Today I'm going back 38 years to 1984 and York City's Friday night League fixture against Halifax Town at Bootham Crescent. Just to prove that I've been mildly obsessive about football for a long time now, this game was my second game of that particular day as I had been to watch Newcastle United's quest for promotion back into the top flight against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park earlier that afternoon. Having rushed to get back from Blackburn in time, I'm ashamed to admit that, such was the throng outside Bootham Crescent that evening, I missed York's opening goal as I was rather frustratingly stuck in the long queues outside the turnstiles. The final attendance was recorded as being 7,123 which was unusual for Bootham Crescent even in that record breaking Championship winning season.
The match was, rather like the entire season, something of a procession for the Minstermen and they ran out 4-1 winners over their rivals from West Yorkshire. City's goals were scored by the deadly twin strike force that season of John Byrne (who scored a hattrick in the game) and "mean" Keith Walwyn. Mick Bullock's Halifax Town side had to make do with a single consolation goal scored by Stewart Mell. In the Town side that day was a certain Alan Little who would go on to manage York City to promotion from Division Four himself the following decade. Mell is perhaps most famous for scoring Scarborough's debut goal in the Football League against Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1987 and Mell is also notable for having been a firefighter during most of his professional football career. He couldn't put out York's fire that night though!
There were just five games remaining after this one but runaway leaders York had already secured promotion and were closing in on the Fourth Division Championship itself which they would win by sixteen clear points! York finished the season triumphantly on 101 points becoming the first Football League club ever to break the 100 points barrier in a single season. Byrne finished the season as City's top scorer with 28 goals, closely followed by Walwyn on 25. Over at Ewood Park that same day I had witnessed another ultimately successful promotion charge, this time by Arthur Cox's Newcastle United who, with Keegan, Beardsley and Waddle in their line-up, finished their Second Division season in the third automatic promotion spot. Blackburn's manager that day?: Bobby Saxton whose time at York City would come all too soon.
CRB Match No. 307
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