Today I'm going back 35 years to 1987 and York City's game against Bolton Wanderers in Today League Division 3 (League 1 in today's terminology). The game was attended by 4,079.
The paths of Bolton and York don't seem to cross very frequently. That's because, for the most part of their respective histories, the two clubs have operated at different levels within the English Football Pyramid: York mainly in the fourth tier and Bolton somewhere between tiers one and three. However 1986/87 season was one occasion when both clubs found themselves in the third tier together and, when Bolton came to Bootham Crescent, it felt like a big game against illustrious rivals.
The featured game was also a so-called six pointer with both sides needing a win to boost their survival hopes. Thankfully it was Denis Smith's City side that came out on, top winning 2-1 with goals from Martin Butler and Tony Canham. The consolation goal for player-manager Phil Neal's Trotters was scored by former Manchester City and Scotland legend Asa Hartford.
Hartford's career stretched from 1967 all the way to 1991: impressive enough for any player but all the more so when you consider that he had a heart condition. In the modern age where defibrillators and testing are much more prevalent than was the case a generation ago, it feels as if there are more incidents involving a player collapsing on the pitch than was perhaps the case a couple of decades ago. Christian Eriksen and Fabrice Muamba were both fortunate to have expert medical help on hand to save their lives whereas David Longhurst at York City tragically wasn't so lucky. Thankfully Asa Hartford suffered no such incidents despite his being diagnosed as having a hole in the heart but the medics were concerned enough to prevent his transfer from West Bromwich Albion to Leeds United going ahead in November 1971. At the time Leeds were in their pomp so the news of the heart defect and its impact on the proposed move to one of the top clubs in the land must have been a hell of a setback for Hartford. However, nobody was about to tell Hartford what he could and could not do and he went on to make an incredible 923 club appearances scoring 84 goals for an array of clubs that included West Bromwich Albion, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, Everton, Norwich City, Bolton Wanderers, Stockport County, Oldham Athletic and Shrewsbury Town. Hartford also made 50 appearances for Scotland scoring five goals and he appeared in the World Cups of 1978 and 1982. More whole hearted than hole in the hearted I would have thought!
Playing in the same game was York Goalkeeper Neil Smallwood who made just 17 appearances for the Minstermen before moving on to Darlington in 1988 where he would make just a further four League appearances. That was the extent of Smallwood's professional career but he went on to appear in local non-league football for Goole Town, Pickering Town, Nestle Rowntree and York Railway Institute .
The three points secured by York that day proved to be crucial as City avoided the bottom four by one place and four points. Finishing just one place below York were Bolton Wanderers. Had Bolton won the featured game it would have been York and not Bolton who ere relegated. Despite finishing in one of the relegation positions, Bolton were not automatically relegated however. At the time the Football League operated a Play-Off system that included the three sides finishing outside the automatic promotion places in the Division below plus the team finishing 21st in the Third Division, in this case Bolton. Sadly, the additional lifeline didn't help Bolton as they proceeded to lose on aggregate to Aldershot (who finished sixth in the Fourth Division) and were thus relegated along with Carlisle United, Darlington and Newport County. Champions that season were AFC Bournemouth with Middlesbrough and Swindon Town also being promoted.
CRB Match No. 506
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