York City
Formed 1922
Elected to Division Three (North) 1930. Relegated to the Conference 2004.
Kit History
1922-1923 a
1924-1927 a
1929-1930 a
1932-1933 a
1933-1937 a,e
1937-1938 a
1941-1943 a
1947-1948 a
January 1948 a
1948-1950 a
1950-1951 a
1951-1956 a
1957-1958 a
1962-1966 a
1967-1969 a
1970-1972 a b
1972-1973 a
1973-1974 a
1974-1975 a b k
Aug 1975-Jan 1976 m
Feb 1976 k
1976-1977 b
1977-1978 b
1978-1979 a
1979-1981 a
1981-1982 l
1982-1983 b l
1983-1984 a
1984-1985 a h
1985-1987 a b
1987-1988 d
1989-1990 a
1990-1991 d j
1991-1992 g j
1992-1993 c
1993-1995 a c j
1995-1997 c
1997-1999 a b c
1999-2001 a c
2001-2002 c i j
2002-2003 c j
2003-2004 d
2004-2006 d
2006-2008 f
2008-2009 f
Background
The original York City FC was
formed in 1903 but was wound up during the First World War. The present
club dates from 1922 when members of the fomer club formed a limited company
and gained admission to the Midland League. Playing in maroon and white,
City made little headway but in 1929 they replaced Ashington in the League.
It is interesting to note that in the voting, York gained 24 votes having
finished in ninth place while Midland League champions, Mansfield Town,
received only 16 votes.
York had an undistinguished career although in the 1930s, they abandoned their maroon jerseys in favour of chocolate and cream stripes, a reference to the city's association with the confectionary industry. After five years they changed to what were described as "distinctive red shirts." The official explanation was that the striped jerseys clashed with opponents too often.
During the 1950s, City's fortunes improved. In 1955, having beaten Blackpool (complete with Matthews and Mortenson) and Spurs, they reached the FA Cup semi-final where they were defeated by Newcastle in a replay. Promotion finally arrived in 1959 when "The Minstermen" finished third in Division Four but it took only one season before they were back in the basement. The 1960s proved a trying period: re-election in 1968 was followed by promotion and relegation in successive seasons and then three successive re-elections between 1967 and 1969. The maroon shirts were revived and in 1971 York were promoted back to Division Three. This time they managed to hang on, avoiding relegation on goal average for the next two seasons. Then in 1974, to the surprise of everyone, York City won promotion to the Second Division. To mark their elevation, a bold white "Y" was added to their shirts. Known inevitably as the "Y-fronts," the club held on for two seasons before plunging all the way back to the Fourth Division and re-election in 1978.
The red shirts returned in 1979, now with navy shorts and in 1984, York won the Fourth Division championship. Four years later, City dropped back into the basement but in 1993 they won promotion once again, this time via the play offs. After an excellent season in Barclays Division Two (previously the Third Division), York reached the play-offs and narrowly missed out on promotion to what was now Barclays Division One. This proved to be their high point and during the 1990s, York slipped back down to the lowest division and faced a mounting financial crisis. In 2003 the club was taken over by the Supporters Trust who raised £500,000. With Bootham Crescent renamed KitKat Crescent following a sponsorship deal with Nestle, the city's largest employer, their immediate future was secured but they were not able to retain their League status. In 2004, they finished in last place and were relegated to the Nationwide Conference. The club dropped navy from its kits and played in plain red and white once more when they appeared at the lower level but returned to navy and blue in 2008.
Sources
- a York City FC - Images of Sport (David Batters 2000)
- b Pete's Picture Palace
- c empics
- d Red and Blue Net - an excellent unofficial website.
- e The Football Encyclopaedia (Associated Sporting Press 1934) - information provided by Arthur Fergus
- f York City Official Site
- g Bjørn-Terje Nilssen
- h jumpers4goalposts
- i "yorkie"
- j David King
- k Alick Milne
- l Shaun Slack
- m Steve Browne