York City v Oxford United: York's grounds for final glory

Blue square play-off final: YORK CITY head into the biggest match in their history tomorrow hoping to increase the pressure on the local council to deliver a community stadium for the city.

The Minstermen meet Oxford United at Wembley in the Blue Square Premier play-off final with the chance to end their six-year exile in non-league football.

Financially, victory would be worth an estimated 750,000 through increased central funding and sponsorship from the Football League, gate receipts and television revenue.

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A return to the League would also raise the profile of the club, and chairman Jason McGill believes victory would give the club extra impetus in their attempt to persuade York Council to build a 6,000-seater community stadium for the city's sporting teams.

McGill has been lobbying since his arrival six years ago for a move from Bootham Crescent which has stood for nearly eight decades, and on the eve of their Wembley date he said: "Promotion to the Football League would strengthen our case for a new sports stadium for the city of York.

"York already has a racecourse that is regarded as the 'Ascot of the North'. We should also have a stadium that reflects the size of the city.

"Our ground was built in 1932 and requires refurbishment, plus the club does not benefit from an income-generating facility.

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"The council are due to consider proposals on various sites in July and promotion would give us the push we need.

"We would be looking at a stadium with a capacity of 6,000 to begin with, with the option to expand if needed.

"It wouldn't just be a stadium for York City, but also for the York City Knights, and it would have an athletics facility as well as something for amateur sports.

"We own Bootham Crescent, that is our asset, and we want to contribute financially, but we really need York Council to propel this forward.

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"The interest in this game shows the people of York care about football and they want to see a successful club representing the city."

York enjoyed Football League status for 75 years prior to relegation and McGill, who became chairman at the start of their first season out of the League in 2004, said: "This is an enormous game for the club because of the huge divide between the two divisions.

"Promotion helps the club financially and gives us a stable footing. The income we can generate in the Football League is significantly greater than in the Blue Square Premier.

"For instance, in terms of the youth set-up, promotion to League Two would unlock 180,000 in funding from the Football League just for the youth team.

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"Our youth team finished second in their league this season, against funded outfits like Lincoln City, so that would make a massive difference to us and would be a significant boost.

"And there's the whole aspect of civic pride that promotion would bring to the city. It would put us back on the map."

Three teams recently promoted from the Blue Square Premier –- Aldershot Town, Morecambe and Dagenham & Redbridge – will contest the League Two play-off semi-finals this weekend, which gives McGill further hope that defeating Oxford could be just part of an upward journey.

"You can see from the League Two play-offs what opportunities finally getting out of the Conference can present you," said McGill. "In the Blue Square Premier, there are 10 teams who could compete in League Two.

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"There is not that great a difference between the standard of teams, it's the funding that is completely different. This is our best chance since relegation to return to the Football League and we have to grab it."

Martin Foyle's team will be followed to Wembley by more than 10,000 fans who, a year ago, could not have foreseen such a transformation in fortunes.

York only avoided relegation in the final week of last season, and McGill said: "The turnaround under Martin and Andy Porter (assistant) has been tremendous and we are delighted to be in the play-off final.

"The performance of the team in both legs of the semi-final against Luton was brilliant.

"Oxford are a big club with a long history, similar to York City. We are not the favourites, neither were we against Luton, but we have a great chance."