way that the community can be proud is of vital importance and we are excited to start work on bringing these plans to life.

"Both the club and fans have played an important role in helping finalise these exciting legacy plans and we will be providing updates on these in the coming months.”