 Dolan was sacked in May 2003 , the new board citing financial reasons for his departure . At twenty @-@ seven years , York player Chris Brass was appointed player @-@ manager in June 2003 , which made him the youngest Football League managerial appointment since 1946 . The club 's lease of Bootham Crescent was extended to May 2004 , and plans proceeded to develop Huntington Stadium ahead of a possible move , but problems bringing the ground to Football League standards were encountered . The board preferred to stay at Bootham Crescent , and they bought the site in February 2004 after six months of negotiations . The deal came after York were lent £ 2 million by The Football Stadia Improvement Fund ( FSIF ) , with which they bought 75 @.@ 89 % of BCH shares and all of the 20 @,@ 000 shares owned by Persimmon . Once plans for a new stadium were settled , the loan would be converted a grant to help fund the move . York equalled a club record by winning the first four matches of 2003 – 04 , and by mid @-@ January 2004 were tenth in the table . They won none of their final twenty fixtures , garnering only five more points as they finished bottom of the Third Division . York were relegated into the Conference National after seventy @-@ five years of Football League membership . Beck renounced his title of chairman in September 2004 because he favoured a more democratic approach for a fan @-@ owned club . The board was restructured and Jason McGill became the managing director . 
