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VIDEO: York City fans’ tennis ball protest halts match in front of record crowd

York City fans’ tennis ball protest halts their National League North match in front of a record crowd on Saturday afternoon.

Some of the home supporters in the South Stand stopped the game for several minutes by throwing dozens of items onto the pitch.

The fans in the South Stands waited till there was a break in play at the other end then pelted the penalty area with the balls and toilet roll.

One fan then ran onto the pitch before being chased back into the crowd by a steward, as seen in footage going viral.

This was a protest calling on the board – and club chairman Jason McGill – to step away from the club and resign with promotion back to the top tier of non league looking unlikely right now.

Chants were heard including the likes of “We want Jason out” and “We want out club back”, before the referee stopped the match and took the players off the pitch.

Stewards then cleared the tennis balls from the pitch and the game was able to continue, with a new record attendance for the LNER Community Stadium – 4,512 – watching on after the club reduced all adult tickets to £5 and let children in free.

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Jason McGill was also seen at the match, something that is rather rare, so the fans knew that they could make their feelings known with him watching on.

There was also some anger from supporters after finding out there wouldn’t be a minute’s silence or applause for Rob McGill, a supporters for more than 60 years and a former director of the club.

He was the father of Jason and, with his sister Sophie, stepped down from the board in 2016 amid reports of a rift within the family.

City drew 1-1 with Chorley with it described to be a gutsy display as they played most of the match with ten men after Matty Brown was given marching orders on the 33rd minute.

York currently sit 11th in the National League North table, picking up 23 points from 17 games played, and are three points from the playoffs.

However teams above them have some games in hand and the competition for promotion is just too strong, unless York can make some changes for the better to really challenge those at the top.

John Askey proclaimed that York’s 1-1 draw with promotion chasers Chorley “felt like a win.”

The interim manager described the display as “gutsy” and “determined,” adding: “It’s what we want and it’s what the supporters want to see.

“Although we didn’t get the win, it felt like a win in the end. It was a shame that we had a man sent off because I thought we started the game well and we looked a decent side.

“When they all perform like that and every single one performed as hard as they did, it brings you together as a group.

“We needed that and we need to push on from this now.”

Askey came under fire from fans for his comments earlier in the week calling for supporters not to boo the team.

Though after Saturday’s game, he reserved praise for the big crowd that turned out at Monks Cross.

“I think the support we had was a massive help to us, the supporters really got behind us,” he said.

“Hopefully we can get that every week, but we’ve got to give them something to shout about.”

Twitter users reacted as York City fans’ tennis ball protest halts their match in front of a record crowd…

@SpiceAlbert: Good luck to #YCFC fans too. “We want our club back” is something #LOFC fans recognise too well. It worked for us in the end.

@PegRogerio: #McGillOut #SackTheBoard

@p_farrar: We want Jason out! We want Jason out!

@lotslottie16: Nice and noisy from the fans #sacktheboard #McGillOut #YCFC

@tombarneybarnes: WE ARE YORK #sacktheboard

@Noddy_Holder: No minutes silence / applause to mark the passing of former #ycfc director Rob McGill? Disgusting petty behaviour @YorkCityFC

@RNewbould: Do the board understand their fault in this happening?

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