York City Supporters Trust claim they had to step in to pay wages for second month running

The trust has alleged York's chairman and majority shareholder, "Glen Henderson was unwilling to provide any funds to pay staff and had openly told club colleagues this was the case yesterday (Thursday)."

The group, which owns 49 per cent of the club whilst Henderson holds the rest, claims it has had to provide £145,000 towards the club’s payroll in the last two months.

In July, Henderson – a Hartlepool-born businessman raised in South Africa, where he played semi-professional football – bought previous chairman Jason McGill's £350,000 shareholding in conjunction with the trust.

Henderson had been in contact with the trust about a potential takeover since 2018.

Formed in 2002, the trust raised £600,0000 to buy the club from administrators the following year. It sold a 75 per cent stake to McGill in 2006 when it was clear they could not manage York's debts. However, the relationship between McGill and the trust broke down to the extent that it voted a motion of no confidence in the owner.

The difficulty in finding a new owner meant McGill stayed in charge until last summer, overseeing the club's move from its historic Bootham Crescent home to a new Community Stadium in February 2021.

The club won promotion to the Conference in McGill's final match in charge after five seasons in English football's sixth tier – the only time it has played at that level.

But relations between Henderson and the manager behind that quickly soured, and John Askey was sacked in November. His replacement, David Webb, was dismissed in February. On Thursday it was confirmed his interim successor, Michael Morton, will take the team for the remainder of the season as York battle to avoid relegation.

In February Henderson confirmed he was putting his stakeholding up for sale, and looking to find a buyer by April 4, a deadline the trust say "is now looking increasingly unlikely" to be met.

"The trust have twice agreed legal contracts with parties only for them to subsequently withdraw at the 11th hour for various reasons," it claimed, adding it was taking legal advice.

The trust has therefore asked Henderson to extend his deadline by "three to four weeks" to allow interested parties to do due diligence.

When approached by The Yorkshire Post, York City said they were unable to comment.