YORK City are being denied a celebratory bus parade through the city centre to mark their promotion back to the Football League, club co-chair Julie-Anne Uggla has said.
But North Yorkshire Police today (Monday, April 27) said the club’s plans for the proposed city centre celebration had been blocked because critical details were missing and there were “unresolved safety concerns”.
City of York Council said it had been working with organisations, including police, ambulance, fire service and others, in a bid to allow a city centre parade, but the club’s plan “lacked key details” which “raised concerns for this group”.
The Minstermen ended a decade-long stay in non-league football on Saturday when a 103rd minute goal from Josh Stones won York the title, following a best-ever season for the football club.
Instead of a victory bus parade, the club will instead be holding a celebration on Wednesday at the LNER Community Stadium, with further details to be revealed shortly by York City.
But Uggla has hit out at the decision to deny the Minstermen a city centre celebration, saying the club had attempted to set up the event in talks with City of York Council and North Yorkshire Police last week.
However, she said the council had been told the club couldn’t go ahead with a city centre celebration, adding she wasn’t sure if it was a council or police decision.
Uggla told The Press in York: “It’s just so upsetting, I’m not even from York and Matt [Uggla, co-chair] and I and the entire club are trying so hard to make York proud.
“In our finest hour, they have basically shut us down.
“There are no plans. When we first started, the parade was on, then it was off, then it was on again.
“We have spent hours and hours, three days actually, working with them on the route together.
“We changed it from the Wednesday to the Tuesday to accommodate the police, and then at one minute to five on Friday, they pulled it.
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“They said we don’t have the police support to do it.
“I don’t know who makes the decision on why the police won’t support the parade, but the reason I have been given is that the police won’t support the parade.
“I don’t know why, I don’t know if that’s a council decision or a police decision, and it’s just a very sad and disappointing decision.
“I am dumbfounded because I don’t know of any other city that hasn’t had a parade or celebrated when their football team has gained promotion.”
A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said the force had received an event management plan for a proposed promotion parade for York City FC.
They added: “Unfortunately, critical elements of the plan are unclear, with a significant lack of detail, and unresolved safety concerns.
“Given the short timescale, we believe the plan is not fit for purpose for a proposed event tomorrow.
“As such, we are not able to support it at this stage.”
The force spokesperson added: “The club’s promotion is an outstanding achievement, and we want everyone in the city to be able to celebrate it safely.
“We will continue to work with the club and local partners to help make that possible.”
A spokesperson for City of York Council said it had been “working really hard over the past week, before Saturday’s game, to try to make the parade happen”.
They added: “Details of the proposed event came through from the club late last week, and we’ve been part of the group of organisations, including police, ambulance, fire service and others, that gives advice about the safety of events such as this.
“The event plan from the club lacked key details and that raised concerns for this group.
“We’ll continue to work with the club to look at options for what can be done, in line with the advice of others such as the police.
“The club have indicated they wish to hold an event at the community stadium on Wednesday evening and we’re already working with them to support this.”
While there won’t be a parade around York city centre, the football club will instead be hosting an event this Wednesday (April 29) at the LNER Community Stadium.
The event will give supporters the chance to get their pictures taken with the National League trophy and to celebrate with the players, with live music also planned.
A £1 entry fee will be required for the event, but all funds raised will be donated to the Candlelighters charity in support of York City under-16s captain Harry Rowntree, who was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma in January.
Uggla revealed: “When we do the celebration on Wednesday, we’re doing it at a time to accommodate our supporters.
“It will start at 7pm, we’ve got to charge £1 per ticket because that’s the only way you can get through the turnstiles, because it’s automated.
York City will instead be hosting an event at the stadium on Wednesday after Saturday’s promotion. (Image: Tom Poole)
“That pound per person will go to the Candlelighters charity to support Harry Rowntree, because we want to support our young York City player, our under-16s captain in his fight.
“No matter what, we’ll find the silver-lining and we’ll keep doing something good out of this.
“It’s just sad for the city, sad that they made the decision and none of us can really understand why.
“There will be a band, an opportunity for people to get their picture taken with the trophy.
“We’re trying to get a Pullman bus now so that the boys can at least stand on top of the bus, as if we were doing a parade, and then supporters can go on and off the bus so the players can get pictures and stuff.
“We are trying to make it as collaborative with our supporters as possible, because we’d really like to acknowledge that we totally appreciated their support all of the time.
“We need them to keep supporting us, so we want to make sure that we’re always there with them.”