Grovesred

I've been resigned to relegation for some time, but with even a slight chance that survival was possible, you'd have hoped everyone would be pulling together to try and save the club.

The last thing any club would want, is to learn from an announcement on another club's website that this wasn't the case.

Relegation might have a negative impact on our new stadium (yet another hostile council meeting in a couple of hours) and if that goes belly-up, our proud little club will certainly die.

So yes, the manner and timing of the announcement are of great significance.

Coulson's departure of itself won't finish us off (he'll certainly keep your physio busy and save us a fortune in insurance) but the fallout has the potential to be extremely damaging to York City.

That said, we've been ****ed over before, and no doubt will again - it's something the diddy clubs in England have had to get used to, just as they have in Scotland.

No, we won't be getting relegated.

But you have to love the picture City have stuck on the official website:

http://www.yorkcityfootballclub.co.uk/news/article/jackie-mcnamara-york-city-partick-thistle-dundee-united-celtic-2783190.aspx

McNamara seems to be City fans' choice out of the confirmed candidates, if the comments on the local paper's website are anything to go by.

He's now being quoted at 1/4 or 1/5 by the bookies as a result.

I've placed my bet, but won't jinx it by naming names. 

McNamara now 4/6 favourite for the York job.

Im holding out for Clough (10/1) or Wilson (20/1), but Russ Wilcox might be an interesting bet at 16/1 only 9 days after being booted out of the job. Top work, SkyBet.

...and things could be an awful lot worse; just had a peek at the odds and see that Di Canio is quoted at 40/1.

McNamara is 6/4 favourite for the moment.

McNamara would be a big step forward from the alleged favourite over the weekend, Greg Abbott, but with Nigel Clough rumoured to have been interviewed as well, and Danny Wilson possibly in the running I'm taking nothing for granted.

That said, I've already dusted off my cup final programme and selected a nice spot for an autograph just in case.

We didn't blink; we just waited until Steve Evans was safely installed elsewhere

Russ Wilcox had been on borrowed for a few weeks, and it was no surprise when the axe fell after a series of truly awful performances.

Former player Richard Cresswell has been installed as caretaker, and is currently joint bookies' favourite along with Nigel Clough to get the permanent job. A more realistic option in my opinion is Danny Wilson.

The board has been good at selecting mangers to stave off the threat of relegation, but this time really need to appoint someone capable of taking the club forward as well.

I wasn't aware of this, so thanks for posting it.

Never thought of myself as a groundhopper, but it would seem I've racked up 126 grounds over the years.

No wonder I never have any money.

Mehdi Abeid's Newcastle on the wrong end of a 2-1 drubbing at York tonight.

I was thinking about this a little in the run up to the General Election. Would be interesting the SNP started running for seats in the north of England, and basically pledged to bring those places along with Scotland in the event of independence or further devolution. Could end up sneakily moving the border halfway down the country!

Not if it means York City joining the SPFL, sorry   

And standing candidates in Yorkshire would quite likely disgruntle the SNP's co-members of the European Free Alliance, Yorkshire First, who averaged around 1% of the vote in their first general election.

Probably the reason so many of the smaller teams do so well in the conference and the relegated league clubs can take years to get promotion is that the smaller clubs are just run so much better. With limited income from small crowds they have to make sure they spend every penny wisely. I don't know how true this is but I heard that when Stockport were relegated to the Conference they had over 50 non playing members of staff on the payroll ! If this was true then no wonder they went down again into Conference North.

I take the point about clubs who've come up through the ranks being well-run, but I'm not so sure it's the case that relegated clubs struggle because they're run in a profligate manner (though some may well be).

York City was always known as a well-run club, but what changed was that it was asset-stripped by two successive owners. Despite promotion back to the League, we're still struggling against the legacy of those owners who ran the club not so much "badly", as purely in their own interests. If we can get through next season in one piece, our long-awaited new stadium should put the club on a more secure footing, but it's been a long hard struggle which may well have contributed to the recent premature death of another former chairman Steve Beck who in my opinion was the single most important person in the fight to save York City (RIP big man).

Even a healthy club will struggle after relegation to the Conference though; it's reckoned that the relegated club will be around £500,000 a year worse off as various League payments are cut off, funding for youth and community schemes dries up, etc.

The transition is traumatic and morale-sapping, which is why I believe the loyalty and passion of the supporters is so important: they have to learn the fund-raising skills that has always been second nature to their non-league cousins; they have to learn to take it on the chin when they attract 5,000 fans to a game, but still can't beat a team that plays in front of 750 week in and week out; and they have to learn to accept that for the time being, they're the big time charlies that everyone else loves to hate, and wants to beat.

I know next to nothing about the circumstances behind Tranmere's relegation, but I do believe their fans will carry them through this, no matter how long it takes.

Good luck to both them and Barrow next season!

Bye bye my team for 60+ years     

It's not "bye bye", honest!

The Conference (or National League as it will be next season) is a dreadful place for a proper club to find itself, but I'm sure a club with Tranmere's tradition and passionate support will find its way back, even if it takes a few years. It took York City 8 gruelling years, so anything less than that is a bonus!

There are more ex-League clubs than ever competing at that level, so there'll be some great battles with the likes of Wrexham, Lincoln, Chester, Halifax, Barrow, Bristol Rovers and/or Grimsby, etc to compensate for the Braintrees and Dovers.

The biggest shock we got (apart from not getting promoted at the first seven attempts) was the tiny away followings that came to Bootham Crescent, the worst being Leigh RMI who brought 11 to a Tuesday night fixture. When the home fans applauded the dedication of that select few, the Leigh chairman though we were taking the p!ss, took offence, and it nearly kicked off in the directors' box

Yes it's a dismal league, but keep faith and you'll have some great laughs along the way, and the passion of the fans who remain loyal will become deeper than you ever thought possible.

Did anyone see the Jeff Stelling v Scunny Chairman, Peter Swann, interview on Soccer Saturday after the latter had sacked Russ Willcox? Basically Stelling said, as Willcox had got them promoted last season and gone 28 games undefeated to gain that promotion, should he not have been given time to turn things around? Shameful and a disgrace said our Jeff but, after the debate with the money man, downgraded to harsh! It's on youtube as jeff Stelling's interview with Scunt horpe chairma Peter Swann. Cannot post a link on my tablet. It is quite amusing but see if you can spot the contadiction by Swann when discussing Willcox's contract and the contract given to Mark Robins.

Wilcox was appointed York City manager last night, following the resignation of Nigel Worthington at the weekend.

I'm desperately sad to see Worthington go just days after we took another giant step towards our new stadium, and despite our bad start to the season, but hopefully Wilcox can repeat last season's exploits for us.

Yorkshire's not a country so obviously it's banned and saints would be fined. Life ban as well .

Not yet, but give us time...

I really hope he doesn't go to play for Steve Evans.

Well done Saints, brilliant achievement!

That said, it was fooking murder following the penalties on Twitter, especially sitting alongside someone who couldn't bear to hear any details until the fat lady sang.

A non-Saints penalties reminiscence - York City 13, Kidderminster H 12 in the FA Trophy.a few years ago. It was a freezing foggy night and long before it got to double figures, everyone in the ground was willing somebody, anybody to kick one straight at the keeper or into the yard of the neighbouring school.

will they have any fans ?

155 apparently, which I found a little disappointing as I'd hoped we'd bring 200, but realistically it's not bad for a 500-mile round trip + overnight stay for a friendly. One mate of mine had slipped out of the house at 7.00am after casually saying to his wife "d'you mind if I nip over to the football this afternoon?" and neglecting to mention it wasn't the five-minute walk to Bootham Crescent he'd be doing. If he missed the 5 o clock train south, I imagine he may now have difficulty walking at all.

As for the game itself, I think most contributors above are near enough, even if one or two are a bit harsh in their assessment of City. It's certainly the case that the main reason for our failure to score was our notable inability to hit a cow's arse with a banjo but that doesn't of itself make us a bad team; it makes us a team that failed on the day to turn some good chances into goals in contrast to Tuesday when we did just that.

Of course our team has been built to compete effectively in the fourth tier of English football, and that won't always be pretty (actually it will probably never be pretty), but going four and a half months unbeaten from January to May shows that we're not too far from getting it right.

That said, we've signed 7 or 8 new players over the summer who will struggle to fill the gaps left by the loss of Nick Pope and Lanre Oyebanjo, and there were several changes made compared to the team that won so convincingly at Stark's Park on Tuesday.

Despite the rough edges that were there for all to see on Saturday, I'm cautiously optimistic that we've got a side capable of mounting another decent play-off challenge this season.

Simply seeing City play at McDiarmid made Saturday a great day for me, and I wasn't too disappointed that family harmony was maintained by the honours being shared. I was delighted too by the reports from my fellow Minstermen of the warm welcome they'd received wherever they went in Perth.

To return home on Sunday and find the cup final DVD on the doormat was the icing on the cake.

Mine was waiting for me when I got back to York on Sunday afternoon after the Saints-City game.

Watched it Sunday night.

Excellent stuff, many thanks soopajays!

My favourite is

"As for Stevie May he might make a decent signing for Luton or someone like that. "

Please, not even as a joke! I'd slit my wrists if he ever joined that shower of

The glamour will be the Europa games . York will be a run out for the u20s just like that shite last season against Morcambe .

I'd be surprised and disappointed if City were anywhere near as shite as Morecambe.

Good job we're no going to York, apparently there's an ancient bye law allowing natives to dismember any Scotsmen they come across which has never been repealed!

A complete myth, although plenty of us wished it was true when a previous City chairman from Broughty Ferry set about dismembering our club and trousering the proceeds

Any York fans coming up for the full tour and looking for something to do on the Thursday night should get themselves along to the Saints Euro match! (Assuming it's the home leg). 

If I had any annual leave left, that's exactly what I'd be doing. I'll promote the idea amongst City fans if there's a home draw - pretty sure our squad will be there too.

Yep, that's correct.  I received this from a York City fan today

 

"According to today's Press City are on a Scottish tour in July

 

City are playing Raith on the Tuesday & then the mighty cup winning Saints in Perth on Saturday 19 July."

There's another Minstermen/Saints crossover? Spill the beans, who is it?

Looks like it's a popular trip amongst City fans, though I think a lot haven't yet twigged that it won't be a first team affair for Saints. Some are predicting a City following of around 300.

It is indeed Saints v York City on July 19th, the second leg of City's mini-tour, the first being at Raith Rovers on Tues July 15th.

It looked to have been scuppered by Saints having a European game on the Thursday, but then it was suddenly on again, so I guess Saints won't be putting out a first team.

Nigel Worthington and Tommy Wright go back a long way, having played together for NI a number of times.

The following Wednesday City play Hull, so playing the Scottish Cup winners and the FA Cup runners-up within five days of each other will be an interesting test.

All goosebumpy again reading this thread.

Looking forward to hearing this "live" in July