Purchase of former home of York City Football Club Completed

The sale of Bootham Crescent football ground, the home of York City Football Club for nearly 90 years has been completed.

Ownership of the 4.25 acre brownfield site in the heart of York has passed to us here at Persimmon Homes who will now commence with redeveloping the site with plans that will see the history of the ground preserved for residents and wider community to enjoy.

The ground opened in 1932 and was the home of the Minstermen until the club’s final competitive match at the ground in December 2020.

With the sale now completed, work will shortly commence on clearing the dormant site ready for the building of 93 new homes. Nineteen properties will be transferred to a housing association including houses to be made available for social rent and discount sale.

Both residents and wider public will be able to reflect on the history of the ground with the creation of a memorial garden incorporating a section of terracing from the old Popular Stand. The centre circle of the pitch will also be retained within a large open space accessible to the public.

In addition to preserving the legacy of the football ground, we're investing almost £200,000 in sustainable travel, sports infrastructure and education including £100,000 to fund extra school places.

Scott Waters, Managing Director at Yorkshire said: “We’re delighted to have completed the purchase of a place with such a long and rich cultural heritage.

“We’d like to thank the football club and City of York Council for working with us over the years to help make the sale as smooth as possible and enable the football club to make the successful transition to the new community stadium.

“The preservation of the ground’s history is absolutely central to our redevelopment plans to provide a fitting and lasting legacy that fans, residents and the wider public can enjoy.

“As the new custodians of the site, preserving its heritage in a way that the community can be proud is of vital importance and we are excited to start work on bringing these plans to life.

“Both the club and fans have played an important role in helping finalise these exciting legacy plans and we will be providing updates on these in the coming months.”