by Rev Algenon Stickleback H »
05 Jul 2009 20:09
05 Jul 2009 20:09
There have been rumours the ex-York City owner John Batchelor has been trying to buy the club. Given his track record, going bust almost sounds a good alternative.
"Batchelor became the owner and chairman of York City F.C. on 15 March 2002 after buying the club from Douglas Craig. After taking over the club, he said he had two sites in mind for a new 15,000-seated ground. He revealed an interest in buying ITV Digital in May, which he later admitted was unlikely to succeed. He changed the club's name from York City Football Club to York City Soccer Club, in an attempt to appeal to United States markets. Also Batchelor's racing brand was incorporated into other parts of the club, the official badge had a chequered flag brought into it, as did the first team kit, which had a racing style print on one sleeve. He promised that he would buy York's Bootham Crescent ground, give the Supporters Trust 24% of the club's shares and invite two supporters onto the board, but none of these were fulfilled. It was reported that Batchelor received some death threats in regards to way he was handling the club. It went into administration and he was trying to purchase the club,[13] but the Supporters Trust eventually bought the club.
He was a part of James Derry's bid to buy Mansfield Town in March 2008, but eventually launched his own bid to buy the club. He revealed plans to rename the club "Harchester United", after the fictional team in the Sky series Dream Team. This was called "absolutely bizarre" by Mansfield mayor Tony Egginton, who was later appointed as the club's non-executive chairman, which put doubt on Batchelor's takeover bid. He was later revealed to have had a £1.5 million bid for Accrington Stanley turned down by chairman Eric Whalley, which proposed moving a newly formed "Lancashire United" to Leigh and building a 10,000 seater stadium. He held talks with Chester City chairman Stephen Vaughan about purchasing the club in November. Batchelor fronted a consortium that made a £12.5 million bid to buy Southampton in July 2009"