The Grand Old Fluke of York

York City have played at Bootham Crescent for the final time.

Further COVID cases within the squad, the third time this season means their scheduled game against AFC Fylde was postponed and with it the chance to wave goodbye to York’s home of 88 years.

The old girl has graciously served its purpose for the Minstermen and a new stadium, the LNER Community Stadium which is your your typical identikit lower league new build, awaits them along with the city’s rugby league club the York City Knights.

I visited both new and old grounds last August just for memory lane purposes.

It got me a bit nostalgic about our many trips there down the years, specifically our final one in 2017.

A double from Jordan White and a late Leo Smith goal earned us a 1-3 victory on Monday, April 17 that year. Newton, Heslop, Moke, Caskey and Mills, your boys took one helluva beating as they edged closed to the trap door.

And it was a beating of sorts, especially if you consider the context. Ignore the title of this story — the win was certainly no fluke but it was an anomaly and therefore must be savoured.

The previous time we won by two clear goals at Bootham Crescent was August 20, 1955 when we triumphed by the same scoreline.

Prior to that we beat York 3-4 on Halloween 1936 and 2–4 in May 1934, just two years after Bootham Crecent was built. These are the only two recorded times we’ve scored four goals there to win.

Indeed, Wrexham wins at York are rarer than likeable Tories.

Closely fought affairs in the main, our record at Bootham Crescent between the 2017 and 1955 three-one wins is as follows: W3 D10 L19. Of those defeats 14 of them were by one-goal margins. Our trio of wins were (unsurprisingly) 0-1, 0-1, 1-2.

So, whilst York fans and those of other clubs appreciative of an ever-dying breed of old-school, spit and sawdust grounds (not ‘football stadia’), I’ll miss BC, the Kit-Kat Crescent, but christ I won’t miss Wrexham’s abject record in that part of Yorkshire.

Here’s to you Bootham Crescent with your rickety stands, uneven concourses and wierd outward-facing executive boxes. Here’s to a centrepiece for the maze of terraced houses that cacoon it, a regular place of worship for those who have stood by their Y-fronted flock through thick and thin.

Thanks for the handful of really good memories, especially the look of contempt and sheer disappointment on the face of Gary Mills as our lads crushed the spirit and resolve that once made him a half-respectable lower league manager with that last glorious Reds win there four years ago. Priceless.

That day almost 900 away fans taunted and baited Mills, sacked by the WST board some seven months earlier after a terrible start to his second season in charge with a squad which looked like it had been assembled by a blind, deaf masochist.

Whilst it will never have the same soul, atmosphere and heritage as the pastures York City leaves behind, their new 8,500-seater stadium at Monks Cross will create memories for future generations of Minstermen to come.

It would be nice to watch the Reds run riot in York again one day, ideally in the FA Cup as the Hollywood Fancy Dans of the Championship take on League Two promotion hopefuls York in the third round in 2027.

But given it took Wrexham 62 years to register a canter at the Crescent I won’t be holding my breath!

View from the other side

Y-Front Fanzine gave us their best memories of York vs Wrexham at Bootham Crescent.

“The game on the 28th of December, 2020 was the last ever competitive game and I was luckily one of the few hundred fans that were let in for it. There is talk of a game to say a proper goodbye but with more fans, but with Covid and getting settled into the new ground I can’t honestly see it happening.

After the first York City folded in 1917 the new club was formed in 1922. It played its home matches at Fulfordgate on the outskirts of town before moving to Bootham Crescent in 1932. It has been our home ground since then and we haven’t played any home fixtures anywhere else.

Two games against Wrexham that stand out for me. One was the last game of the season. Wrexham brought a few but not an overly big away support that day.

I remember at the final whistle as was tradition the home fans invaded the pitch. After the players left the field our under 5’s who were active for the time went towards the Wrexham fans.

The fences were still up then and I remember some Wrexham lads climbing the fence to defend their end.

Your last visit is still fresh in the memory. Obviously there was a lot of feeling around that game due to Gary Mills being in charge of York after leaving Wrexham earlier in the season.

I was in a group of four who had been in town having a drink. As I walked towards the Bootham Tavern Wrexham fans were everywhere, including walking in the road bringing the busy traffic to a halt. I have seen other teams do that before but not for a while and not since that day.

You would describe it as Wrexham taking the piss.

Our risk element were laying low after a clash with Chester where four York lads received prison sentences. There was one Wrexham lad who stood out as he bounded down the road. Bald headed and he was wearing a green MA Strum jacket. In the old days he may well have got a slap but not in this day. (I’m no fighter😂).

We went in the Tavern and it was a mix of York and Wrexham fans. To my surprise they were singing ‘Gary Mills is an alcoholic fraud’. A few York fans responded with ‘Gary Mills Barmy Army’ and thankfully the banter was good natured.

As you know Gary Mills took York back into the Football League alongside the FA Trophy in our famous twice in a week. We all knew Gary was old school and liked a drink but an alcoholic fraud? I just guessed that some Wrexham fans just didn’t realise what you had. I’ve since learnt that the Wrexham view of Gary is very different to ours.

When Wrexham scored the goals in that game to beat City and put another nail in our coffin towards relegation, you could sense in the celebrations that putting one over on Mills was personal. I’ve seen many fans go mental over the years when they score but that day you really could tell the difference in the celebrations.

Oh did I cop it on social media that evening after a tweet I put out about Gary Mills being back home where he was appreciated. But hey you live by the sword, you die by the sword.

We now move to a new build in a retail park on the edge of town. Yes the ground looks better than I imagined but we are going to have to get used to a new match day experience that I think the older supporters may find harder to adjust too.

We all have our favourite match day pubs and routines but as yet how that’s going to all fit in a game day then who knows. The younger supporters haven’t got many good memories of BC and our last few years have been a disaster. They see a new start in a new ground as a good thing and they may be right.

However for people who have called Bootham Crescent home for so many years it’s going to be a bitter pill to swallow. The ground was in my mind beautiful and full of character. It had a soul and a romance that you will understand from how you feel about your home. Cherish it because you never know one day it may be taken away from you.”