Happy to bear burden of York’s feelgood factor

The Minstermen, beaten League Two play-off semi-finalists last season, will kick-off the new campaign at Tranmere Rovers this weekend amid high hopes of a concerted push for promotion.

With that in mind, the City board have handed manager Nigel Worthington an increased football budget for what will be the club’s penultimate season at Bootham Crescent.

York’s new community stadium is, the local Council insisted last week, still on track to open in July, 2016, at Monks Cross and McGill admits that day will be a huge one for the club.

“The stadium is always there in the mind and it will be good news for York City,” McGill informed The Yorkshire Post. “We are in a stadium that was built in 1932 and offers very few commercial opportunities, other than on a match-day.

“Clubs need to maximise all revenues and a stadium that could be used seven days per week would help us massively. Monks Cross is a really exciting development with John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and several restaurants.

“We would be looking at providing something a bit different in terms of food, something with more of a Yorkshire – or maybe even North Yorkshire – feel than the national chains provide.

“In terms of what it could do for the club in terms of revenue, I would anticipate it hopefully helping us break even, which at this level is probably the best a club could expect. That isn’t possible at the moment in a stadium like ours.

“We lose money – in the coming season, I would expect that to be about £300,000, while last season it was around £250,000 – and the club has to be funded by the parent company (JM Packaging). That is how things are and, as a club and board, we are comfortable with that.”

York’s last published accounts – for the year ending June 30, 2013 – showed that the club lost £271,000. As with the deficit for 2013-14 and the projected loss for the coming campaign, these will be covered by McGill’s Malton-based company, JM Packaging.

On the pitch, the Minstermen are in rude health with Worthington having been busy in the transfer market since being appointed in March, 2013.

McGill said: “We have increased the budget this year but have a smaller squad. We have also gone for experience, both in terms of the Football League and being part of promotion-winning sides.

“That comes with a premium, hence why the budget has gone up. But we are more than happy to pay that because we want to kick on as a club.

“We were so close last season and we have a manager in Nigel Worthington, who is an absolute pleasure to deal with.

“Nigel understands what we are working with and how we are trying to do things. He knows how difficult it can be for a club like York City but he also understands what is needed for a club like ours to prosper.

“I just feel the time is right. I wouldn’t say we are quite at a crossroads but we have a manager in Nigel who can help us push on.

“Over the past two seasons, we have maintained our Football League position and I thought the time had come to improve not only the squad but also the infrastructure of York City.

“We have employed new staff and improved the facilities at the training ground, with new buildings, a viewing room and, for the first time, irrigation. I’d say we have spent around £100,000 since January on the infrastructure and that is money Nigel also feels is wisely spent.

“It represents a significant investment on behalf of me and the family but we have done it because we feel the club is moving in the right direction. There will certainly never be a return to the boom and bust of the past.

“As for Nigel, he knows the value of investing in the infrastructure and also looking after it. Nigel has been a breath of fresh air and I firmly believe he can take us to the next stage.”

Whether that proves to be the case remains to be seen. But the portents are good with the surge in form that brought just two defeats in 23 games from January onwards having carried over into pre-season, when performances have been encouraging.

McGill added: “As a club – and bearing in mind where we have been – we are enjoying something of a halcyon time.

“Over the last five years, I would like to believe there has been a steady progression to get where we are now

“The feelgood factor is back. There is not only anticipation about what York City can achieve but also expectation after what happened last season and how close we were.

“Our goal is to meet that expectation head-on.”