About this match programme
By Richard Snowball The 1949-50 season turned out to be worst in York's history so far finishing bottom of Division 3 North and having to apply for re-election, but as the Football League was extended from 88 to 92 clubs they were automatically re-elected along with four new clubs. The featured programme is from the Good Friday home match against Rotherham United which City lost 0-3, but even though they were struggling near the bottom the table this "local derby" still attracted a crowd of 12,382. The average attendance for the season was 8,016 which was 2,400 down on the previous season. Towards the end of the season Manager Tom Mitchell resigned after holding the post since 1937, but his association with the club went back to 1931 as a player. He had the distinction of scoring the first ever York City goal at Bootham Crescent in August 1932, a true stalwart and loyal servant of the club. He had sportswear shops in York, the first being on Bootham appropriately opposite the junction with Bootham Crescent. Hughie (Spud) Murphy, another long time servant of the club, died in March 1950 aged 64. He had been the club's trainer since its formation in 1922 after long service in the Army. 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. www.tooab.com