When York City Football Club was formed in 1922, eight acres of land were purchased for £2,000 in Heslington Lane, Fulfordgate. This was in the south-east of the city, away from the centre and not far from where the university is now situated.

It was very much a rural setting and the land was known as Gate Fulford. Hawthorn hedges formed its boundaries and it was very well drained. There were no turnstiles as we know them today, only gates. The name was reversed to be called Fulfordgate. At first there were no covered stands. The dressing rooms consisted of an old army hut. Later, open stands were bought from York racecourse.

The first match played at the ground was on Wednesday, 20 September 1922, against Mansfield Town. The game went ahead only after the necessary requisite deposit, which amounted to £180, was paid. This cash, courtesy of one of the directors, Mr. John Fisher, was produced literally at the last minute.

Gradually, the ground was built up and improved and, within a couple of years, covered accommodation was available. In the letter of application for admission to the Football League in 1927, York City were able to say that the ground was 'splendidly drained, well-equipped, spacious and capable of being extended to hold up to 40,000 spectators'.

Considerable improvements were made that year. New turnstiles were fitted and stronger fencing was built around the pitch. It was reported that when that fencing was completed, it would be much more difficult for a spectator to surmount it and go on the pitch - an important feature from the referee's view. Behind one of the goals, nine-tier terracing replaced the old banking. The covered 'popular' stand was extended and could now house 1,000. There was also by now a small seated stand.

Before City were elected to the Football League, the biggest crowed housed at the ground was 8,318 (receipts £366) to see the English Schools' Trophy semi-final between York Boys and Brighton Boys on 12 May 1928. In the York team were Reg Stockill and Dave Halford, both of whom went on to have distinguished football careers. By the time of the election to the League the following year, it was estimated that Fulfordgate could accommodate 17,000.

The ground was to stage two big FA Cup third-round replay matches. In January 1930, for the visit of Newcastle United, 12,583 congregated, paying receipts of £900 5s 3d. The following year, Fulfordgate records were set when 12,721, paying £1,058 16s, was Sheffield United provide the opposition. In November 1931, an Amateur international between England and Ireland was played at the ground.

Towards the end of the third season in the Football League, concern was expressed at York City's poor support. One of the directors, Mr. G.W. Halliday, was convinced that the only solution was a change of ground. A major problem about Fulfordgate was the relative inaccessibility of the place. It was a good distance from the railway station and the team service to Fulford had only a single track. The loop system for tram cars passing one another also restricted the service. The bus routes had not been fully developed and, with general car ownership still a long way in the future, Fulfordgate, without doubt, was not an easy ground for the majority of supporters to reach.

Early in 1932, a ground which was geographically ideally situated near the centre of the city became vacant. For a number of years York Cricket Club had played at Bootham Crescent, but they had decided to move to new headquarters at Wigginton Road, which is now the site of York & District Hospital. Yorkshire Gentlemen's Cricket Club had previously played at Wigginton Road, but they in turn had transferred to Escrick Park. Cricket had been played at Bootham Crescent for many years. In June 1890, Yorkshire beat Kent by eight wickets on this ground in what remains the only County Championship match played in York.

After preliminary discussions and visits to the Bootham ground, the directors were unanimous of the opinion that a change should be made and a special meeting of the shareholders was held at St George's Hall, Castlegate, on 26 April 1932 to consider and approve the intended move.

At the meeting the Chairman, Mr. Arthur Brown, drew attention to the 'gate' receipts figures in the three seasons of League football at Fulfordgate, (1929-30 £261; 1930-31 £183; and in 1931-2, when the club were near the top of the table for the first half of the campaign, £198).

This represented average League crowds of approximately 4,000 and at the end of the day a deficit on the balance sheet. The board felt that the class of football had been good enough but the distance to Fulfordgate from the main parts of the city, coupled with the inadequate transport services, had a serious effect on attendances especially in bad weather and in winter when early kick-offs were the order of the day to complete matches in daylight. In those days, many men still worked a five and a half day working week, not finishing their shift until 1 o'clock on Saturday.

Mr. Halliday pointed out that in a one-mile radius of Bootham Crescent the population was 30,000, whereas for a similar radius at Fulfordgate it was only 3,000. On the question of ownership against tenancy, Mr. Brown stated that Fulfordgate was mortgaged as far as possible and the present mortgage, bank interest and overdraft would exceed the rent and rates at Bootham Crescent by £40 per annum.

The directors were satisfied that the new ground would fulfil all requirements. There were no restrictions as to banking, terracing and the erection of stands and the property of the shareholders would be fully protected if the lease, which was for 21 years, expired.

The oldest stand at Fulfordgate needed replacing and it was pointed out that the club could put up a structure three times the size on the new ground. New dressing-rooms were also required at Fulfordgate.

There was some opposition to the move. A former director, Mr. J. Fisher, who had proved a benefactor back in 1922, said that during the club's ten years existence, it had built a playing history and a ground second to none in such a short time. He pointed out that it had been a bad time for football clubs generally with regard to crowds and that good times would come again to Fulfordgate. He condemned the proposal as a bad policy when it involved renting a ground instead of owning it. The Fulfordgate pitch had an excellent playing surface, whilst the new ground was on land subject to severe flooding. There was also a danger of Bootham Crescent being more heavily-rated once it got valuable equipment on it. Another former director, Councillor W.H. Shaw, also opposed the scheme and expressed doubts regarding the approaches and, looking ahead to the future, car parking limitations at the new ground.

After much discussion, the matter was put to the vote and by a majority of over three to one (115 for, 37 against) the shareholders approved the move to take on lease the Bootham Crescent ground. The Fulfordgate site was subsequently sold and developed as a building estate. There is nothing now to indicate it as the site of the birth of modern football in York in 1922.

The summer of 1932 saw a period of feverish activity as the new ground was equipped. The area was first drained and then built to the design of Messers Ward & Leckenby, architects of York. Two stands were erected - the Main (members') Stand the Popular Stand.

Within four months the new ground was built in readiness for the 1932-3 season. Legend has it that The Yorkshire Brewery provided funds to build the social club and that they dismantled the cricket pavillion and re-assembled it in their yard.

The Supporters Club undertook the responsibility for defraying the cost of The Popular Stand. There were deep pockets and willing hands, many supporters gave penny and threepenny coins to the cause. Throughout the club's history, The Supporters Club and the supporters in general have played a part in the building and maintenance on Bootham Crescent. In 1932, they removed many railway sleepers from Fulfordgate and manhandled them across the city to help build the new ground. They humped barrowloads of hard core and soil into place to build the incline for The Popular Stand. The Popular Stand was topped out with a plaque noting the efforts of the supporters in building and maintaining the stand and it remained in place until the plaque fell into disrepair in the 1970s.

For many years, the ground remained largely unaltered. In 1948, City purchased the ground and the late 1950s saw a period of change at the gorund. The Main Stand was extended and floodlights erected.

I remember when I started supporting City in the late 1960s, the club shop was a small wooden programme shop at the Bootham Crecsent end, near where the gymnasium was later built. It wasn't until the 1970s that the first club shop appeared on its current site.

In more recent years, further work has occurred. Spurred on by promotion in 1984, various Main Stand improvements were made. Even latter, during the 1992/3 season, the Family Stand and original Family Room beneath The Main Stand were opened. The Enclosure disappeared with The Main Stand being extended with extra seats down to ground level and the canopy of the roof also widened and re-angled to provide more protection against rain.

In August 1991, The David Longhurst Stand which can be traced back to a supporters initiative to provide covered terrace for the loyal City supporters was opened.

For many years, supporters regularly helped to renew the ground every summer, in the 1960s sometimes alongside the players. The work often involved painting, replacing sections of the corrugated iron roof and repairing the wooden fence around the pitch and was often rewarded with a season ticket.

In 2005, Bily McEwan revived the concept of supporter ground aid as he lead supporters in giving the ground a thorough cleaning as Billy's new brush went through the ground and club, although strong cleaning materials and much elbow grease were required to bring the showers and changing rooms up to the high standards that Billy required.

With the Craig episode behind us, we are now actively seeking a new ground. Some claim Bootham Crescent to be land locked with no room for expansion and with little scope for any non match day revenue raising activities.

Having been sold to Persimmon Homes in the Craig era, The York City Supporters Trust bought back Bootham Crescent. One of the conditions being that the club moves to a new ground. Currently we're paying around £100,000 in interest to service the debt.

It was this amount that Nestle paid City in March 2005 to rename Bootham Crescent as Kit Kat Crescent. The same sum was paid annually each year over the length of the 5 year deal. In January 2010, the ground reverted to its traditional Bootham Crescent name.

Our home for over 70 years is likely to become York's latest buy to let bonanza within the next decade. As well as football, it has hosted rugby league, American football and the one county cricket match in 1890. A rock n roll revival concert in the early 70s proved a short lived diversion into the search for alternative income streams, though various bands have played The Social Club over the years.

Can we expect to see a John Woodward Way (probably a dead end), A Michael Owen playgound (to commemorate his hat trick for England Boys on our ground) and a Keith Walwyn Parade (for key workers).

Hopefully, the new ground will provide us with income streams for 365 days a year. Some smaller clubs use their ground for much more than just matches. Steve Beck has previously used the example of Macclesfield who own their own banqueting suite and host a EC sponsored computer training lab which generates £500,000 a year.

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