Southern Connections: 2015/6
Read again our branch's contribution to the City programme throughout the season.
Bristol Rovers (April 30 2016 / Joel Stern) York City Football Club and Relegation
Today was meant to be the last ever game at Bootham Crescent. Instead we are here to see our last home game in the Football League. It’s been a truly disappointing season with significantly more downs than ups, culminating in the loss of our precious Football League status that we worked so hard to achieve in 2012. We will all deal with relegation, and the subsequent fall-out in our own different ways, however I thought I would share my thoughts on what relegation means to me.
To me, York City Football Club is more than the players on the pitch. It’s more than the manager who selects those players and chooses the tactics. It’s more than the Chairman who employs the manager. And it’s more than the stadium that the team plays in. And when those players, playing staff, directors and stadium are all long and gone, York City Football Club will still exist.
To me, York City Football Club is the fans who spend their hard-earned money to travel, often, long distances to see their team play. It’s the people who work tirelessly behind the scenes to provide a valuable community asset for others. It’s where we come to socialise, de-stress (sometimes) and to be entertained. It’s the ties that bind complete strangers. It’s something we pour our hearts and souls into without anyone requesting we do so.
So, however you feel today, I can assure you that things will change. The important thing is that we stick together, knowing that the good times will come again. The important thing is that we support York City Football Club. Have a good summer, see you in August.
NEXT SOCIAL EVENT - Our AGM and QUIZ will be held on Wednesday 11 May at 7 pm at The Perseverance, 63 Lamb's Conduit Street, London WC1N 3NB. Nearest tubes are Holborn, Chancery Lane or Russell Square.
Portsmouth (April 19 2016 / Joel Stern) Dot Hits The Spot
Reigning Champion, Dot Goodearl retained her crown at the recent York City South annual Darts tournament. The tournament was held at the Sheephaven Bay Public House in Mornington Crescent, London on Thursday 7 April.
There was a good range of playing abilities on show and the initial head-to-head stages of the tournament were played in good humour and in a very sportsmanly manner. The semi-final draw pitted Dot Goodearl against Derek Feasby and Joel Stern against Ray Goodearl. Having been beaten by Joel in the earlier stages, Ray took revenge to book his place in the final with Dot quashing all thoughts of a Derek Feasby upset and powering her way through to secure a husband v wife final.
The tense final went right down to the wire with both contestants requiring a double two to finish, and it was Dot who succeeded, securing the trophy for a second successive year. Thanks to everyone who attended, players and non-players for a fantastic evening. We're already looking forward to next year's tournament.
NEXT SOCIAL EVENTS - We have a hospitality box booked for the last home match of the season on 30 April. Our AGM will be held on Wednesday 11 May - details to follow.
Wycombe (April 9 2016 / Chris Forth) City History
Check the “City History“ page of on York City South website and you will find well over 200 bite size pieces of City history. Some are serious, others light hearted, but all are essential reading for City fans. They cover
Happy reading.
NEXT SOCIAL EVENTS - We have a hospitality box booked for the last home match of the season on 30 April. Our AGM will be held on Wednesday 11 May - details to follow.
Leyton Orient (April 2 2016 / Chris Forth) York City East
Our journey east started in 1938 and City's October boat trip to Rotterdam (and an 8-2 defeat against a Dutch National side) at the invite of the Dutch FA.
Fast forward to 1994 and east meant China. Ex City reserves, Richard Crossley and Darren Tilley, thanks to their agent ex City midfielder, Chris Galvin, found themselves playing in China for Guangdong. Their team flopped and the invasion ended when teammate Craig, son of Sam, Allardyce returned early complaining he was unable to buy chips or The Sun.
20 years later, Dan McBreen and Derek Riordan played in China just before the 2016 invasion. A fuller review of City abroad is available on the history page of our York City South website
NEXT SOCIAL EVENING: Thursday 7 April - DARTS COMPETITION at The Sheephaven Arms, 2 Mornington Street, London NW1 7QD from 7.30 pm. Nearest tube is Mornington Crescent.
Crawley (March 25 2016 / Dot Goodearl) Next Social - Darts Night
NEXT SOCIAL EVENING: Thursday 7 April - DARTS COMPETITION at The Sheephaven Arms, 2 Mornington Street, London NW1 7QD from 7.30 pm. Nearest tube is Mornington Crescent.
Barnet (March 12 2016 / Chris Forth) new frontiers
The March issue of the City fanzine, "New Frontiers", is now available to download from our website (www.yorkcitysouth.co.uk) - buy an extra pint in the social club or lottery ticket in the car park at the next home game and it is yours for free.The 28 pages are crammed with City material, including City in London (City have played on 19 grounds, how many have you been to?), the part City players and Allardyce played in the first China invasion (and why it failed), this season’s City reserve side, whatever happened to City’s 2012 Wembley heroes, first impressions, an appeal for an artist, the Posh Way, quiz time and more. Happy reading.
NEXT SOCIAL EVENING - Thursday 7 April - DARTS COMPETITION at The Sheephaven Arms, 2 Mornington Street, London NW1 7QD from 7.30 pm. Nearest tube is Mornington Crescent.
Luton (February 26 2016 / Chris Forth) York City North
City have played up north many times, Scotland being a frequent destination for a pre-season camp. Equally, many top flight Scottish clubs have played friendlies at Bootham Crescent.
In 1974, City travelled to Iceland on a post season trip to celebrate promotion to Division 2. Whilst there, we beat 2 club sides and drew against an Icelandic select side, the locals trying desperately hard to beat a team just promoted to England’ second tier as we endured 3 very physical games. A couple of years earlier, City had beaten top Icelandic side, Valur in a friendly at Bootham Crescent. Valur links were renewed in 2013, when ex midfielder Danny Racchi spent a season with Valur.
A fuller review of City abroad is available on the history page of our York City South website
Northampton (February 23 2016 / Chris Forth)
See December 26 issue
Exeter (February 16 2016 / Dot Goodearl) Getting To Matches
Like all fans there is a lot of planning involved to travel to matches - to arrive in time for the kick-off [and if lucky to have some refreshments en route too!]. Shall we go by train? Are there any special ticket offers? Is the ground near the station? Is there any engineering work planned?
We have a network of members who arrange to car share to and from venues - with pick up points in North London and service stations on the way. All keen to support our team both home and away. If you would like more information then please get in touch.
Notts County (February 13 2016 / Chris Forth) Hope For Children
My son, Charles is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, alongside over 100 Nottingham University students, in September in support of Hope for Children. The charity works in 7 countries helping children who live in poverty. Its a truly magnificent cause which gives disadvantaged children the right to an education as well as healthcare. We would be very grateful if you could sponsor him and forward the link onto your friends and family.
Also, On our York City South website, you can read about when Charles was City mascot and find out which match day player skipped the manager’s half time team talk to make me a half time cuppa.
Stevenage (January 30 2016 / Chris Forth) April 1996 - 20 Years Of York City South
This spring, York City South celebrates its 20th birthday. It was at Brighton in April 1996 that we took the plunge and decided to form the branch. Before the game, the likes of Simon, Alastair, John and Dave had already discussed it and spoken to me about the idea.
During the game, as rumour spread around the ground, Brighton fans clamoured to join, invading the pitch and leading to the match being abandoned.
That autumn, we constituted the branch. Since that time, we have had many memorable events alongside the highs and lows on the pitch. Off the pitch, we have always enjoyed an excellent relationship with the club, with a chairman, directors, managers and former players as guests at our meetings over the years. Every year, we contribute funds to the club, whether as donations, sponsorship or booking match day hospitality. Long may it continue./p>
Newport (January 16 2016 / Chris Forth) new frontiers Happy New Year. The new issue of the City fanzine, "New Frontiers", is available exclusively as a free download on the
YCS website. If you download it, please consider making a donation to YCFC in lieu of payment - perhaps at the next home game, you buy an extra pint in the social club or lottery ticket in the car park. " New Frontiers" is packed with City material, including Chris Jones (revealing the first words Tom Johnston said to him on arriving in York and the real hero behind our 1973/74 promotion campaign), Drinking York Dry (and a theory of where the Grand Old Duke Of York’s hill is located), Shippo The Lion recalls his most memorable match, Billy Plutch, China, Whatever Happened To Diego de Girolamo and a train spotters delight. NEXT SOCIAL EVENING - Our next York City South Social is planned for Thursday 11 February - more details to follow!! Northampton (December 26 2015 / Chris Forth) Christmas Day Football York City South would like to wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Boxing Day used to be reserved for local derbies, the likes of Bradford, Mansfield, Gateshead and New Brighton. Until 1957 we had Christmas Day football too and in that year we drew 2-2 at Hartlepool on Christmas Day and then drew the return fixture a day later. Often, this meant 3 games in 4 days. In 1930, 3 games in 3 days - 2 against Carlisle and finishing with a home draw with Rotherham on Saturday 27 December. Let’s not remember 1938 when we beat Crewe 4-1 at home, but lost the away game 2-8 a day later. Somehow, in 1954, the fixture computer paired Portsmouth and Blackpool in "derby" fixtures, a warning of what was to come! Given the harsh winters back then, surprisingly few fixtures were cancelled. Although there were trains, the motorways did not exist, so spare a thought for the teams and fans alike who travelled to all these past games. NEXT SOCIAL EVENING: Our next York City South Social is planned for Thursday 11 February - more details to follow!! Morecambe (December 19 2015 / Dot Goodearl) Wherezat York City South would like to wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! CHARITY CALENDARS FOR SALE Would you enjoy playing or watching sport if your eyesight failed? Our Deputy Chair, Andy Naylor, is helping to raise £50,000 to develop visually impaired cricket for under-12s in the UK and Denmark, via a quirky 2016 calendar produced by his club and backed by the charity The Change Foundation. Andy features as wicketkeeper in most months of the A3 size calendar, which has space to enter your personal appointments. To find out why the calendar was produced, learn more about the charity, watch the promotional video from its President, Phil Tufnell, and to order via the internet, Google “Wherezat Calendar”. The cost is £10, plus £3 P&P (note the postage can be avoided by ordering from Andy via 07771 807650 and collecting your calendar at a York City match!) Accrington (November 28 2015 / Chris Forth) York City FC In London Last Saturday’s trip to Brisbane Road marked a return to where we made our first London appearance, against Clapton Orient in the FA Cup in 1937. But how many London grounds have City played on? Regionalisation meant our next London visit was not until 1958. 1974/5 with 3 new grounds (Fulham, Arsenal’s Highbury and Chelsea) in 13 months was a City ground hopper’s delight. Of course, Wembley counts as 2 grounds whilst Spurs are the only London premier league club we have not visited. If my maths is correct, last month, Barnet’s The Hive was the 19th. Barnet followed Millwall as being a London clubs we’ve played on 2 different grounds. AFC Wimbledon’s Kingsmeadow and Hayes & Yeading at Woking are 2 clubs we’ve played away both inside and outside London. Roll on for first trips to Arsenal’s Emirates, The Olympic Stadium and of course AFC Wimbledon’s return to Wimbledon. Read the full article on our
web site
Don't Forget: Our
YORK CITY SOUTH - CHRISTMAS PARTY - THURSDAY 3 DECEMBER (7:30) at The Sheephaven Arms 2-3 Mornington Street, Camden, NW1 7QD. Big screen, Christmas party food (plus the return of the mince pie eating competition), party games and darts. What more could you want? Plymouth (November 14 2015 / Dot Goodearl) No article - space constraints AFC Wimbledon (October 24 2015 / Joel Stern) Autumn Social On Friday 15 October, York City South held their Autumn social event at the Southwark Brewing Company, a micro-brewery on London's up-and-coming 'beer mile' in Bermondsey. The brewery which was opened about a year ago by Sunderland fans Peter and Andy, is one of a number of newly opened small breweries in the railway arches in this part of London, servicing the capital's popular craft beer scene. We enjoyed a great evening tasting the beers that the brewery had to offer as well as each other's company and talking through what we thought City's fortunes may be for the following day's game away at Barnet. We ended the evening in a Sam Smith's pub, The Anchor Tap, just behind tower bridge on the South Bank of the Thames, enjoying proper Yorkshire beer in the heart of London. A thoroughly enjoyable evening with fantastic people. Next social evening - Our next social evening is planned for Thursday 3 December - more details to follow soon. Dagenham & Redbridge (October 20 2015 / Dot Goodearl) York Pub Challenge Update An update on Dot & Ray's 'York named Pubs challenge' - Having travelled the length and breadth of Yorkshire between the two recent varsity fixtures, visiting 4 breweries and two pubs, they only have 8 of the known 149 locations left to do. One in Berkshire, four in the North West, 2 in Northern Ireland, and a visit to the York Brewery. Read More We are planning our next social evening for December - more details to follow soon. Cambridge (October 3 2015 / Branch Update) Dot Goodearl SOCIAL EVENING Our next social evening is planned for Friday 16 October with an evening of craft beer on London's "beer mile". First port of call is the Southwark Brewing Company between 7 - 8 pm - all welcome to come and join us. ANNUAL SCARECROW FESTIVAL - SEAL IN KENT Patrick McCauley reports that in his village of Seal in Kent, they have an annual Scarecrow making festival. He made one – of a rambler at rest, wearing (of course) an old York City scarf. Any York City fan passing through Seal, Kent until October 4th can find him in Church Street. York City South welcome new members - We organise regular social evenings and car shares to matches. So if you are based in 'the south' then please get in touch. Membership is £10 for the year [and includes membership of York City AFC 1922 Supporters Club]; Juniors £5 for the year; £125 life membership. Oxford (September 29 2015 / City on TV) Chris Forth There’s a link on our website, www.yorkcitysouth.co.uk, called “City On TV” which has links to around 200 of our TV appearances dating all the way back to 1938. Some of my favourites are from the 1974/75 season when we reached the old Division 2 for the first time, (living in expectation (or hope)), I say first and not only time. Our 1997 4-3 comeback win over Carlisle, thanks to a very dodgy keeper, also comes to mind, as do the clips of a marauding Keith Walwyn and Jamal Fyfields’s winner at Grimsby in 2012. Was that the goal that fired us up for our run in? Having lost a 2 goal lead, Fyfields’s late winner seemed to fire up the whole club. For comedy value, check out our acrobatic supporter at Hayes in 2009. The 1938 clip, or some from the early 70s show just how many people could pack into Bootham Crescent. Happy viewing. Next social evening is planned for Friday 16 October - details to follow. York City South welcome new members. If you are based in 'the south', please get in touch. Membership is still just £10 for the year [and includes membership of York City AFC 1922 Supporters Club]; Juniors £5 for the year; £125 life membership. Join Now. Carlisle (September 19 2015 / Chris Forth) "History" On The York City South Website Have you checked out our web site? On the “History” page, there is a great link to City’s changing kit through the ages. We entered The Football League in 1932 wearing a maroon shirt. That was the predominant colour for 4 seasons until we adopted chocolate and cream stripes for one season. Our 1938 FA Cup run saw us in red shirts with white shorts. That kit remained largely unchanged until 1967. Cuffs and collars changed over the years, white shorts remained and socks changed, but always featured a combination of red, white and black. The re-election years at the end of the 1960s saw us in all white, our bid to emulate the success of near neighbours Leeds, who themselves changed to copy Real Madrid failed miserably. 1970 saw us return to our maroon. The Y front appeared in August 1974, the previous season we had had a white stripe down each side. Our relegation saw us reverse the white and maroon, we did not reverse our fortunes as we slumped to the bottom of Division 4. A new image hit the club. Red shirts, blue shorts and red socks. The new image extended to free match day programmes.The kit has remained largely the same ever since, although sometimes white or red shorts. Socks, red, white or blue. We sported a “YC” logo shoulder flash in the mid 1990s and John Batchelor introduced his chequered flag onto our shirts. 2009 also marked a one off purple shirt for our Wembley trip. Once you have looked at the City shirt site, check out your second favourite team. Next social evening is planned for Friday 16 October - details to follow. Mansfield (August 29 2015 / Dot Goodearl) Julie On Top As I write this article, we are finalising the car sharing for the trip to Swansea on Tuesday 25 August. We are also arranging a visit to watch the cricket match, Middlesex v Yorkshire, at Lords on Friday 11 September with the option of a tour before the cricket starts. And our next evening social is being planned for Thursday 15 October. Details will be available on our website and social channels as soon as the arrangements are confirmed. Cancer Research UK One of our members, Julie Carruthers, completed The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge on Saturday 22 August in 11 hours and 50 minutes raising money for Cancer Research UK. There is still time to make a donation via her just giving page. Thank you !! Ed's Note: When I last looked, Julie was agonisingly close to her target amount, if you haven't already, check our Julie's just giving page. I'm sure we all know someone near and dear who has been affected by cancer. Yeovil (August 18 2015 / Joel Stern) City In London York City South is the supporters group for York City fans in London and Southern England. We have members right across London and the Home Counties and offer a social hub for fans to meet like-minded people as well as a varied calendar of events and transport to games.
We’ve been busy putting together our calendar of social activities for the coming season including our usual social evenings, quiz night, darts tournament, Christmas party and hospitality game. We are currently planning our next social evening for Thursday 15th October. Details will be available on our website and social channels as soon as they are confirmed.
If you or someone you know is moving ‘down south’, and would like to get in touch, York City South warmly welcomes new members. Hartlepool (August 15 2015 / Joel Stern) Our Branch York City South is the supporters group for York City fans in London and Southern England. We have members right across London and the Home Counties and offer a social hub for fans to meet like-minded people as well as a varied calendar of events and transport to games. Our website (www.yorkcitysouth.co.uk) maintained by webmaster Chris Forth contains a plethora of interesting and entertaining York City resources including history, stats and digital fanzine ‘New Frontiers’ We are currently planning our next social evening for Thursday 15th October. Details will be available on our website and social channels as soon as they are confirmed. If you or someone you know is moving ‘down south’, and would like to get in touch, York City South warmly welcomes new members. Bradford City (August 11 2015 / Joel Stern Welcome Back Good evening and welcome back for another season of fun, frolics and hopefully some football too! With no summer tournament, it seems like an eternity since last season but I’m delighted to announce that Keith Lowe was voted York City South’s Player of the Season for 2014/15 – and very well deserved. We’ve been busy planning our calendar of social activities for the coming season including our usual social evenings, quiz night, darts tournament, Christmas party and hospitality game. We’re also delighted to be sponsoring Dave Winfield’s home shirt for 2015/16 which will be raffled off to one lucky member at the end of the season. None of this happens automatically and, although a relatively small branch, we are blessed with some great people who give their time up to make things run smoothly. We are committed to being a hub for York City fans in London and the South and to provide social events and transport to City games. If you have been a member previously, don’t forget to renew your membership to make sure you get the full benefit for the season and likewise, York City South warmly welcomes new members. Check us out and keep in touch: York City South welcome new members. If you are based in 'the south', please get in touch. Membership is still just £10 for the year [and includes membership of York City AFC 1922 Supporters Club]; Juniors £5 for the year; £125 life membership. Join Now. Visit our York City South web site for all the latest branch updates [with thanks to Chris Forth our webmaster]. Social Networks Find us on Twitter at @YCFCSouth or on Facebook, search for York City South In Person Look out for us (and our flags) at matches and come and say Hi, both home and away