Today I'm going back 11 years to 2011 and York City's visit to Impington on the outskirts of Cambridge to play Histon FC.
Histon are one of those comet-like clubs who rose rapidly, burned brightly and then disappeared almost as quickly as they had arrived. Nicknamed "The Stutes" after one of their former guises as Histon Institute, today they ply their trade in the Northern Premier League Division 1 Midlands (level 8 of the English football pyramid) which is remarkable since in no way could Cambridge be thought of as being in the North. However, at the time of this match Histon were playing in the Blue Square Bet Premier, now known as the National League Premier. It was to be the apex of Histon's rise. Famously during Histon's period of "pomp" they beat Leeds United in the FA Cup in 2009 as well as qualifying for the Conference Play-Offs. Had they won those Play-Offs Histon would have been a Football League club!
Going into this match, Histon were in trouble with the authorities however and were starting on their downward curve. VAT was owed to the taxman and the club had had a five point deduction for providing misleading information to the Conference Board as well as having a transfer embargo imposed. Despite the anticipation of the crowd, numbering 578, and with a sizeable York contingent (officially 236 but probably more), it was bottom of the table Histon who drew first blood thanks to a shot from 25 yards by Jamie Stevenson after 40 minutes. I recall the vocal members of the York contingent giving the team dogs abuse for their performance and the unexpected score line and it was not until the 76th minute that City got themselves level with Leon Constantine on hand to pick up the spoils following in on a shot that had hit the post. In the past, these kind of games never seemed to go York's way but, for a nice change, this game was the exception and, in the last five minutes, Peter Till fired home off the crossbar to give City a somewhat undeserved victory. Man of the Match according to The Press was substitute Michael Rankine who made a significant difference when he was thrown on by Gary Mills. Being nominated as Man of the Match despite playing for a little over half an hour says something about the effectiveness of the other City players that day doesn't it?
Histon duly finished the season bottom of the table and would have done so even without the five point deduction. They have yet to return to the Conference and look unlikely to do so for the foreseeable future so you can relax now all you Leeds United fans. York, now under the management of Gary Mills, finished in a disappointing eighth place. Champions that season were Crawley Town and also promoted were Play-Off winners AFC Wimbledon. City, under Gary Mills, would have another tilt at promotion the following season, this time successfully, and it would prove to be one of the most glorious in the club's history. But on a cold dark Saturday in Cambridgeshire, all that seemed a million miles away.
CRB Match No. 1787
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