In all the hullabaloo which naturally surrounds the build-up to the new Premier League season, another huge occasion has snuck up on us. This weekend, the Football League season kicks-off with a full fixture list across its three divisions.
York City will be amongst those teams looking for a fast start. Towards the end of last season, it looked as though York might miss out on a second season back in the league. Promotion from the Blue Square Bet Conference Premier in 2011/2 was followed by a solid if not spectacular start to their campaign in League Two. Yet after a win on New Year’s Day came meltdown as City failed to win any of their next 16 games, a run spanning 90 days. They plummeted into the lower sections of the division and relegation looked a possibility, in fact a probability.
Gary Mills, European Cup winner with Nottingham Forest as a player and mastermind of back-to-back Wembley wins in the FA Trophy Final and Conference Play-Off Final, was given the boot. Former Norwich City and Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington (below) was given the call to salvage the season. Relegation would have been a bitter pill to swallow for the City faithful but, more so, it would have been a financial disaster waiting to happen.
Worthington was somewhat of a coup for York, but at first the results still did not come. Performances were improved but the side struggled to get that elusive win. When the win finally came, on April Fool’s Day, it was no joke and set off a remarkable run which saw York rocket into mid-table security.
The season finished with six games unbeaten, including for wins, and York sat 17th, four points above relegated Barnet.
And so York live to see another season. On Saturday afternoon, at 3pm, Northampton Town are the visitors to Bootham Crescent for the opening game of the SkyBet League Two season. Northampton were beaten in the League Two Play-Off Final last year.
Still, York did take four points from them last time around, an impressive 2-0 away win to end a 10 match home winning streak for the Cobblers, as well as a 1-1 draw in November – a game which City led against a ten-man Northampton before things went awry.
The coming season is difficult to predict for York. Their trump card is undoubtedly Worthington. The fabled “new manager syndrome” did not appear for York when the Northern Irishman took over. His first win came only in his sixth game, but when it did the floodgates opened. The impression from the outside was that Worthington was searching for a way to get the team back on track. Once he found it, he drove it home with aplomb.
This year he has been able to build his own team. Instead of working with the scraps of the previous stuttering regime, Worthington starts afresh. His managing acumen is undisputed, having won promotion to the Premier League with Norwich in 2003/4, and defying the odds to make a tilt at survival the following year, cruelly denied on the season’s closing day. Appointing a manager of this calibre shows York punching above their weight.
But Worthington’s overhaul leaves Bootham Crescent devoid of familiar faces. Midfield regulars Scott Kerr and Paddy McLaughlin were released, as was popular striker Jamie Reed, and Jason Walker, the prolific goal-scorer from York’s promotion season.
Most surpising was the release of Matty Blair. The young winger had stood out for his pace and ability to beat defenders at will. Yet he found the going tougher in the Football League than he had in the Conference. During that promotion campaign he was also a prolific goal-scorer. He scored in both Wembley finals, including the winner against Luton Town in the Play-Off Final. He also scored the decisive extra-time winner against Mansfield Town in the Play-Off Semi-Final.
These are all good players, no question, and have found employment without much difficulty Three have taken a step down, with Kerr and McLaughlin moving to Grimsby Town and Reed to Chester. Walker is playing for a side in the Swedish second division. Only Blair has stayed in League Two, with Fleetwood Town.
But they were not part of Worthington’s plans. He showed immediately that he was not afraid to upset the applecart. This will be his team, with his tactics, and all the better for it.
Still, York have retained a lot of quality as well. Livewire attacker Ashley Chambers (left) can be expected to stand out once again, while Michael Coulson will look to pick up on the brilliant form he showed at the start of the season, before a cruel injury saw him on the sidelines for most of the campaign.
The impressive Lanre Oyebanjo, and club stalwart – and three time Clubman of the Year – Danny Parslow will provide defensive versatility. Goalkeeper Michael Ingham, ever-present last season, is once again expected to don the gloves.
There are also incomers aplenty. Up front York have signed Ryan Jarvis, who was a youngster under Worthington at Norwich, and Ryan Bowman, who scored 19 goals for Hereford United in the Conference last year. Richard Cresswell, a York City legend who rose as high as the Premier League, returns to the club on a permanent basis after a successful loan spell at the end of last season.
Yet the biggest transfer coup looks to be Sander Puri (right). The 25-year old has already appeared 52 times for his country, Estonia, and appears to be an exciting prospect for York. His most recent club was St Mirren.
As is routine in the lower leagues, expect short-term loan signings too as the season progresses. While the Premier League and Championship teams are always eager for their young players to gain first team experience at the lower levels, York will be on the look-out for the hidden gems on offer and exploiting the system to its fullest.
So, overall, what should we expect? Last season York proved one of the more difficult teams to beat in League Two. They suffered only 15 defeats, fewer than any other side which failed to make the Play-Offs, and the same amount as Rotherham United, who finished 2nd.
On the flip side, only Aldershot Town – who finished bottom – won fewer games. Bearing in mind these figures, it is no coincidence that the attack has seen much change, while the defence has seen great stability with no major players coming in or out.
The pre-season campaign has been heartening, with four draws against higher-league opposition – Sheffield United, Blackpool, Huddersfield Town and Leicester City – providing unbeaten preparation for the Minstermen.
If things go right for York, there is no reason why they can’t challenge for promotion this year. League Two has some good sides, but York look competitive on paper and a Play-Off push is certainly not off the cards. Most of all, the fans will be hoping to steer clear of the lower section of the table. A season of consolidation, even if that means mid-table obscurity from start to finish, would probably be quite welcome.
York City begin their 2013/4 campaign on Saturday, at home to Northampton Town at Bootham Crescent. Kick-off is at 3pm. Next Tuesday night, City host Championship side Burnley in the First Round of the Capital One Cup. Kick-off is at 7:45pm.