Bootham Crescent - History

History

York City F.C.'s original stadium Fulfordgate had been relatively inaccessible, with the tram service only having a single track to the ground. This resulted in concerns about the poor support being raised, and so director G. W. Halliday became convinced that the only solution was to move to a new ground. Bootham Crescent had been used by York Cricket Club for a number of years, but they decided to move to a new headquarters at Wigginton Road, so York City held a meeting on moving to the ground following preliminary discussions and visits. The move was eventually voted on; shareholders approved the decision to take Bootham Crescent on lease by 115 votes to 37. The ground was renovated to make it suitable for football, which saw the Main Stand and Popular Stands erected. The ground was officially opened on 31 August 1932, when York played Stockport County in a Third Division North game, with the club president, Sir John Hunt, marking the occasion by cutting a ribbon of the clubs' colours of chocolate and cream.

The first match against a First Division team to be staged at the ground was when Derby County played York in an FA Cup third round match, which set a club record attendance of 13,612. During the Second World War, the Popular Stand was used as an air-raid shelter for pupils and staff of the Shipton Street School. The ground was slightly damaged during the war, after a bomb landed on the houses at the Shipton Street End during the air raid on York in April 1942. Considerable improvements were made to the ground in the immediate post-war period, with deeper drainage, concreted banking at the Bootham Crescent Stand and the installation of loudspeaking equipment being put in place. It was announced at the shareholder's meeting in September 1948 that York City had purchased Bootham Crescent, after previously being on a lease to the club since 1932.

Concreting of the terracing in the Popular Stand and Shipton Street End was completed by the late 1940s and early 1950s, due to the efforts of the Supporters' Club. During the 1954–55 season, York reached the semi-final of the FA Cup, of which two matches were played at Bootham Crescent—the first round game against Scarborough, which was won 3–2, and the fifth round game against Tottenham Hotspur, which was won 3–1 in front of a crowd of 21,000. During the summer of 1955, the Main Stand was extended towards Shipton Street, funded by profits gained from the FA Cup run and a Stand Extension Fund.

Two FA Cup ties against First Division opposition were held at the ground in the 1957–58; Birmingham City were beaten 3–0, followed by a 0–0 draw with Bolton Wanderers, which saw a crowd of 23,600; a post-war record for the ground. A concrete wall was built in the St Olave's Road end as a safety precaution and a support for additional banking and terracing, which cost over £3,000. This had a twofold purpose, as it acted as a safety precaution and a support for additional banking and terracing. The ground was fitted with floodlights in the summer of 1959, costing £14,500, which was raised by the Auxiliary Club. They were officially switched on for a friendly against Newcastle United on 28 October 1959, which United won 8–2 in front of a crowd of 9,414.

York reached the quarter-finals of the League Cup in the 1961–62 season, which included Leicester City being beaten 2–1 at Bootham Crescent. The half-time scoreboard at the Shipton Street End ceased to be in use in 1965, but remained as advertising hoarding. Seats were installed in the Popular Stand prior to the opening of the 1974–75 season, York's first in the Second Division, which increased the ground's seating capacity to 2,762. The floodlights were updated and improved in 1980 for £20,000 and were officially switched on by former player Derek Dougan for a friendly with Grimsby Town on 1 August 1980. A gymnasium was built at the Bootham Crescent End for £50,000 early in 1981, which York were helped towards by receiving £15,000 from the Sports Council and £20,000 from the Football League Improvement Trust. New offices for the manager, secretary, match-day and lottery manager were built along with a vice-presidents' lounge in the summer of 1983, with the lounge being officially opened by Football League chairman Jack Dunnett prior to a game against Wrexham in November 1983.

Cracks had appeared in the concrete wall built in 1956 at the back of the Bootham Crescent End, which led to the rear end of the terracing being cordoned off, meaning the capacity of the ground was reduced to under 13,500. The Bootham Crescent end was segregated and allocated to away supporters and fencing was erected around the ground before the FA Cup match against Liverpool. During the 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons problems had arisen in handling big crowds, which was due to the ground having only two of four sides available for entry and exit and the home supporters funnelling through the car-park to the Shipton Street end.

Extensive improvements were made in the summer of 1985 for an approximated £100,000 and eight new turnstiles were installed at the Shipton Street end. Simultaneously, the dressing-rooms were refurbished, so they incorporated new baths and showers, and also the addition of a new referee's changing room, a new physiotherapist's treatment room and new toilets. During the period of 1986 to 1987, hospitality boxes were built into the Main Stand, video equipment was installed and crush-barriers were strengthened. This meant that ground safety requirements were met and in September 1989 it was announced that the capacity of the ground had been increased to 14,628.

The Family Stand was opened in the Main Stand in 1992 and in 1994 the capacity of the ground was reduced as the Family Stand was increased due to popular demand, which saw 326 seats replace a standing area, as well as complying with recommendations made in the Taylor Report following the Hillsborough disaster. New floodlights were installed during the summer of 1995, which came to a cost of £122,000. Despite being shorter than the original floodlights, they were twice as bright and met the requirements for First Division football. A new drainage system was installed to improve the quality of the pitch during winter, costing several thousand pounds. A water tower was also installed in the late 1990s to help the quality of the pitch.

Bootham Crescent Holdings PLC was formed in 1999, which saw the club's real property assets, including Bootham Crescent, be transferred to this holding company. In 2002, then chairman John Batchelor said he wanted to move to a new stadium at Clifton Moor and appointed Ian McAndrew as stadium director. Persimmon plc had bought 10% of the shares in Bootham Crescent Holdings, who announced that they had submitted planning applications for 93 homes on the site of Bootham Crescent. York City's lease of the ground was extended to May 2004 and the club proceeded with plans to move to Huntington Stadium, but on 4 February 2004 it was announced in a joint statement that "Agreement has been reached to enable the football club to continue to play at Bootham Crescent for the foreseeable future.". A sponsorship deal with Nestlé in January 2005 saw Bootham Crescent renamed KitKat Crescent, although the ground was still commonly referred to as Bootham Crescent. This arrangement expired in January 2010.