Douglas Malcolm Craig OBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, JP, BSC, FICE, FI, MUN E, FCI ARB, M CONS E (born Broughty Ferry

Broughty Ferry

Broughty Ferry is a suburb on the eastern side of the City of Dundee, on the shore of the Firth of Tay in eastern Scotland...

, Dundee

Dundee

Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

) is former chairman of York City

York City F.C.

York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...

. Craig is an engineer and a former local Tory

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 councillor.

Early years

Craig took over the club in as chairman in 1990, taking over from Michael Sinclair, a former businessman who is now a local priest. He enjoyed success under the guidance of manager John Ward and, later, Alan Little, York enjoyed their best period in recent years. The club won promotion

Promotion and relegation

In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...

 to what was then the English Second Division

Football League Second Division

From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

 (now League One

Football League One

Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....

) in 1994 before making headlines with its giant-killing cup exploits, beating Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 over two legs in the League Cup

Football League Cup

The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

. The cup glory continued the following year. Craig earned national notoriety in 1994 by becoming the only chairman to refuse to sign up to the "Let's Kick Racism Out of Football" campaign.

Latter Years; Sell Off and Results

The following years under Craig were bleak for York, with relegation to Division Three and managers coming and going.

In July 1999, Craig wrote to all York City's shareholders, asking them to approve a plan to transfer the club, and Bootham Crescent, to a new company, Bootham Crescent Holdings (BCH). Craig pointed out that he and his three fellow directors, John Quickfall, Colin Webb and the former playing hero Barry Swallow

Barry Swallow

Ernest Barry Swallow is an English former footballer.-Career:Born in Arksey, Doncaster, West Riding of Yorkshire, Swallow started his career as a junior with Doncaster Rovers, turning professional in July 1959...

, owned 94 per cent of the shares and had already approved the plan. This sent York into serious financial turmoil, and the club went into administration shortly after Craig had sold it, minus all fixed asset

Fixed asset

Fixed assets, also known as a non-current asset or as property, plant, and equipment , is a term used in accounting for assets and property which cannot easily be converted into cash. This can be compared with current assets such as cash or bank accounts, which are described as liquid assets...

s, to John Batchelor

John Batchelor (racing)

William John Batchelor , more commonly known as John Batchelor, was an English racing driver, businessman, political activist, and football investor. He was chairman of York City F.C...

 for a fee rumoured to be £50.

York City was later rescued by a trust

Charitable trust

A charitable trust is an irrevocable trust established for charitable purposes, and is a more specific term than "charitable organization".-United States:...

, which had been set up by the club's supporters. Craig sold the ground back to the Supporter's Trust, but for a figure that was many times larger than the reputed £50,000 that he reputedly paid for the club, many years earlier.