Sometimes the hero, though more often than not, remembered as the villain.

Throughout the history of York City Football Club, we have been served by a string of fine keepers. From John Farmery, City's first every keeper who performed heroically in early FA Cup ties against Newcastle, to the 1994 custodian, Dean Kiely. Among their number, names such as Des Thompson, Tommy Forgan, Mike Walker, Graeme Crawford and Roger Jones have been stalwarts to the club and have, rightly, been recognised as fine lower division keepers. Even as I write in 2016, our current keeper Michael Ingham is approaching Tommy Forgan's record of City clean sheets. In recent years, some might argue that even better keepers, the likes of David Stockdale and Paul Robinson have slipped through the net.

Since its inception in 1974, 5 keepers (Eddie Blackburn, Chris Marples, Alan Fettis (twice), Michael Ingham and Peter Jameson) have been voted our Billy Fenton Player Of The Year. That means quality keepers, the likes of Graeme Crawford, Roger Jones and Dean Kiely have missed out. I'm sure, if asked, many City supporters would have suggested they should have won the award.

The original of this series pre-dated Dave Batters' excellent series on City goalkeepers that appeared in the programme during the 1996/7 season.

Also: Yorkmix on City's keepers

Footnote: Although focusing on City's keepers since we first entered The Football League in 1929, special mention must be made of Joe Berridge who played for City's reserve team in the 1920s when the club was based at Fulfordgate and played in the Midland and Yorkshire Leagues. His son, John, aged 83, a lifetime Supporters' Trust member, bequeathed £1,000 to City following a short battle against cancer. His grandson persented the cheque to City before the Leamington game, the final home game of the 2017/8 season. Read More.