York City chairman and Supporters’ Trust breaks silence on John Askey sacking

York City chairman and the club’s Supporters’ Trust breaks their silence on that controversial John Askey sacking this week.

Askey was sacked on Wednesday, causing plenty of shock for the fanbase, having had a successful year in charge, guiding the Minstermen to promotion from the National League North and safety from relegation in the National League so far this season.

He revealed after his sacking that Glen Henderson had “undermined” him by questioning the team’s style of play to the squad’s players. See more on that HERE.

Henderson said: “After taking some time away from social media, I would like to address this myself.

“I would like to apologise for the way this information has been handled.

“We all recognise the mistakes made as a team and we can all learn from this.

“We all love the club and we all want the club to succeed.

“Please get behind the players tomorrow! It’s time for a new beginning, no one is bigger than the club.”

However since then, he has deleted his account with his tweets no longer possible to see.

Many fans have also called for the resignations of Henderson, chief executive Alastair Smith and marketing director Mike Brown, also the Trust’s chairman.

Questions have been raised of the Trust, who own 49 per cent of the club to Henderson’s 51 per cent, given that their ‘Boost The Budget’ campaign was advertised as “Boosting John Askey’s budget”.

A Trust statement, written independently of Trust members Brown and Smith read: “The last three days have been difficult days in the recent history of York City and the Supporters’ Trust; for that we are sorry.

“Mistakes have been made, they will be learned from and, to our best efforts, they will never be repeated.

“Your Supporters’ Trust board were shocked and dismayed to learn of Askey’s departure.

“Askey united our fanbase and gave pride back to supporters. For that we will be eternally grateful.”

The Trust board met with representatives from the York board on Thursday to talk about the handling of Askey’s departure and say they “recognise that the relationship between both parties had reached breaking point” and that the situation was “irretrievable”.

The fans group add they had no legal scope to be consulted on the decision.

They have however given “considerable feedback” to the club board on the “events that led to a breakdown in relationships, the lack of earlier interventions and the overall handling of the dismissal.”

The Trust board have requested “significantly more detailed updates from its representatives on the club board” moving forward and say that “lessons will be learnt”.

Twitter users reacted as the York City chairman and Supporters’ Trust breaks silence on the John Askey sacking…

@RealCChapman: I follow a few #ycfc @YorkCityFC fans on here and like most I have occasionally criticised some players when they have an off day or effort seems to be lacking – it’s called being passionate about your team. However I have NEVER seen a single tweet or heard any fan complain about the management team John Askey and Kingsley James did an awesome job and the decision to get them out is ludicrous 🤬🤬🤬

@YCFC1972: I think Henderson has finally left the Twitter scene. A place he should never have been in the first place. It was a place of self promotion and limelight but now he realises he’s a massive whopper and this is not for him #cheekychairman #ycfc

@choreysmam: #ycfc has been a joy the last year, a proper club was out of the doldrums,to undo that by total disregard for everyone at the club is a joke. Askey has been superb, players superb hope fans show then this. 3 points then give it to cheeky,im betting he wont give a fuck anyway!

@Al_Goforth: I expected quick resignations and grovelling apologies from those Trust puppets. But they’ve stood by this ego manic and are complicit in sabotaging our club. Unforgivable. #ycfc #getoutofourclub

@MindfulMarkW: Not good enough. Apologise for one of the worst decisions I have ever seen in nearly 50 years following the club. Apologise for one of the most unprofessional Radio interviews I’ve ever heard. The club are a laughing stock on local and national news. Totally unacceptable, Glen.

@Seaside_City: For the first time in a decade, following City (under John Askey) has felt like a privilege rather than a punishment. You have taken that from us. Shame on you!

@TerryEspiner: Put the spade away fella please. Initiate your exit strategy. At the very least give the 2 Trust Board members who clearly both love the club a way back.

@FredCole99: You clearly don’t understand “no one is bigger than the club” If you did, you would’ve put your ego to one side and gone out of your way to keep John happy in the club. As CEO, you’re the custodian of all its assets including the people. You put yourself ahead of the club

@butlermatthew19: Re: JA interest in youth set up, what did you expect him to do a few months into a new season after getting us promoted with a brand new 1st team, surely stability in the league was priority, and that’s what he gave us on and off the pitch,YOU have torn that all apart. UNFORGIVABLE

@PAULELLISSS: The club was on the up. Fans turning up, great atmosphere. John Askey came in, with no cash and a team stuck in a rut, changed this club on and off field. Your inference is the reason why John was unhappy. All that John had built up. GONE

@Simonycfc: You kept giving the quote I want everybody to have a great experience when coming to York City on radio interview and when you first came in…well that’s never going to happen now you’llnever dig your way of this mess and never be forgiven for it.

@Jaytwo86: Did you really just type “No one is bigger than the club” after making a decision that was really only wanted by you? Bit daft aren’t you lad?

@yorkshire_fella: What an absolute non-statement. You had a cheeky vino and this tweet is the result? You have destroyed the manager, the team, the fans just at a point where, for the first time in ten years or so, they felt good and we had a positive feeling. For this you will NEVER be forgiven.

@JM__19__: Utter utterly clueless. You still don’t get it do you? Sell up now and leave the damage is done and there is no coming back from this. You’re a fraud and will never be forgiven by the 99.9%. You still think that you’re right don’t you? This club isn’t your play thing.

@ycfcjojo: Enjoy your day today Glen. The fans love this club more than you will ever understand. They also love the manager who gave them pride and belief in their club again. Today they’ll let you know what an error you have made. You really don’t get it do you 😤

@YfrontFanzine: Your words are meaningless. You have lost all credibility with every single York City supporter and after your actions you have zero chance of recovering it. You have no idea what it is to be a supporter and his we think and feel. Your actions have caused harm and upset. #ycfc

@MinstermenNOR: A life long York City fan, and I havent felt so positive about our club in many many years. Then everything demolished in a second of madness. John and Kingsley made us believe, we deserve that, not this utter nonsense!

@marco_lowth1975: That’s correct we all love the club and want it to succeed unfortunately with you in charge that’s very unlikely to happen when things where ticking along just fine under JA as manager you’ve got this so wrong do the honourable thing and get out of our club

This hasn’t aged well. #ycfc pic.twitter.com/jgYPdDwAdG

— FMJim (@FMJim_) November 19, 2022

He’s left twitter just needs to leave the club now #ycfc pic.twitter.com/4aP93GsKUM

— Rob Fitzgerald (@rmf80) November 19, 2022

“Something went wrong” #ycfc pic.twitter.com/mccxuVXDEV

— Chuitar (@chuitar) November 19, 2022