York City vs Kidderminster Harriers. 12.08.23

Joe Marshall- @joemarshall_

As any visitor will testify, York is one of the country’s most captivating cities. With its rich history, grand architecture and incredible culture, a trip to York is highly recommended regardless of your interests.

As a football fan, the city was once also the location of one of the most traditional and unique grounds in the county; York City’s Bootham Crescent. Anyone who ever visited the stadium would return with glowing reviews, and it rightfully has a place in the list of my favourite grounds, as I’m sure it does for many.

However, Bootham Crescent is no more. The site of the redundant stadium is now a patch of land that will soon become a housing estate, and as with many clubs who have upped sticks recently, York City now play in a newly built facility. To check it out, I boarded the train from Manchester Victoria and headed to Yorkshire’s county town.

York

We stepped off the train just after 11am, and made a beeline for the city centre. York is a typical British city, in the sense that the city centre is just a short walk from the station. After weaving between seemingly endless groups of slow-moving tourists (as opposed to us fast-moving tourists), we arrived in the centre of one of the oldest cities in the country.

Whatever your hobby, there is plenty to do in York. Fans of shopping are certainly well catered for, with a fine array of shops. So too are historians, thanks to the city’s Roman and Viking past. Those who enjoy tradition will love walking the narrow streets such as the Shambles, and drinkers will appreciate the endless selection of pubs and bars.

LNER Community Stadium

York City’s new home is the LNER Community Stadium. The first difference to a football trip to York nowadays is that supporters cannot take a short walk to the ground. Whereas Bootham Crescent was located just over half a mile from the station, the Community Stadium is found 3 miles northwest, just outside the Huntington area of the city. This doesn’t mean that getting there is a challenge; we boarded the bus from near the Stonebow pub at 2pm, and were dropped off by the stadium before quarter past. Despite my initial concerns about the striking distance between the city centre and the ground, I was impressed by the level of organisation to get people to the game quickly and efficiently.

From the outside, you would struggle to find the football ground, as the exterior is dominated by a huge cineworld, that even from inside the ground, looms large over the south stand. It is an extroadinarily modern-looking facility from the outside, with a glass exterior making the stadium look like something from a futuristic episode of Grand Designs.

The ground is shared with York City Knights rugby league club, which means that unlike Bootham Crescent, it lacks the distinctiveness that is required for a team to truly feel at home. There is no doubting the planning that has gone into making it practical for both teams that use it, but in doing so, much of the charm and individuality has been lost.

Rather unusually, I had to walk past a swimming pool and book store to get to my turnstile. A Nuffield fitness centre is attached to the facility, which meant that I had to negotiate gym-goers and families on their way for a swim as well as the football crowd.

Once through the turnstiles, everything is very much back to the norm. A spacious concourse provides adequate space for fans to mingle, drink and chat before the game. Unlike the bold exterior of the ground, the inside is very plain and rather unimaginative. After leaving the concourse, I was greeted with a rainbow array of seats. Again, the variety of colour makes it hard to attach any home identity to the ground, but I was impressed with how large the ground actually is.

In total, there are 8,500 seats, and although upon first glance each stand may look identical, there are very subtle differences, giving the ground slightly more character than some give it credit for. The best stand seemed to be the south stand. This is located behind one of the goals, and in my short time there dubbed it ‘the cineword end’. The home supporters in this stand generated a good atmosphere throughout most of the game. The away fans were housed opposite me, in the corner of the west stand, close to the slightly smaller (and un-opened) north stand.

LNER Community Stadium Experience

Thanks to the efficient public transport, the overall experience isn’t negatively affected by poor access. Once we were off the bus, we found a programme seller just outside the ground. For £3, you get 50 pages of content, however more than an ideal amount of it was taken up with adverts.

The food in the concourse was perfectly standard for a football ground, with a range of Pukka Pies, hot dogs and crisps. My pint of Amstel set me back a whopping £6(!) however, which nearly gave me a heart attack!

I also had a Yorkie bar, because well, when in Eboracum…

York City History

York City FC, known as the Minstermen after the city’s iconic Minster, were established in 1922. They played their first few seasons in non-league, namely the Midlands League, before entering the Football League in 1929. In the years before the Second World War, York participated in the Third Division North without a huge amount of success, barring a good FA Cup run in 1937-38, where they defeated West Brom and Middlesbrough, then of the First Division.

In the post-war years, York again were members of the Third Division, and had to apply for re-election for the first time in 1950. They had further FA Cup success when they reached the semi-final stage, losing to Newcastle in a replay in 1955. In 1957, they had their best season yet, finishing fourth with 53 points.

When the Football League expanded to four divisions in 1958-59, the Minstermen were placed in the Fourth Division, and were promoted in third place at their first attempt. They only lasted a season in the Third Division and were relegated in 1960. A very turbulent few years followed in the 1960s, with another promotion and instant relegation preceeding several seasons of struggle and re-application. Despite this, York then found themselves back in the Third Division thanks to promotion in 1971, and this time they were able to build on this success, earning promotion to the Second Division in 1974. However, by 1978, they were back in the Fourth again.

They set a record in 1984 when they became the first Football League team to achieve a three-figure points hall with their 101 in the Fourth Division. This of course secured promotion back to the Third Division. The following season, they went on an historic FA Cup run in which they beat Arsenal and took Liverpool to a replay.

Keith Houchen scores the penalty to dispatch Arsenal from the FA Cup in 1985

Their next promotion would come in 1992, when they beat Crewe in the Third Division playoff final. York spent the rest of the 1990s in the Second Division, and were relegated in 1999. Turbulent times would soon follow however, when the club was put up for sale and purchased by John Batchelor, with the club finding itself in administration in December 2002. The Suppporters’ Trust stepped in the buy the club from Batchelor, but they were relegated to the Conference in 2004.

York spent 8 years in non-league before their Football League return in 2012. The 2011-12 season not only saw them clinch promotion in the playoff final at Wembley against Luton Town, they also defeated Newport County in the FA Trophy final at the same venue.

FA Trophy winners, 2012

The Football League return was a rollercoaster of highs and lows. After narrowly avoiding relegation in their first season, they made the League Two playoffs in 2013-14. They were relegated into the National League however in 2016, and suffered a second successive relegation a year later, in a season that featured the silver lining of another FA Trophy victory. Nevertheless, this signalled the start a 5 year spell in the National League North, which was ended in 2022, defeating Boston United in the playoffs.

York City’s first season back in the National League also saw them celebrate the club’s centenary. They managed to survive in the competitive division, finishing 19th, 2 places and 3 points above the drop zone.

Celebrating against Boston United in the National League North playoff final.

The Game

This match was the first home game of the National League season for the Minstermen. They came into the fixture off the back of an opening day defeat at Wealdstone. The pre-game atmosphere was impressive, with the 4000 strong home support making a great noise, particularly in the south stand. Their opponents were Kiddermimster Harriers, the former Football League team making their return to the fifth tier after an 8 year stint in the National League North.

Sadly for the large crowd, the action on the pitch gave them very little to cheer for. The first half felt laboured, with the feel of an on the beach late season game. Of the two sides, it was Kidderminster that carried the most threat, with half-chances for Zak Brown and Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain going amiss. The best opportunity of a low-key opening period came via a good turn and strike from Kidderminster’s Amari Morgan-Smith, which was parried away by David Stockdale in the City goal.

The second half began with a penalty shout for visiting Harriers. Stockdale made a mess of a clearance and it fell to Ashley Hemmings. In attepting to recover, the York goalkeeper looked to have tripped the Kidderminster attacker, however the referee was unmoved.

Shooting towards their vocal supporters, the Minstermen slowly came to life midway through the half, and they began to have more control of the ball, but continued to fail to create anything particularly clear-cut.

In the 83rd minute however, York were struck with a hammer blow when they failed to deal with a corner. After a short head-tennis rally inside the six yard box, Amari Morgan-Smith nodded the ball goalwards. His attempt came down off the crossbar and bounced over the line, and depsite York’s protests, the officials had a clear enough view to make the correct call and award the goal.

York pressed for an equaliser in the remaining minutes, but it was to no avail. The Minstermen attacked without purpose and Harriers were able to see the game out with minimal fuss through effective defensive shape. From a neutral’s perspective, the final whistle came far too late. The game was ended mercifully after 9 minutes of added time, to a chorus of boos from the home fans. Not a good sign after two games.

Although Harriers won, the scoreline actually flattered the contest. The spectacle was far from inspiring, however newly-promoted Kidderminster would have been absolutely delighted with an away victory to cement themselves in the National League.

As for the ground, I was ultimately quite pleasantly surprised. I was expecting to find myself sat in a soulless Lego set in the middle of nowhere, but somehow the fans managed to make the ground feel authentic. Filling the shoes of Bootham Crescent is an impossible task, so the job of York’s players and supporters is to now create a new home for the future, fill it with memories and turn it into a place where they feel they truly belong.

Final score: York City 0-1 Kidderminster Harriers

Admission: £22

Programme: £3

Attendance: 4381 (181 away)