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Issue #52: Hinsh +1
The end of February (2025) marked the end of Adam Hinshelwood’s first year in charge of City.
Success or failure?
His first game in charge saw City start in the relegation zone, by the end of his 4th game, we were well and truly inside the drop zone, after Altrincham, very few supporters imagined we’d escape from relegation.
Behind the scenes, the Hinsh brain was already whirling away, having given plenty of squad players a chance to impress, he was identifying those players he could take forward and those he needed to discard. Marvin Armstrong was identified as the type of player the team was lacking, his energy levels would make a difference.
Last summer, Paddy McLaughlin said something along the lines of Hinsh starting to implement his methodologies during his first few training sessions. The players could see what he wanted from each of them, detailed instructions on what he wanted from each player when City were in possession and what he wanted from each of them when City were out of possession. He went onto say that pre-season saw Hinsh absolutely nail this.
Summer also saw a squad refresh. By my count, Hinsh carried forward 28 players from last season’s squad. As summer progressed, 7 players were paid off. No doubt it wasn’t cheap for the Uggla family, but well done to them and Hinsh for identifying it as a necessity to move forward. As summer progressed, other players left on long term loans and inevitably there were newcomers.
Personally, with Dipo Akinyemi scoring 15 goals last season in a struggling side, the arrival of the prolific Ollie Pearce and the addition of 2 wingers (Tyrese Sinclair and Ashley Nathaniel-George) who invariably did well against City, we had the fire power for a very good season.
At the time of writing, the morning after the Dagenham win, we sit 2nd in the table, well positioned in the title race.
Off the pitch, Hinsh has never been afraid to put himself (and his staff and players) forward, on many times he has spoken at fan forums. In June, Hinsh gave up an evening to travel up to London from the south coast to meet York City South. In York, he and the rest of the gang have regularly attended YCST and many other events.
Elsewhere, count the number of selfies that get posted on social media before kick off, players happily posing with young fans. Post match, it is a joy to be in the hospitality lounge mingling with the fans, young and old alike and to be joined by the players.
Whether it is Hinsh or the Ugglas, the squad seemed much more joined up than many in recent years, happy to be in each company, both on and off the pitch and happy to interact with supporters. Something not seen for many years.
I’m sure we’ve all worked for many different bosses, some good, some not so good, but it is the good ones when you gave that little bit extra.
It remains to be seen what might happen with a bit of adversity, would the club revert to previous ways and shut up shop? I hope not.
Hinsh has always appeared to be first and foremost, a man of the people. You can see on the touchline showing his emotions and frustrations.
Ready to cajole and berate the team, he has called out players in interviews and I’m equally sure he has put an arm of reassurance around others at times. All the players seem onside with him.
Tactically, Hinsh has his own principles (and foibles). Whatever you might think about City’s possession based style and playing out from the back, he has identified a style and it is much more pleasurable to watch than that of many of his predecessors.
The fears of many have been largely dispelled; the defence generally looks assured and offers solid protection to Male in goal.
You might argue we went into the season light in the left back position, I’d say not really, with Cam John and Adam Crookes we had 2 solid players, unfortunately one is fragile and the other missed a few weeks with injury.
I’m undecided about Hinsh’s selection rotation, it could be argued it is disruptive to the team or it is a way of managing workloads across a long season whilst keeping the opposition on its toes. Whatever, so far, we seem to have been relatively lightly hit by injuries.
As for keeper rotation, tweaks in formation and deploying Ollie Pearce away from the main striker role, I have no insight or real answer. It has usually happened against the “better” sides, I might think he’s thinking to use our best players and attack the better opposition as they’re more likely to let us play than many of the teams lower down the table. All I can say is I hope Hinsh has learnt his lesson.
As we approach the last few weeks of the season, we are well placed in the table, indeed surpassing the expectations of many supporters.
The positives far outweigh the negatives, long may it continue.
This article originally appeared in the Y Front fanzine. Buy it every month.
After City - Mark Sertori Shortly after Mark “Carlo” Sertori joined City, someone once said "we hit rock bottom and then started digging".
We definitely did if we thought he and fellow veteran Halifax teammate Kevin Hulme could improve us. Manager Neil Thompson thought could. He didn’t last long and Sertori and Hulme lasted only a little longer.
Sertori was a rugged lower league bruiser centre back / defensive midfield enforcer (to put it politely). The only lasting impression he made at City was probably on the shins of a number of opponents.
Amazingly, he made the England bench at the 2010 World Cup, albeit as a physio sitting alongside Fabio Capello. His role with the England FA continued and he was part of the Euro 2016 England back room staff before leaving the role in September 2017. He was often spotted on England’s bench during games and tournaments.
Shortly after England appointed Capello in December 2007, the FA appointed Sertori, who speaks Italian to a native level, to his back room team.
Post playing, Sertori had trained as a physio / masseur and worked with Bolton and Newcastle. He joined Manchester City in May 2008 where he undertook various physio / sports therapist roles, his last job title was Sports Therapist.
That tells only a part of what he contributed, he was a friend and confidante of players and key to the culture, “Mark is more than a work colleague, he is now also a close friend and has always been there for me", said John Stones. Pep Guardiola noted “I’ve worked with Mark for a number of years at Man City, he has helped me and my staff cement with everyone, to develop the correct cultural atmosphere, so that the team thrives on trying to win. He is organised and works in a good medical team.”
On June 21st 2023, he was reunited with Vincent Kompany as Burnley's Head of Performance and Player Care.
PS. Don’t confuse him with Italian born Carlo Sartori (note the different spelling) who was a member of Manchester United’s 1968‘s European Cup winning side during a lengthy career as a Red Devil squad member.
Tom Cursons I’ve finally achieved one of my remaining footballing ambitions. I’ve played in the same side as a professional footballer.
Can I say, when I did, I was head and shoulders above him ability wise, although I wouldn’t go as far as to say I taught him all he knows.
Growing up in south London, Tom Cursons played for amateur teams, never going near a professional academy, before doing various sports nutrition / science courses at Nottingham’s universities and playing for several minor clubs in the area.
Possibly his first footballing highlight was spending most of 2022 with Gainsborough in the Northern Premier League before dropping back down the pyramid to play for local Nottingham teams.
It was late 2023 that he caught the attention of Ilkeston Town, another Northern Premier League side. He did enough, 12 goals in his last 10 games, at the end of the 2023/4 season to earn a new contract for this, the 2024/5, season.
Goals have flown in for him this season, 25 goals in 30 appearances, including a nine minute hat trick on New Year’ Day. Before Christmas a raft of clubs, largely midlands based, were regularly scouting him, all bound by the transfer window. There was reported interest from Derby County, Bolton Wanderers, Barnsley and Peterborough United. He was known to York City.
At 23, some might say he is old to be starting a professional football career. Others might say he has been playing “men’s football” every week for the last 5 years. In comparison, Tony Canham was older and Jamie Vardy even older when they made their Football League debuts after graduating from non league football.
Tom Cursons signed for Harrogate Town in early January (2025) for an undisclosed fee. Straight away he was in their first team squad and making first team appearances off the bench. Again I suspect Harrogate don’t have a great programme of reserve team football, so it is up to Tom as to whether he makes the grade or not.
Given professional club’s academies and the games they play, the non league route might suit even more players.
Already this season, we’ve see City’s latest 2 academy graduates, Bill Marshall and Leon Gibson-Booth cast aside. It remains to be seen what happens to them in the future. Hopefully both can further their football careers, but again it shows the chasm between academy and first team football when there is no proper pathway.
Before them, other ex-City scholars have drifted around the lower levels of Yorkshire non league football and fallen into paid employment, even an Asda delivery driver earns more than a young squad player.
For City, does the 2025/6 development squad give hope to our youngsters? I hope so.
PS When my kids were about 9 and 5, Tom Cursons was about 7, his brother was 2 years younger. The Cursons boys were regular visitors to their gran, my next door neighbour. The youngsters would regularly play 2 a side football in our back garden, canes for goalposts and touchlines bounded by a greenhouse and vegetable patch. Given the age differences between the 2 sides, I often helped out on the Cursons’ boys side, I lost count of the number of inch perfect through balls I played in for Tom to smash home a goal past my own son.
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Issue #51: City’s Best Ever Side – Attack
So how do you select an “All Time Best Ever City Team”? Having already named 9 players, we finish with 2 strikers where the ground rules include the level the players performed at for City with only their City career being considered.
For strikers, City have had an abundance of talent. Strong arguments could be made for 3 or 4 partnerships. Arthur Bottom / Norman Wilkinson, Ted MacDougall / Phil Boyer, Jimmy Seal / Chris Jones and Keith Walwyn / John Byrne. Add in Joe Hulme, Alf Patrick, Paul Aimson, Paul Barnes and Richard Cresswell and you are spoilt for choice.
Norman Wilkinson and Arthur Bottom starred in 1955. Paul Aimson would be a popular choice for the most accomplished striker, a role that John Byrne filled a generation later. Byrne / Keith Walwyn were a potent strike force and Paul Barnes in the 1990s had a real eye for goal.
That’s even before we consider the Ted MacDougall / Phil Boyer partnership that briefly flourished in our late 60s re-election years. Perhaps, Boyer got the best out of MacDougall who was an out and out goal machine. Both went onto play top flight football for a number of years as well as respectively gaining full England and Scotland caps. They both made their name with City and went onto have top fight careers.
Some might suggest Paul Barnes, another prolific scorer who went on to have a successful career at a higher level, but in the scheme of things eclipsed by others. A nod also to Joe Hulme, signed from non league football in 1922. He didn’t have a particularly impressive City career but moved to Blackburn in 1924 and onto Arsenal where he won 9 England caps scoring 4 goals and winning a bagful of domestic honours as Arsenal were the dominant force in English football.
Going 442, we need 2 strikers, my starting point would be Norman Wilkinson and Keith Walwyn, our 2 leading all time scorers.
In 12 seasons, Wilkinson scored 143 goals in 401 games, fractionally more than one every 3 games, scoring 23 in his first season, our FA Cup semi final season, a number he never came close to beating again. Over the next 10 seasons, he averaged 12 goals a season, his best being 18 in the 1956/7 season and he played in City’s first 2 promotion campaigns. Noted as a fine header (one friend got dragged along to a reserve team game in 1966 just so his Dad could say his son had seen Wilkinson play). Exceptional in the air, but maybe not possessing electric pace, Malcolm Huntington believed his powerful movement and anticipation were unmatched, “He was the best player off the ball that I have seen in all my years of reporting on York City, all his team-mates used to say that when they had the ball, Norman was always in a position to receive it. He was an option at all times. In hindsight, he would probably have been a better choice for Player of the Millennium than Barry Swallow.”
That said, given his scoring rate (and 2 relegation seasons), Wilkinson is overlooked in favour of his team-mate ARTHUR BOTTOM. During his City career, Bottom scored almost twice as fast as Wilkinson, scoring nearly 2 goals in every 3 matches. In his first season with City, Bottom scored 31 league goals (equalling Billy Fenton’s club record) which he matched a season later. In less than 4 seasons with City, he scored 105 goals in 158 games. A move to Newcastle followed in February 1958, his 7 goals in 8 games helped to maintain Newcastle’s top flight status. Despite 3 in 3 at the start of the next season, he was allowed to join Division 3 North side Chesterfield in October 1958 after the arrival of Welsh international Ivor Allchurch. He failed to impress at Saltergate and left League football in 1960 at the relatively young age of 30. If he’d not left City, he could easily have ended up as City’s all time top scorer. Leaving out Wilkinson was the hardest call to make in selecting this side, but perhaps he owes his all time leading City scorer status to his longevity.
Alongside Arthur Bottom is KEITH WALWYN, another prolific scorer. In 6 seasons with City, he scored 24 or more goals in 5 seasons and suffered an achilles injury in the other which saw him miss nearly half the season. Powerful in the air and on the ball, he was a handful for any defence. There was a popular theory at the time that he didn’t have the close control to be successful at a higher level, but one that could be argued against considering his performances against Liverpool and Arsenal across 5 games when he was a consistent threat to some of the best defenders in the country, if not Europe. Whilst enjoying every minute of his 6 years, I would have liked to have seen him prove he could do it at a higher level. Anyone who has seen City’s 6 Football League promotion campaigns (dating back to 1959) would probably put Walwyn above Seal, Jones and Barnes whilst his strike partner John Byrne, who later enjoyed a successful top flight career, didn’t do enough for City to make the team.
Note, the striker selection goes against David Batters' judgement where he named Paul Aimson as City's best ever striker. My justification being that Bottom had a far superior strike rate than any other City post WW2 striker and Walwyn scored more goals (and at a better strike rate) than Aimson.
So anyone care to name City side to beat this City team? Kiely; McMillan, Swallow, Topping, Burrows; McCarthy, Spence, Holmes, Fenton; Bottom, Walwyn;
Let Michael know if you disagree.
Elastic Bands In a recent idle moment I looked at the Football League tables from the 1992/3 season, the first season of the Premier League (22 teams), the season in which increasingly we are told that football began.
From that season, 12 of the Premier League teams are still in the PL today and 8 more have dropped into the Championship. From that season’s Championship, 9 teams are still there today. 5 have climbed into the PL whilst 10 are playing in in Division 1 or lower.
Across all 4 leagues, the majority of teams in each division are still playing within one division of where they were that season. That applied to 90% of 1992/3 PL, and 75%, 79% and 65% of teams in the lower leagues.
Division 4 being the lowest percentage given 7 teams have dropped 2 or more divisions and are now playing in regional National League or lower. All have suffered severe financial difficulties, some have reformed and others have started again at the bottom of the football pyramid.
I’ve often thought about football clubs having both a natural home and a glass ceiling, a ceiling that they cannot breach, now I’m thinking elastic bands.
City played Brentford in Division 3 in 1997 and both Bournemouth and Brighton in Division 4 since 2000. All 3 now play in the PL. Can they maintain their PL status in the medium or longer term? Personally, I don’t think so.
Bournemouth bob between PL and Championship, the likes of WBA, Norwich and Watford did similar before their magic formulas faded and they returned to their natural home. The elastic might stretch, but it will eventually pull the clubs back to their natural homes.
I might suggest Swansea are the most elastic club. In 2 separate spells in the last 50 years, they have enjoyed top half finishes in the top division, the last as recently as 2015. In between they plummeted to Division 4 on 3 separate occasions and today might be considered to be playing at (or slightly above) their natural level.
Stoke and Swansea are 2 clubs that many thought were becoming established PL clubs. Swansea, latterly under Roberto Martínez and Brendan Rodgers had an attractive playing style. It didn’t last. Later, Stoke under Tony Pulis were looking to become an established PL team with a very different style but when Pulis tried to change it, the new signings didn’t work, form slumped and relegation soon followed. It only takes a poor managerial appointment or a bad transfer window to reverse years of good work.
What about City?
The above chart shows City’s league position every year since the end of regionalised football in 1958. We peaked at 37th position in 1975 (the real Division 2). The glory years of Denis Smith and Alan Little are identified by the peaks in the low 50s.
A lot of the smaller peaks and troughs represent Division 3 and Division 4 seasons whilst the dip in recent years corresponds to our non league years. Given the depth and breadth of the pyramid, we plummeted to 140th in 2019 in National League North. See City's league position in every season.
To me, the obvious factor is that City tend to operate in a narrow band, yes, there are peaks and troughs but overall City operate in our happy place (that is, if you call Division 4 a happy place). When we stretch the elastic band, its elasticity pulls us back, we are unable to snap it and permanently move to a different stratosphere.
City are no different to nearly every other club, we have a natural home and that is where we will usually to be found it.
Indeed, going back to the first Premier League season, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Spurs finished the season in the top of half of the table. Sounds familiar? Likewise, the 2 imposters in the top flight that season, AFC Wimbledon and Oldham have dropped down to their more natural home.
It all goes to show that clubs have natural homes, natural levels and it isn’t easy to permanently change them.
Tamworth - Coming Soon If Tamworth were hoping to drum up interest in their FA Cup game with Spurs (January 2025), they couldn’t have hoped for more publicity than when they announced their ticket prices. Effectively, most prices were doubled when compared to their league games. Top priced, Main Stand tickets were £42.
Hardest hit were the Under 17s who were expected to pay £34 / £30 (a near four fold increase for those under 15) and a much bigger increase for the Under 10s.
It sounds outrageous, but on consideration, adult fans paid twice as much for the Spurs game as they would for league games this season against City or the likes of Ebbsfleet or AFC Fylde.
As usual, Tamworth and Spurs had agreed ticket prices, so Tamworth is not the only team to blame for the price hike. If their ground was full of full priced paying fans, than after the usual deductions (VAT, policing / stewarding and away team expenses were probably the biggest), both clubs will have expected to pocket around £50,000 in gate receipts.
For Tamworth, there was also a TV hosting fee (bigger than their share of gate receipts) and other matchday income (glossy souvenir programmes, food /drink sales and merchandise), although many clubs, City included, have found such income doesn’t increase in line with a bigger crowd due to ground logistics (you can’t just conjure up 5 times as many sales points by magic). Meanwhile, their loser’s prize money was £25,000 (with £115,000 to Spurs).
It will have been be a big day for Tamworth and they will have had a bumper pay day but I doubt if it will be life changing amount. That would have come with a draw and a replay at Spurs but the Premier League saw fit to close down that option for small clubs this season when scrapping replays.
It might have been beneficial to Tamworth to issue priority vouchers for a league game (they played City and Forest Green on Boxing Day). Vouchers would have seen increased support and extra match day income (and no need to split it with the opponents) without alienating some of their fanbase. Clubs like Tamworth have to do everything they can to maximise their income. Unfortunately, if that meant pricing out some of their season ticket holders and most loyal supporters, then so be it. It remains to be seen whether those supporters come back onside. I don't agree with what Tamworth did, but it was an inevitable consequence of scrapping cup replays. Clubs like Tamworth have to do everything in their power to maximise their income.
I bet Spurs didn’t do a City (at Biggleswade), but kept their share of the gate receipts.
It isn’t the first time that that clubs have increased ticket prices for big games and it won’t be the last.
Indeed, in 1938 when City enjoyed our first really big cup run there were big ticket price increases. At the time, match day Main Stand tickets (seated) cost 10p, the Enclosure (open, standing) was 7.5p and Popular Stand (covered, standing) and ground admission (behind both goals) was 5p. All 4 cup games saw new ground attendance records set at Bootham Crescent, the quarter final against Huddersfield saw 28,123 pass through the turnstiles, it remained the all time ground record attendance.
All in all, across the 4 rounds, Main Stand prices increased five fold, Imagine if today City were to put up prices from £22 to £110 (500%). Enclosure and Popular Stand prices went up by 267% and 300% respectively.
The only part of the ground that wasn’t affected was general ground admission, behind the goals, and that is where the vast majority of City supporters watched the games. Prices remained at 5p per round as City directors took the decision that many working class men would struggle to pay more than 5p.
City weren’t the first team to increase price for a big game and Tamworth will not be the last.
Sutton Takeaway Once again, an old boy came back haunt us. This time, Will Davies. On his arrival at City the mood music was good, he’d given up a lucrative financial job in the City to follow his dream of being a professional footballer and that having rejected several offers, it wasn’t money but the prospect of regular first team football that drew him to York City.
Checking back on some of the early social media postings, the overwhelming view was that he was a good signing, although one old grump (it wasn’t me) warned about the perils of first impressions.
I think it was on Radio York that I heard Davies positively mentioned in the same sentence as Harry Kane.
3 goals in his first 9 City appearances suggested that he had potential and that he might make the grade. Some said he’d be even better if he didn’t spend a lot of time falling over and generally niggling away at the opposition.
Front the outside, what came first is anyone’s guess, add into the mix, City’s decline under Neal Ardley, personal circumstances and the arrival of Hinsh, somehow Davies lost his way, big time.
His last City appearance was at Altrincham. 2 weeks later he joined high flying Bromley on loan. Within 3 months, his contract was paid up and he left City.
This season, his first full season as a professional footballer, his 2 LNER goals make it 11 (3 against City) in the National League this season, not too bad for a mid table side.
Hinsh has often spoken about the need for good characters. For whatever reason, Davies didn’t pass the test and given his playing time under Hinsh, wasn’t considered to be a player to take forward. Whilst I applaud Hinsh’s desire for a team of good characters, does every team really need every player to be a good character? Indeed, what is a good character? Nice personality, character traits or anyone of a thousand and one other things. There are plenty of HR experts that say a team needs a diverse range of character traits, all adding to the sum of the group.
Looking across today’s City side, they all seem nice, getting on well with each other. What we might miss on the pitch is a bit of hardiness or nastiness. How many Sean Haslegrave or Nigel Pepper type players have we had recent years?
In group of around 30 people, it is not unreasonable that not everyone is everyone else’s best buddy, but it should be the role of the group leaders to keep harmony and to pull back into the group those who are drifting away, personal or professional wise.
Was Will Davies a “bad character” or a “bad egg”, we might never know.
Another take from the Sutton game was Matt Uggla’s post match tweet.
Can I say the sooner we get out of this league the better. There is an increasing groundswell of opinion to say that City are buying the league. We’re in danger of turning from a “nice friendly and inoffensive little club” to everyone’s number one enemy. Apart from our direct title rivals, I’d name Yeovil and now Sutton amongst that growing club.
I can’t see Matt Uggla’s tweet endearing City to many other clubs or their fans, indeed, probably the opposite.
At this rate, soon it will be only Altrincham and Southend that don’t hate us.
The same “buying the league” comment is levelled at Birmingham and Wrexham amongst others, it is an unnecessary tag which invariably means opposition raise their game just a little bit when playing us.
Unfortunately, some tweets and actions attract much more publicity than others. Donating funds to Southend and Biggleswade barely raised national interest whilst since the Ugglas arrived, City’s community involvement seems to have grown considerably, however, again, much good work has hardly been noticed.
I for one take pride in City being that “freindly little club”.
Darts Welcome to the York City World Darts Championship, live from the Truckers Tavern on the A1 just outside Gainsborough.
We were hoping to bring live pictures, but heavy snow started to fall just after York’s team coach arrived making it impossible for the TV cameras to get here.
Plans to use the assistant referee’s number board to score fell through as it was deemed too complicated to work and only went up to number 99, so Cam Morrison was roped in with his magic clipboard to keep score. All games were played over one leg of 501.
We join the competition at the quarter final stage. There were some wayward darts in the earlier rounds. Harrison Male refused to take his gloves off and despite Dipo Akinyemi’s style and poise, some of his finishing was off target as he failed to make the quarter finals.
A number of players refused to participate, they claimed darts is not a sport and as a pub game would be more appropriate for City teams of old.
QUARTER FINAL #1: Dan “Metronome” Batty (40 needed (15 darts)) LOST TO Adam “Chesterfield Spire” Crookes (501 (13 darts)). Aiming for double top for the win, Batty’s last dart went well over double top and he left the door open for Crookes.
QUARTER FINAL #2: Rory “Deputy” Watson (2 needed (18 darts)) LOST TO Bill “Young Bill” Marshall (501 (17 darts)). Inexperience showed and despite Watson being handicapped by wearing his gloves on cold evening, the tie saw a close contest all the way with Watson just not good enough. During this game, more doubles and trebles were downed in the saloon bar than the game.
QUARTER FINAL #3: Callum “Captain, Leader, Legend” Howe (501 (13 darts)) BEAT Ollie “Sharp Shooter” Pearce (501 needed (12 darts)). The heavyweight tie of the round turned into a damp squib as Howe put his head and body in the way of every Pearce shot as he failed to trouble the scorer. If Howe plays in any upcoming games wearing a head bandage, it is because of the darts and if he doesn’t, the wounds were more serious than first thought. Meanwhile, the crowd denied their chance to cheer a Pearce 180, raised their 180 foam hands in anticipation of the number of goals he’ll score in his City career.
QUARTER FINAL #4: Joe “Littler” Felix (501 (15 darts)) BEAT Paddy “Ever Ready” McLaughlin (99 needed (12 darts). Possibly the poorest darts of the round, Paddy, pre tourney favourite of many given the huge amount of time he has spent practicing over the last few months, never got into his rhythm. Joe Felix displayed an unusual tactic, using a stool to stand on and then again to retrieve his darts from the board.
SEMI FINAL #1: Adam “Chesterfield Spire” Crookes (Default) LOST TO Bill “Young Bill” Marshall (Walk Over). Crookes succumbed to injury and withdrew with an aching shoulder after the warm up.
SEMI FINAL #2: Joe “Littler” Felix (501 (14 darts)) BEAT Callum “Captain, Leader, Legend” Howe (122 needed (12 darts)). Howe’s tactics were scuppered by an early yellow card for encroachment at the oche.
FINAL: Joe “Littler” Felix (12 needed (9 darts)) LOST TO Bill “Young Bill” Marshall (501 (9 darts)). The start was delayed when Felix went missing. Just as the referee was about to default him, he came sprinting into the arena, darts in one hand and stool in the other. He’d been practising and it almost proved worthwhile, his improvement was massive as he narrowly missed double 12 to win in 9 darts. Opponent, Marshall impressed and checked out in 9 darts to become the youngest ever winner of the World Darts Championship. Surely one for the future? In his post match interview, he said, “I owe it all to my mentors, without Paddy and Lenny I would not be the player I am today”. A few minutes later, he received his prize in a sealed envelope from Hinsh. On opening it, he asked, “Which ways is Ally Pally?” and walked out.
U Right – Bumper Edition Dear Y Front,
Why does Hinshelwood persist with getting City to play out from the back.
I listen to Talksport every day and watch Match Of The Day twice a week. Without fail, I hear the pundits and experts (and presenters) say only top teams and top players can play that way.
It takes a top class coach, like Pep Guardiola to make a success of that style.
Count the number of sloppy goals we’ve conceded by playing this football.
Yet week in, week out, Hinshelwood does the same. Malachi Fagan-Walcott is no Virgil Van Dyk and Joe Felix is no Kyle Walker. Don’t get me started on Felix, Trent Alexander-Arnold, the God who can do no wrong, an England international might be able to move seamlessly between right back and central midfield and give world class performances in both positions, but how does Hinshelwood expect a lowly non league player to do the same?
We should stick to what our players are capable of doing, that is up and under balls, agricultural non league football and hope the big lad upfront can use his height to nod in a goal or two, failing that, bring back an over weight striker (we have plenty to pick from) and with any aimless long ball played in his general direction, he is liable to take a bad first touch or see the ball take a ricochet off one of his extremities and end up in the our opponent’s net.
It ended badly for Russell Martin at Southampton and as sure as for every sacked manager there are 50 candidates wanting his job, it will end badly for Hinshelwood.
Yours,
Mick Myopic, Jurassic Park
Our Reply: Judge Adam Hinshelwood by results not principles.
Dear Y Front,
My boss seems to think I’ve lost my way so now I’m living in digs in Kidderminster and helping the needy.
Now I’m even struggling to get into Kidderminster‘s team and I’m only getting a few minutes game time at the end of matches.
I fear I may never find my way back to York.
Yours,
Maz, Kidderminster
Our Response: Be thankful for small mercies, you could be in Ebbsfleet under the false impression that your manager has sold you the idea of being a ball playing, continental style centre back with promises of a Eurostar train ride to play for a top club in Paris.
Dear Y Front Fanzine,
As an ex City player I wonder if you could put in a good word with your manager and owner.
My team is struggling and we are in desperate need of players of good characters to reverse our misfortunes, especially since we seem to have an ever increasing injury list.
Yours,
Jono, Scaborough
Our Response: We sympathise with you dilemma but in our experience you need to instil good culture and ethos by placing good characters at the top and in key positions throughout the organisation before bringing in new players.
Equally, we sympathise with your injury dilemma, we have noted how injured racehorses and donkeys get better more quickly when they canter in salty water, apparently it is good for their bones, so we suggest you try training on the local beach and in the sea.
Issue #50: City’s Best Ever Side – Midfield
So how do you select an “All Time Best Ever City Team”? Having previously named a keeper and back 4, today it is the turn of the midfield 4 in our 442 formation where the ground rules include the level the players performed at for City with only their City career being considered.
Having a long held belief that John Woodward slots into central midfield in our Worst Ever XI, I could even consider promoting him to the best ever side. A former Scotland B international, in 7 seasons, he was a regular for only 3 seasons (1973-6, 1974 promotion and 2 seasons in Division 2), perhaps his versatility counted against him as he played in various positions in midfield and defence. Before the advent of forensic analysis, he was the quiet, holding midfield player who to the untrained eye did nothing, whilst the flair of Ian Holmes alongside him provided the excitement. Like Woodward, Holmes took time to establish himself in City’s side, cementing a place in central midfield in November of the 1973/4 promotion season. He played every game of the following season, but wasn’t to reach the same heights again as City suffered back to back relegations.
Swann, like Ian Holmes shone only briefly. Signed in the summer of 1973, he didn’t establish himself in midfield until that November but proved to be a revelation, his surging runs through central midfield thrilled the crowd when the wide players were usually Barry Lyons and Ian Butler, fine players in their own right, but both were nearing the ends of long and successful careers and in their time with City noted for their craft and guile rather than long and mazy runs. An assured penalty taker he was another who adapted well to Division 2 before losing his way under Wilf McGuinness.
The Nigel Pepper / Gary Swann partnership shone briefly. The antics of Nigel Pepper are well documented, he was a fearsome presence in midfield. His tackling often saw him end up in the referee’s notebook (and sometimes an early bath). Beside him, Swann wasn’t so noticeable, but quietly went about his business. Between them, they dominated central midfield in a way that we have rarely seen at Bootham Crescent. Quietly and with some aggression, holding midfield, they’d break up opposing attacks and ping balls to Jon McCarthy and Tony Canham. Pepper was a regular in midfield for 7 seasons as City won on their first trip to Wembley and beat Manchester United and Everton in the League Cup.
Eamon Dunphy and Billy Rudd will be in the thinking of supporters who saw them in the 1960s, but you need to go back to the 1955 Happy Wanderers where the real challengers for a central midfield berth are to be found. Gordon Brown originally an inside forward dropped back into midfield where he was partnered by Ron Spence, a City legend. Spence was one of the stars of our 1954/5 FA Cup run and despite 18 months out with a knee injury, he returned to play the final 3 games of our 1958 FA Cup run. However, he wasn't the same player as before and was never again a City regular, failing to play at all in his final season. In total, he made 306 appearances and scored 26 goals for City, his only Football League club. To the older City supporters, Spence was a hard working, combative and tireless attacking left wing half (central midfield) known for his surging runs as we reached the 1955 FA Cup semi final. With Gordon Brown at right wing half, Spence tended to be deployed in a slightly more defensive role. After a long playing career, Spence joined City’s back room staff in 1963 and served in various roles, including physio, trainer, coach and youth team manager until 1975. Maybe not the first name to spring to mind from our 1955 side, but David Batters once described him as a “key man” of that side.
An honourable mention for Scott Kerr, Malcolm Huntington cited him for inclusion in a City Ever Best XI stating, “Kerr’s the only one of the present (2011/2) team in my best ever York City XI, he’s a fantastic midfield general with real leadership qualities.”
Ron Spence was more defensively minded than Gordon Brown and that just edges RON SPENCE into the side as a defensive midfield enforcer alongside the more attack minded IAN HOLMES.
Reviewing the side a few years after I put it together, central midfield is the one area where might change it, I’m still tempted to go for the Pepper / Swann axis that performed so well together, perhaps, a little more solid and defensive minded in the centre than Ian Holmes.
Over the years City have been spoiled for flying wingers.
Billy Hughes and Billy Fenton from our 1955 side stand out. A couple of personal favourites are Archie Taylor (possibly the fastest winger I’ve seen play for City) and Tommy Henderson (short lived but a tricky winger with a powerful shot). Brian Pollard deserves a mention, playing in 2 City promotion sides 10 years apart. In Denis Smith’s 1984 Division 4 Championship winning side , the veteran Pollard was joined by young gun Gary Ford in the wide roles. Both were stalwarts and loyal servants for a number of years.
Tony Canham was to replace Pollard and later alongside Jon McCarthy, they thrilled City fans for several seasons as City made solid progress up the Football League. From that Alan Little era, other wide men, Graeme Murty, Paul Stephenson and Jon Greening merit a mention, but none did enough to make the Final XI.
Latterly, Martyn Woolford deserves a mention, starting his professional career with non league City before spending a number of seasons at Championship level.
On reflection, BILLY FENTON deserves a place in the side. In 7 seasons with City, he scored a club record 31 in his first season and set a club record 118 goals in his City career. Those included goals against Spurs and Blackpool in the 1955 cup run so he could do it at against quality opposition. With pace to burn and an eye for goal he was always a handful. Fast forward 40 years and those same attributes earn JON McCARTHY a place in the side, he was always a joy to watch. Some suggested that he could have scored a hat trick for City at Wembley in 1993. He went onto play at a higher level and gained 18 full caps for Northern Ireland. Who knows how far he might have gone if he’d not broken a leg on 3 occasions after leaving City.
To re-cap, Kiely; McMillan, Swallow, Topping, Burrows; McCarthy, Spence, Holmes, Fenton; TBC, TBC;
Anyone care to name City side to beat them? Let Michael know if you disagree. Next time, 2 central strikers complete the line up.
50 Up In October (2024), when Lenell John-Lewis scored his 5th goal of the season, his 39th for City, I prepared a tweet, his 40th would take him level with Gordon Staniforth and Ted MacDougall in the upper echelons of City’s all top time goalscorers, putting himself in the company for some of City’s finest. Injury meant that tweet didn’t see the light of day, but I’m sure that with his scoring prowess he will be moving further up the list very soon.
This issue marks the 50th issue of Y Front, so in celebration, today some of City’s 50+ goal scorers are remembered.
To date, we have just 24 players who have reached that 50 goal milestone. Jon Parkin and Clayton Donaldson are the latest to join that list, a list which dates back to Sam Ranby in the 1920s. 10 achieved the feat in the last 40 years (including just 3 this millennium). I’ll let you decide whether that is a reflection on modern football or City.
Depending on your definition of a forward, mine says wingers of the 1950s are forwards but come the 80s, I’d classify Tony Canham as a forward, as defined by his long and mazy runs down the wing whilst on the other flank, I’d class Gary Ford as a midfielder, a more technical player, whilst able to take on and beat a defender, that wasn’t his number one strength. For me, that makes Gary Ford the only non forward on the list of City’s 50+ goal scorers.
In case you’re wondering, Derek Hood (36), John MacPhail (29) and Barry Swallow (27) are the top scorers amongst our more defensive minded players, in 2 cases, helped by a fair few penalties.
Today (October 2024), behind Lenny, at the start of this season, only Paddy McLaughlin (28) and Dipo Akinyemi (15) were in double figures in terms of City goals. At his current scoring rate, Ollie Pearce will be looking to overtake them both sooner rather than later.
Now the fun begins, of the more recent 50+ goal scorer brigade, who should we compare Y Front and Michael Miles to?
With his precision in front of goal and regularity of scoring does Michael compare to Paul Barnes, maybe precision, but I’m not so sure about his scoring prowess, but certainly every issue of Y Front has the class of Paul Aimson.
Talking of class, is Y Front the new John Byrne, it is full of clever ideas, reading it makes you want for more, but somehow I don’t see Michael swapping City for QPR, the glitz of West London and a pile of cash, indeed, increasingly we are seeing fanzines become the preserve of the smaller club.
Michael would need to shave his beard, tidy up his moustache and perm his hair before he’d have a chance of being compared to Gary Ford. Ditto Brian Pollard.
Alongside Byrne and Ford, we had Keith Walwyn. I can see the comparison, Y Front scores every month without fail, the issues come as often as a Walwyn goal, every other game. Hard work and perseverance are characteristics they share, hard working, neither ever give up. I’d like to count the hours Michael spends on City related matters, Y Front, socials, confidante to the great and good, sounding board, a compassionate ear for many and always there for someone who needs a little support or advice. That’s before we add in every home and away game. Likewise, Walwyn always gave at least 100%. It was a close run thing, but on reflection, unless Michael improves his upper body strength and engages a voice coach, I’m going to say no.
What about Tony Canham? Both hogged the touchline for years, whilst Canham terrorised many opposing defences, however, once an opposition fan has spoken to Michael, a new friendship is struck.
From a similar era, there is no comparison with Dale Banton, one had a tight perm and fashion sense, one had a yellow smock.
Of those who achieved 50 goals for City this millennium, all can quickly be dismissed, none are remotely comparable to Michael and Y Front. Richard Brodie had red cheeks, a bit of a temper and dozens of clubs. Y Front has one club, an occasional red cover and if he has red checks, them whatever he does in his private life stays private although having spent a lifetime supporting City I can imagine that Michael has taken plenty of canings and punishment in his time. Whilst Y Front often has an early morning greasy, beer laden full English breakfast in London before away games, Michael hasn’t got the expanding stomach of Jon Parkin. I must add each breakfast and pint of beer is consumed purely in the interest of research and none detract from Y Front’s editorial content.
That leaves Donaldson Clayton, despite Michael’s recent collaboration with artist Sue Clayton which resulted in City’s centenary art collection and later works, any rumours of a previous collaboration and that Donaldson is the secret lovechild of Michael and Sue can be quickly dismissed. No comparison.
So having ruled out all City’s prolific scorers from the last 40 years who is left?
Step forward Paddy McLaughlin.
Paddy is a likeable man who has found favour with countless City managers. He was offered a new 2 year contract last summer with Hinsh citing his leadership qualities and being good around the club. I don’t recall Hinsh bigging up his football skills in anyway, just his likeability and personality. I can vouch for Michael’s likeable personality, but not his footballing skills, but he has found his forte with Y Front.
Well done Michael and Y Front on the 50th issue, keep it up.
Looking ahead, Norman Wilkinson holds City’s club record of 143 goals, so by my reckoning at Michael’s prolific pace, we will hit issue of 144 of Y Front in about 2033. I for one can’t wait.
Players’ Xmas Party For most footballers, one of the highlight of the season is the “Christmas Do”, this season, Leicester’s players seemed to disgrace themselves in Belgium (although some might say they disgrace themselves most weeks). For clubs like City, the event is on a much lower scale. It is usually funded by the “disciplinary kitty”, the one where the players pay into when they receive avoidable red or yellow cards, or have been sanctioned for a club misdemeanour.
This season, with Hinsh being more selective on players' good character and recruitment and City’s good disciplinary record meant the kitty was empty. Even at City it is not unknown for a senior player, dropping down the divisions and having a final playing swansong, to stump up a couple of grand for the accommodation and to get the drinks’ kitty off to a good start.
This year, with City’s younger squad, one where the players are playing on their way up and not used to big wages, that was not an option.
Someone wanted to invite Clayton Donaldson, would he be the veteran on the way down to fund the do, others vetoed that as he’s part of management. Tyrese Sinclair refused to tap up his Dad, a veteran of 10 Premier League seasons.
So as a last resort to save the Christmas Do, Matt Uggla agreed to fly out to Dubai to tap up a few sheiks and government officials.
The Christmas Do was saved.
For City, a Saturday night stopover in Scarborough or Manchester has been a popular destination in the past. Harrison Male pushed for a weekend in Bridlington, his home town, the southern contingent quickly shut that one down, “never heard of it”, they echoed in unison.
Hinsh vetoed Dubai citing 2 long plane journeys. So it was decided, Newcastle after the FA Trophy tie, but only after Little Joe was assured he didn’t need his passport to go to Newcastle after he noted he’d never before been north of Wiggington and City’s training ground.
Playmaker Dan was assigned the role of organiser and fun maker whilst the players agreed that Paddy would use his local knowledge and reputation (“I once played for The Toon you know”) to get the players to the front of any long queues they encountered.
Pre the Darlo game, it was a simple captain’s team talk, “right lads, let’s win in 90 minutes, no penalty shoot out, no extra time, no rough stuff, we don’t want any black eyes or broken limbs tonight”. Match over, the players were soon changed and off to Newcastle via the Y22 bus and LNER trains, what could go wrong?
As the players checked into their hotel, the young Morpeth lads were waiting in the lobby, anticipating their first Christmas Do as professional footballers.
Dressed to impress, the lads soon assembled in the hotel lobby, they were joined by Dan in a comfy cardigan with a santa sack over his shoulder. “Right lads, let the fun begin, what’s first, a game of Frustration or Twister?” Alex said, “that is not the type of fun you were meant to arrange”. Storming out of the hotel, the players left Dan and Paddy behind to play a game of Monopoly.
It was a brisk walk down to Bigg Market on a freezing cold night. The ever polite Little Joe noted “it is so cold I’ve got bigger goose pimples than that attractive young lady whose showing off all her feminine charms”. The lady overhearing his comment shouted, ”come over her luv and you can warm you ears and anything else you want between ‘em”.
Blocked at the entrance to the first pub, “you’re not tall enough to be a keeper and you don’t look old enough to get in here” meant a quick run back to the hotel for Harry to get proof of his age.
Inside, the drinks flowed and good time was being had by all, that is, all except Ashley Nathaniel- George, his chat up line, “I score from 30 yards” causing one young lady’s face to fill with fear and dread thinking what might happen to her if she succumbed to him with her usual type measured in inches.
Leaving the bars behind and heading into a night club, our leading striker tried chatting up one young lady,
At the point, Ollie decided he’d need to change has chat up line, bragging to one girl, “new opponent, give me 10 minutes and I’ll score”, if only he hadn’t chosen the only wallflower in Newcastle.
Gobbing off, it seemed Ollie might incur the wrath of the locals. On one occasion, good guy Len defused the situation and on another, it took Rory cracking a couple of jokes and doing a spot of juggling to get Ollie out of a tight spot.
Later, in the nightclub, the players tried their luck on the crowded dance floor. Tyrese fell over his own feet a few times but didn’t do himself any injury and no one pulled a hamstring. Indeed no one pulled, although Sandy was rather coy at to his whereabouts on the numerous times he went missing in the nightclub. Come throwing out time at 6am, the dance floor was deserted expect for Little Joe who was still throwing all the shapes and had drawn a large group of admirers around him.
Back at the hotel, Sunday morning dawned. Slowly the players made their way down to breakfast. Eyes were red and blurred, some players were still sporting the same clothes as the night before.
Paddy suggested a walk and some light exercise to blow away the cobwebs. His suggestion fell on deaf ears when the joker in pack quickly got a large contingent on board for a lunchtime session. “Hey young Bill, are you joining us for a quick half?“, Bill, just had time to reply “No” before a swift dash to the toilets. He appeared a few minutes later, mobile in hand, ”Dad, can you come and take me home, I’m not feeling well, oh and can we take Leon back with us, he feels worse, oh and bring plenty of sick bags just in case”.
Monday and Tuesday were days off, so when the players returned for training on Wednesday, there were plenty of stories to be told, re-told and exaggerated.
There was plenty of banter, Ollie produced his bed post from the hotel. On one side, there were 12 notches, presumably one for each of his Vanarama goals, the 6 on the other side were the subject of much conjecture whilst Rick was busily keeping himself to himself polishing his boots with his new line in scented, black frilly laced wipes (and when no one was looking, taking a long sniff of the scent). In the other corner, Paddy and Dan were romping through their sudoku.
The usual players’ bond was in place, ”what happens on tour, stays on tour”, so the rest I’ll leave to your imagination.
Some names have been changed to protect the innocent and some scenes have been added or enhanced for effect.
Enjoy It While You Can Half way through the (2024/5) season and City are well on course for a good finish.
In our entire history, we have only one title, the 1984 Division 4 Championship, to our name.
1974 saw us finish 3rd, a penultimate game defeat cost us the title and in 2020 we were placed 2nd behind Kings Lynn on points per game in the first covid hit season. We also hit 3rd place in both our 1959 and 1965 promotion seasons.
Beyond those seasons, we generally don’t go deep into a season as title challengers.
In our other 3 promotion seasons, you could say we struggled over the line in 4th place, albeit twice via glorious days out at Wembley.
Older readers than I might argue that we were in with a shout of the Division 3 North title in 1955, but our FA Cup run and the back log of league fixtures scuppered any title hopes.
Since 1929, in 87 seasons of league football, we have just 11 top 4 finishes, contrast that to 21 bottom 4 finishes.
Across those seasons, our average league position is 14th.
That’s not a great success record. In my time, 1985 and 1994 are the only post promotion seasons where we have mounted another promotion challenge, although given our lofty status, many would say mid table in the 1974/5 season was a decent result.
Enjoy it while you can.
Rainbow Laces And More In late November (2024), the Premier League held its annual rainbow laces campaign. Sam Morsy refused to wear his rainbow captain’s armband whilst Marc Guehi wrote "I love Jesus” on his. I believe nothing happened in the Morsy case whilst the FA wrote to Guehi to remind him that religious messaging isn’t allowed.
Is it time that football stopped its campaigning role?
In the Premier League alone we have 20 different clubs and well over 500 diverse players drawn from all over the world. No one can expect all of them to agree on any one campaigning issue.
How much is done just for show?
Some see the taking the knee as being contentious. In July 2024, following Argentina's Copa America triumph, Chelsea captain Enzo Fernandez and other Argentinian players were captured on video chanting alleged racist chants about the origin of France national team players. The debate seemed to centre on what one culture sees as banter, another might portray as racist. I believe no one was formally actioned.
Just a few weeks later, day one of the new Premier League season, Fernandez is taking the knee with his teammates. Given his Copa America actions, was it heartfelt or just for show and unity?
At the time, I might have felt it was just for show.
A few weeks later, in a square in Spain, whilst deciding which restaurant to eat at, outside one restaurant, one waiter said something which referenced his black face. At the time, I was a little taken aback, someone referencing his own colour like that. On reflection, it only served to re-inforce the argument that different cultures see things differently and take offence differently.
Maybe footballing authorities should rein back what they campaign for, after all, the vast majority of players are active on social media, the leading ones count their followers in thousand, or more. They are perfectly free to push their own agendas in that space and not be force fed by the authorities.
We’ll never live in a society where everyone agrees with everyone else and every agenda.
There are very few, if any, causes which would generate universal support.
James McClean being a prime example, given his upbringing, he has spoken out about his reasons for not wearing the Remembrance Day poppy, including a reasonable explanation of what it would take for him to wear the poppy. That said, he is vilified for his headline stance of refusal to wear the poppy.
The FA has already toned down their stance on lighting up the Wembley Arch, maybe they should think about a similar stance on other campaigns.
“I score more often than Alan Shearer”.
“Never heard of him, whose he?” she queried.
“Newcastle’s legendary goal scorer”.
“Oh, me grandma sometimes talks about him, he’s ancient”, deflated Ollie gave up on that lass.
Issue #49: City’s Best Ever Side – Defence
So how do you select an “All Time Best Ever City Team”? Having put Dean Kiely in goal, attention turns to the back 4 in a 442 formation where the ground rules include the level the players performed at for City with only their City career being considered.
I’ve gone for full backs of a “modern era” although both our 1955 Happy Wanderers full backs Phillips, Ernie and George Howe, stalwarts of that side deserve serious consideration. Phillips had a fairly illustrious career before ending his professional career with 4 seasons at Bootham Crescent. Equally, George Howe, a few months younger than Phillips spent his last 8 seasons with City. Whilst not discrediting his performance in keeping Stanley Matthews, still a top class player, quiet in our 1955 cup tie at Blackpool, it should be noted that Matthews was just a few weeks short of his 40th birthday at time. Of the 2, I might just rank Phillips higher than Howe, someone who had a fine all round game for his era. Undoubtedly fine full backs, in their era, defenders defended and rarely, if ever, crossed the half way line. Even in the late 1960s, Mr Somerset, my primary school sports master wouldn’t let his full backs cross the half way line, even for corners.
It is interesting to note the goal scoring records of our full backs, commonly perceived as being on the short side and so therefore not a real threat at set pieces. Our 2 1955 Happy Wanderers scored just 2 goals in 521 games for City. In the 1970s era, Phil Burrows netted 15 goals from 390 games, whilst his right back colleagues John Mackin and later John Stone (a prolific centre forward as a youth player) netted 13 times in 282 games. Moving into the 1990s, Wayne Hall and Andy McMillan netted 16 times from 930 games for City. Of those, only Hall was noted as a free kick expert or penalty taker.
From Phil Burrows onwards, all the full back candidates could add attacking flair to their game. Burrows truly embodied a professional footballer, a good all round game, never gave less than 100% and a firm fans’ favourite.
His right back partners, Mackin and Stone, whilst decent players were functional rather than outstanding. After them, Peter Scott filled the right back berth. Although the player who has won the most full international caps whilst with City, he failed to adequately fill the boots.
Denis Smith ’s leading full backs, Chris Evans and Alan Hay were steady, but in a good team, perhaps, the last names on the team sheet.
The demise of Smith’s side saw 2 young full backs cement their place in City’s side and City folklore. Andy McMillan and Wayne Hall and were to star for City for many seasons. Andy McMillan made his debut in late 1987 as Bobby Saxton struggled to assemble a competitive side. Immediately, Andy McMillan stood out as a worthy addition to City’s side. He allied sound defending with a willingness to overlap down the right wing, later forming a potent partnership with Jon McCarthy. Although he spent the majority of his career with City, he was regularly watched (and had trials) with several top clubs.
Wayne Hall, signed from non league football, made his debut in August in 1989. Like McMillan, he could both defend and attack and for many years was to link up and down the left wing with Tony Canham.
Both full backs were to serve City for 12 years, Hall making 438 appearances and McMillan 492, second only Barry Jackson in City’s all time list.
When in full flow, they provided the most wing excitement seen at Bootham Crescent since the glory days of the Happy Wanderers.
Sadly, their demise has heralded a lean period in City’s history, one is which possibly only James Meredith could be named as a City (left) full back of quality. Even then, he failed when on trial with City under Billy McEwan in 2007 and was a free transfer signing by Martin Foyle over 2 years later. In his 3 years with City, he was an able incumbent in a problem position. His time with City ended in the 2012 with our Wembley double week. Out of contract, he moved to Bradford City and later Millwall whilst gaining full Australian caps.
I suspect of all the positions in the team, those lucky enough to have seen all the main candidates play would strongly agree on only one position. For me that’s enough for PHIL BURROWS to earn his place in the side. At right back, I’d slot in ANDY McMILLAN, a popular and long serving stalwart of all the successful 1990s City sides.
Centre half throws up some solid partnership. Barry Swallow / Chris Topping in the1970s and John MacPhail / Ricky Sbragia in the 1980s stand out. Both had a team leader and a solid doer alongside him. The 1990s pairing wasn’t quite as significant, featuring Paul Stancliffe, Ray Warburton, Tony Barras, Steve Tutill and Paul Atkin. All solid players, but not really Best XI contenders. Stancliffe, at the end of his career, still had class, as did Warburton who was injury prone. Then the fact that 5 can be named suggests that there was no one outstanding pairing.
Going back in time, Barry Jackson played across 3 decades in setting a club record of 539 appearances, but during his time, City were twice relegated (each time after just one season in Division 3) and applied for re-election on 5 occasions. A home grown player and dominant centre half, he was a popular figure. In1970, during City’s epic 3 game FA Cup tie against Cardiff, he comfortably got the better of a young John Toshack, Liverpool’s 1970s big target man striker. Again, given City’s record at the time, he falls just short of a Best XI.
Further back, in 1955, when teams fielded just one centre half between the 2 full backs, Alan Stewart was that man. Whilst being a commanding centre half, I’d suggest other defenders in the Happy Wanderers team might have been more highly regarded.
On reflection and given the City had fine centre back partnerships in the 70s and 80s, I’m going to keep one partnership intact. CHRIS TOPPING and BARRY SWALLOW. Purely for on the pitch performance, they were untouchable for nearly 6 seasons and enjoyed 2 promotions and took City to Division 2 for the only time in our history. 2 promotions and their longevity tip the balance in their favour. . Later off field antics are inexcusable but shouldn’t cloud on field performance. As defenders, whilst MacPhail (29) and Derek Hood (36) scored more goals in their City careers than Swallow (27), take away their penalties and Swallow is City’s all time top scoring defender. Equally, Hood could be excluded from the goalscoring stakes as he made a number of appearances in midfield.
So anyone care to name City side to beat this City team? Let Michael know if you disagree.
Kiely; McMillan, Swallow, Topping, Burrows; TBC, TBC, TBC, TBC; TBC, TBC.
More next time when the 4 midfield choices are revealed.
Home Crowds – How High? With City’s current resurgence, just how many supporters could City attract on a regular basis?
City were founded in1922 and spent we spent our first 10 seasons playing at Fulfordgate, about 3 miles to the southeast of the city centre and accessible by public transport by one tram line. It wasn’t easy (or quick) to get to the ground.
In 1932, the directors felt to grow the club, it needed to move to a more central location in York. From first thoughts to first game, it took about 6 months.
Bootham Crescent City’s home until 2021 when the move to Monks Cross was finally completed. That move was about 20 years in the making, given Craig’s sale, the council shenanigans, build issues and covid.
Bootham Crescent had become a millstone, landlocked, there was no space to expand (various plans had been floated over the years, including buying the barracks behind the Popular Stand, Shipton Street school, a double decker Grovsenor Terrace stand and even turning the pitch through 90 degrees).
In our Football League times, City have had a history of home crowds below the average for the division in which we were competing.
Indeed, since 1958 and the end of regionalised football, City’s average home crowd has only exceeded our division’s average in 8 (out of 50) seasons in which we have been in the Football League. 4 of those seasons corresponded to promotion (1965, 1971, 1974 and 1984) whilst we also achieved that feat in 4 successive seasons under Denis Smith (1982-6).
Maybe unsurprisingly, 1984 was the season we recorded our highest home aggregate attendance when compared to our away games, home gates were 137% of away attendances with 115,175 showing our home games and only 83,504 watching our away games.
Conversely, twice our home crowds have been less than half the away gates, 1975-7, 2 consecutive relegation campaigns under Wilf McGuinness.
Since 1958, in terms of turnstile clicks, only in 1974/5 (8,124) and 1958/9 (8,828) have home crowds topped 8,000. In only 5 more seasons has the home average been over 6,000.
Going back even further, the golden era for football crowds was the late 1940s although City’s attendances peaked in the first half of the 1950s with our Happy Wanderers team.
In 6 seasons between 1948 and 1957, City’s average crowd topped 8,000, peaking at a highest ever average of 10,409 (total 218,559 in 21 games) during the 1948/9 season, although with an expansion of the Football League and 2 extra games, 236,685 fans passed through the Bootham Crescent turnstiles during the 1955/6 season.
In that era, with home games on consecutive days on Good Friday / Easter Saturday 1955, 2 home games saw over 32,000 fans pass through the overworked Bootham Crescent turnstiles.
Our all time lowest Football League average home gate was 2,102 during the 1977/8 season with 2 more seasons when we have seen an average of under 2,500 (the seasons 1980-2).
During the 2007/8 season, 2,258 was the lowest home average attendance during our recent non league days. In the 2004-12 years our non league average failed to breach 2,500 during another 3 seasons.
2,501 was the 2018/9 season average and has been our lowest average in our second non league era.
A recent trend has been to report the number of away fans in the ground and whilst not always accurate (and sometimes not available), they provide an insight into City’s current support base.
Last season (2023/4), our average home gate was 4,857. By comparison, our away games averaged 2,850 fans. In numbers, 111,705 compared to 65,543. Each LNER game was watched by an average of 435 of away supporters, nearly one quarter were those attending the Chesterfield game. Every City away game saw an average 496 City supporters, including those long midweek away trips to the likes of Oxford City and Dagenham. At LNER, away fans made up 8.9% of the crowd whilst City’s away following made up 17.4% of the attendance.
However, last season’s aggregate home attendance was barely one half of our best ever home attendance. How times have changed.
This season, including the Barnet game, our home matches have seen 42,899 fans in attendance, if we maintain that average over the season, over 123,000 will see City at the LNER.
Undoubtedly, the move to LNER has seen a big increase in attendances.
The first half of the 2021/2 season, our first at LNER saw an average of 2,856 attend the first 11 games cumulating in the Bradford PA debacle, as John Askey turned around our fortunes, the last 10 league games attracted an increased average of 3,401. The 2 end of season play off wins attracted an average of 6,921 fans. I think that demonstrates the appeal of a successful side. Moving on, a much more united club with a feelgood factor has certainly also helped to attract fans back to the club.
It begs the question, is the LNER big enough?
A major consideration is the ground’s configuration and the need to accommodate away supporters. Away demand varies from the handfuls of those distant teams to the 2,000+ from Chesterfield and slightly less numbers from other local rivals.
Promotion might mean that teams like Bradford and Doncaster would regularly bring 4 figure followings with them.
That said, during the 2023/4 season, the Division 2 average gate was 6,220 and in Division 1 it was 9,814. That said, given City’s historic low crowds, it could be said that the LNER is just about big enough for the years to come.
At different times, I’ve heard that the North Stand could easily be extended and I assume the corners could be “filled in” to up the capacity. I’m no architect so won’t guess by how many seats or how much it might cost.
Maybe a ground extension might even re-ignite the safe standing debate.
At the end of the day, whether the LNER is big enough, might depend on whether City are successful or not. Some of last season’s increased attendance was driven by some cheap tickets and very active marketing whilst this season’s increase has been driven by successful start to the season.
Hinsh’s Xmas List - Christmas Presents I visited the training ground last week and on the tactics board Hinsh was drafting his Christmas present list. I’ll let you into his secrets.
Harrison Male An extra 6 inches (of height). Failing that, comedy gloves to extend his reach
Ryan Watson Nothing, he seems quite content with his lot, sitting on the bench most weeks doing next to nothing
George Sykes-Kenworthy A pair of magic magnetic gloves, those where the ball automatically sticks to the gloves and a get well soon card
Ryan Fallowfield Easy going, play him CB or RB, even put him on the bench, he never complains, hopes he’s as easy going with his prezzie
Joe Felix What can you buy the man who has everything, maybe a bigger mantelpiece for all his player of the month awards (memo to self, do a bulk order, I need one for the manager of the month awards and Ollie will need one for his goalscoring awards)
Darragh O’Connor Panic, he’s been missing for the past few months, I’ve no idea what he likes, what to buy him
Leon Gibson-Booth Must find him an upwardly mobile club for his next loan so that he can maintain his excellent progress. Scarborough might have been ideal if Matt ever spoke to them (or if they were upwardly mobile)
Callum Howe The book “How To Score More Goals From Set Plays”
Malachi Fagan-Walcott Heavy steel boots or golden handcuffs to keep him here (note to self, remove them just before kick off)
Cameron John A proper surname
Levi Andoh Injury free body, maybe a sackful of cotton wool
Adam Crookes Give him some money so he can get his name changed by deed poll, need to try everything to see if we can change his injury record
Dan Batty Some new contact lenses which allow him to see directly forward rather than just out wide
Ricky Aguiar Spinach (the perpetual type), if it was good enough for Popeye to build up his strength and physique, then it is good enough for Ricky
Paddy McLaughlin Bumper sized bag of patience and a good run in the North Riding Senior Cup for game time
Alex Hunt Video of his Barnet and Hartlepool free kicks on a loop, note to self, need to get him to deliver all his free kicks and corners with such accuracy
Marvin Armstrong Last season’s form
Billy Chadwick Next season, a present from Neal Ardley so we’ll see Billy at his best, I might also give him a copy of “What On Boston ‘25”
Leone Gravata A compass to find his way back to York
Bill Marshall See Leon G-B and add a promise of a new 2025/6 contract
Ollie Pearce Check with the physio to see if that drug that makes you 5 years younger is not on the FA’s banned list
Dipo Akinyemi See GSK, I wonder if I can get him some magnetic boots, the ones where the ball sticks to them, failing that, plenty of love
Alex Hernandez Anything that removes that cloak of invisibility from around him
Lenell John-Lewis A series of coaching courses so that we can keep him here when his playing career eventually comes to an end, knowing him, we’ve at least 5 years before that happens as he seems to be getting better with age
Luca Thomas I’ll see what the boys from Leeds want to do about his loan deal before deciding what to buy for him
David Ajiboye Not sure I can afford a decent present for someone on Division 1 wages
Tyrese Sinclair That little bit extra that his dad can provide, after all Frank was a Premier League regular for over 10 years. If only Tyrese had that little extra than we’d have a proper player
Ashley Nathaniel-George Another who needs a proper surname, he has 3 names but not a single surname
Callum Harriott Turmeric, the medics have tried everything, must try the old tradition Indian spice (given his history, definitely avoid the new type) to ease his aching joints and extend his career
Mo Fadera The mindset of an established pro to go with his undoubted speed and skill
Have I forgotten any players? I still have some gifts to assign, including a few one way tickets to anywhere, P45s, warrior costumes, Roko gym membership and a new 5 year contract (note to self, see if I can wangle that I get that one myself in player’s Secret Santa).
Also, I must find a lovable old rogue, a jovial middle age (or older) gent with ruddy face and moustache and full beard to play Santa, I wonder if anyone at the club can recommend someone.
City On Camera Filmed in 1939, The Arsenal Stadium Mystery is a murder mystery and one of the first feature films where football is central to the plot.
The film was directed by Thorold Dickinson and shot at Denham Film Studios and on location at Arsenal’s original Highbury stadium. It was written by Dickinson, Donald Bull, and Alan Hyman, adapted from a 1939 novel by Leonard Gribble.
The earliest coverage of City on film that is known to exist is from City’s 1938 FA Cup tie against Huddersfield (a British Pathe film includes brief footage City’s game against Oldham a week prior to the game. Footage of both the game at Bootham Crescent played in front of all time ground record of 28,123 and the replay played at Leeds Road in front of a crowd over twice as big are readily available. 2 other clips show City in pre –match training.
A few weeks later, Huddersfield featured in the first ever televised (highlights) FA Cup Final.
It wasn't until 1946 that the first match was televised live by BBC in the days of just one channel when Barnet hosted Wealdstone at Underhill. The BBC had to abort coverage when it got too dark, something that was still impacting BBC (and Yorkshire TV) in 1974. City’s YTV coverage of the home win over Norwich was only shown in black and white in November 1974 and then due to the fading light, only first half highlights. That caused the BBC to abandon plans to feature City’s game against Manchester United on Match Of The Day a month later.
In those very early, pre TV, days, British Pathe (and other similar organisations) would film matches and highlights were regularly shown in cinemas before the main film. A large archive of similar sporting footage is available online, including York RL’s only Challenge Cup Final in 1931.
City were inadvertently caught on film in 1948. The National Coal Board (NCB) produced a series of industry training / educational films, one featured Rotherham United’s side, unfortunately for the NCB, they picked an off day for filming as they lost 6-1 to City at Bootham Crescent in November 1948 with Alf Patrick scoring 5.
The next known film of City is our 1954/5 FA Cup run, footage of all our games from Round 3 onwards are to be found online with packed grounds and awful pitches to the fore.
To my knowledge, the oldest colour imagines of City are from April 1957 and a 2-1 win over Crewe with goals from Norman Wilkinson and Arthur Bottom. Formerly located in the “Yorkshire Film Archive”, however, when I looked recently, it had been removed.
City’s next footage is from January 1971 and our memorable 3-3 FA Cup draw with Southampton. By then, Yorkshire TV had a one hour Sunday afternoon show which over the course of a season would cover most Yorkshire clubs with a strong focus on Leeds and the other top clubs. With access to the other regional TV companies’ footage, the show also often brought brief highlights of some other games featuring Yorkshire clubs. With York’s geographical position, many homes could also receive Tyne Tees TV and their own regional show. If memory serves me correctly, TTTV very occasionally featured City as their main match. In those days, when City were televised, a TV gantry was built on top of the Popular Stand where the commentator and cameraman were based. I recall a precarious ladder meant a near vertical climb for them to reach their post.
1974 was the first time a league game had been captured on film. Both City’s memorable 2-1 win over Bristol Rovers in March and promotion clinching draw against Oldham a month later were filmed by Yorkshire TV. Film of the Rovers game seems to have been lost forever.
In between those games, a first City appearance on BBC’s Match Of The Day occurred when City drew 0-0 at Hereford. In those days, MOTD lasted just under an hour and featured just 2 games with Jimmy Hill talking to camera to provide the analysis. It wasn’t uncommon for games from across the 4 divisions to feature.
With only 2 (of 46) games features, a lack of footage is available. For City at Hereford, Graeme Crawford had a superb game, single handedly denying Hereford’s lanky striker, Jim Hinch, later of City, with a string of outstanding saves. Again, the film seems lost forever. To this day, Crawford bemoans the fact that when he sees himself on film, it is conceding goals rather than making saves.
I reckon Hereford was the first of 6 games when City featured on BBC’s Match Of The Day highlights programmes. Arsenal was the only win whilst we lost badly at Brighton (2-7) and Bristol City (1-4).
Come the early 1980s and ITV winning football highlights (and the first live coverage of top flight games), regional highlights programmes became a thing of the past.
Although an earlier City visit to Brighton (November 1973) didn’t feature on football’s TV shows, coverage featured on the national news as it was Brian Clough’s first game as Brighton manager.
Highlights of City’s big home FA Cup games in 1985 and 1986 were captured. The BBC showed City’s win over Arsenal whilst ITV captured the 2 home games against Liverpool. Sadly (at least in respect of 1986), no cameras were at Anfield for either replay.
If you watch footage of City’s 1985 home draw with Liverpool, you will notice some strange Scandinavian advertising hoardings, the game was televised live on Swedish TV, the first ever City to be televised live. For these games, cherry pickers were used to host TV cameras.
From the late 1980s, game highlights of many games were captured and shown on Monday (and midweek) evening as part of the local news programmes on BBC and ITV.
City’s next big TV milestone for City was December 1991 when Wayne Hall’s screamer was captured as part of Sky TV’s Saturday night live coverage of City’s FA Cup 1-1 draw with Tranmere.
Another City TV first was live coverage on UK terrestrial TV when Central TV showed City’s 2-0 league defeat at Oxford on the first Sunday of September 1995 in an era when the TV deal allowed regional ITV companies to show some games live.
With the advent of satellite TV, with more schedule to fill, football has become a staple. July 1997 saw City compete in Livingston’s 4 team tournament, our 2 games (Dundee and Livingston) were televised live by the fledging channel “Live TV”, despite heavy promotion of their topless “Norwegian weather girls”, the channel was short lived.
The 1990s saw the rise of filming, video equipment and digital editing. For Football League clubs and later extended downwards, clubs were required to film the entire game and provided copies immediately post match to the opposition and football’s authorities.
For City, it meant filming was done from the Main Stand and the roof of the Supporters Club. Video and DVD recorders also opened the market for clubs to sell copies of these unedited games to fans. I’m sure many of us diligently purchased copies, watched them once or twice and then forgot about them. In my case, a box full of VHS videos and DVDs is somewhere in the house gathering dust. Each filmed from one fixed position with no action replays. I don’t know what was worse, no commentary or bumbling commentary. Don’t rely on the commentary to learn which City player was sent off in our 3-0 win at Manchester United.
It wasn’t until December 1st 2023 that City made their live bow on UK nationwide TV when the BBC covered City’s FA Cup Round 2 tie against Wigan from 2 divisions higher on an evening of gloom as fog swirled around the around threatening an abandonment of the game.
By my reckoning, our draw at Boreham Wood in January 2024 was the 50th occasion that City have featured live on TV.
Beyond game coverage, there has been little coverage of City on TV.
A couple of City players have featured on TV quiz programmes in more recent years. One notable exception being when 2 former City squad players, Darren Tilley and Richard Crossley, courtesy of their agent Chris Galvin, another ex City player, starred in a 1993 one hour ITV documentary of their season spent playing in China. It is most memorable for the moment when teammate Craig (son of Sam) Allardyce complained about the lack of chips and The Sun newspaper in China. A couple of years later, a BBC TV comedy show featuring Stewart Lee and City fan Richard Herring included a sketch entitled "York City Are Magic".
Later, Graeme Murty became the first ex City player to be a Match Of The Day pundit.
For film lovers, in August 2017, Bootham Crescent was transformed into a 1936 Berlin Olympic stadium (with associated Nazi paraphernalia (officers and insignia included) visible inside the ground) as filming of a Bollywood spectacular to commemorate India's first post independence Olympic gold medal took place. Senior nazi officials could be seen in the car park as hockey scenes were filmed on the pitch.
Footnote, the phrase “back to square one” may originate from the early days of BBC’s football commentary on the radio. In January 1927, in the Radio Times, the BBC first printed a picture of Highbury with the pitch divided into 8 equal sized squares (actually rectangular in shape), whilst the commentator commentated, a voice in the background added “3, 5, 6, 4, 1” as the ball passed through the different squares to help the listener better visualise the play.
Finally, see for a chronological list of many of City’s TV appearances. Whilst many of the clips referenced are freely available on youtube (and elsewhere), they are subject to the vagaries of web usage and may disappear, be re-housed or go behind a pay wall short notice.
For those interested the “British Pathe” and “Yorkshire Film Archive” sites are goldmines, full of clips from former years, both sporting and life in general.
Moving away from film, in November 1946, City's league game against Stockport was selected by the BBC (Light Programme, now known as Radio 2) for live national radio commentary of the last 30 minutes, the whole game was broadcast live on the General Forces Programme. The commentator was the legendary Kenneth Wolstenholme who made his BBC radio debut that day.
BBC3 has broadcast 2 series of docu-soap, “Brickies, produced by the production company of well known City supporter Pete Brandon. It is about time the company produced a similar fly on the wall series featuring a City season, it is guaranteed not to be dull.
Department Of Youth Whilst most eyes will be on City’s first team, others will be keeping a close eye on the progress of City’s academy side.
In terms of performance, overall 2023/4 was possibly less successful for our academy when compared to the previous season success. In both the FA Youth Cup and National League Youth Alliance Cup, City failed by one game to go as far as a season earlier. The team exited the FA Youth Cup in the final qualifying round (at South Shields) and once again, City reached the Alliance League Cup Final, but couldn't retain the trophy, losing to a late Maidstone winner. In the league, City's 4th place finish was a drop of 2 places.
Last season, City’s youth side was generally strong defensively but struggled to score freely. That is maybe reflected by the 2 academy players won earned their first professional contracts.
Bill Marshall, playing in a range of defensive positions, was a strong leader whilst Leon Gibson-Booth impressed at left centre back.
However, bar a few games for Ryan Whitley, the perennial problem remains, none of the former academy players saw any first team action last season.
Since 2004 (and our first relegation from The Football League), just 7 home grown youngsters have graduated to play 30 or more first team games for City. Step forward Tom Platt, Andy McWilliams, Adam Boyes, Lev Yalcin, Bryan Stewart, Graeme Law and Ryan Whitley. Unfortunately, to many eyes, not the calibre of player required for a successful City side.
The likes of Ben Godfrey, David Stockdale, Ryan Edmondson and Jamie Hopcutt didn’t reach 30 City appearances before moving on.
Thinking of a song reference as a title for this piece, I was drawn towards Wasted Youth, but resisted the temptation.