Club say it was Brodie’s decision

York City are insisting that it was Richard Brodie’s decision to leave the club in favour of a move to Crawley Town.

That follows comments from the 23-year-old striker suggesting he didn’t actually want to leave Bootham Crescent and that the club had told him the offer had been “too good to turn down.”

Club chiefs are stating that because Brodie was still under contract he couldn’t exactly be forced to leave and that he had already rejected the offer of a new deal with York.

“Crawley got in touch with us on Tuesday with a view to taking Richard Brodie,” a club spokesperson explained to The Press. “We thought the deal was dead in the water because Richard had turned down the initial first move.

“Richard asked for a move. From a club point of view, we thought it was a good deal. We decided to accept and it was down to Richard to agree personal terms and the move to Crawley. He had the option to either go or not.”