About this match programme
By Richard Snowball After two seasons avoiding relegation from Division Three, York made several signings including Chris Jones, Ian Holmes, Ian Butler and Barry Lyons and it all came together in the 1973-74 season. Coming into the last home match of the season, against Oldham Athletic, York were still in with a chance of being champions. Their opponents were also vying for that honour and a crowd of 15,583 watched this exciting encounter. As was expected, it was a tight game with neither side being able to force a winning goal and the match finished in a 1-1 draw. However that one point did ensure that York would gain promotion to Division Two and with two away matches left they still had a chance of being champions. On the following Tuesday evening, they lost 2-1 at Halifax and won the last match 20 at Plymouth. Unfortunately this was not enough and York finished third on goal difference with 61 points behind Bristol Rovers and Oldham Athletic who were champions on 62 points In this memorable season York set several records going 21 League games unbeaten and during that run they went 11 matches (17 hours 19 minutes) without conceding a goal. By an amazing co-incidence Jack Howarth of Aldershot scored in September 1973 and in the return game in December he was the next player to score against us in the League. They also only lost six League matches in the season which is still a club record. Because of this the average crowd rose by 2,500 from the previous season to 6,228. At the end of the season Phil Burrows was transferred to Plymouth Argyle having not missed a game for the fifth season in a row and he deservedly won the inaugural Billy Fenton Clubman of the Year trophy. Acknowledgement This facsimile of the match programme was created by the publisher of There’s Only One Arthur Bottom, the daily email newsletter for fans of York City FC, and TOOAB contributors Richard Snowball, Terry Espiner and Paul Bowser. www.tooab.com