Southern Connections

2013/4

Read again our branch's contribution to the City programme throughout the season.

Newport (April 26 2014 / Joel Stern)

Reflections On A Season

So, as we reach the climax of another season, it's a good time to reflect on the highs and lows of the past 9 months. Although I haven't seen as much of City this year as I would have liked, in the games I saw before Christmas I felt we were unlucky and never got the rub of the green. We were rarely out-played and usually the margin of defeat was small. Many had us pencilled in for another relegation dogfight, rekindling memories of the relief felt the previous season when safety was only guaranteed on the final day of the campaign. Things however have turned out very differently and, despite a number of nasty injuries to important players, we have surprised many of the doubters both internally and externally to show exactly what York City FC is all about.

Undoubtedly the players have worked hard (both in training and matches) to achieve our league standing, but as the season draws to an end, I'd like to thank both Nigel Worthington and the McGill family on both a personal level and on behalf of York City South. After keeping us up, Nigel has taken us up to the next level - that of an established Football League club that we all craved. Thanks also must be given to the McGill family who continue to support our club in many ways with their time, knowledge and money. Their strategy of slow but sustainable growth seems to be working and fingers crossed next season we should see the ground broken on our new community stadium. We certainly appear to be heading in the right direction!

As we end our second season back in the Football League, there is much to look forward to. Onwards and Upwards!

COUNTDOWN Our Branch Vice- Chair, Andy Naylor ended up as Number 3 seed in the current series of 'Countdown' which means he competes in the quarter finals (to be shown on TV on 23 June). Good luck Andy!

Bury (April 21 2014 / Dot Goodearl)

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Accrington (April 14 2014 / Dot Goodearl)

Darts Tournament

The York City South Darts evening was re-introduced this season after a lapse of many many years and held in 'The Sheephaven Bay' in Camden Town. A round robin format was agreed amongst those members who were willing to play. The following players recorded these wins: Helen Ferguson (in her first ever game of darts) and Jim Tindall, (his first ever victory at Darts) one win each. Joel Stern and Dot Goodearl two wins each. Derek Feasby and Ray Goodearl, four wins each. Although Derek had beaten Ray in the head to head, it was decided by a majority vote to have a play off final, in which Ray Goodearl triumphed in a hard fought battle and takes the York City South Darts Champion crown for 2014.

OUR NEXT SOCIAL EVENT - THURSDAY 29 MAY. Our AGM plus annual quiz from 7.30 pm at the Old Doctor Butlers Head at 2 Masons Avenue, London EC2V 5BY, Telephone 020 7606 3504. The nearest tube stations are Bank or Moorgate. All welcome.

Burton (March 29 2014 / Dot Goodearl)

Branch Updates

York City South welcome new members - We organise regular social evenings and car shares to matches. So if you are based in 'the south' then please get in touch. Membership is £10 for the year [and includes membership of York City AFC 1922 Supporters Club]; Juniors £5 for the year; £125 life membership.

Our next social is on Thurdsay May 29. Make a note your diaries for our AGM plus annual quiz on Thursday 29 May from 7.30 pm at the OLD DOCTOR BUTLERS HEAD, 2 Masons Avenue, London EC2V 5BY, Telephone 020 7606 3504. The nearest tubes are Bank or Moorgate.

Torquay (March 25 2014 / Neil Rank)

Meet The Manager

York City South members had the pleasure of meeting Nigel Worthington and Steve Torpey on Friday 7 March before the Wimbledon game.

Nigel and Steve explained how they work together for the club. In the beginning, aware of the club from his playing days, Nigel had firstly tapped into Steve’s knowledge of the set up and players. Upon arrival Nigel felt morale was good but after a lengthy winless streak the squad appeared to have lost its winning mentality. First priority was to instil some self belief. Nigel said that one of his first objectives for this season was to attain 50 points !!

Nigel then gave us a brief summary of the differences between International and Club management, his strategy for signing players, and his medium and long terms plans for the future. Sadly we then had to draw the evening to a close due to time constraints.

Thank you Nigel and Steve (and to Lisa Charlton for making the arrangements).

Read The Full Nigel W Interview here

Our Hospitality Match 15 March

At the last home match we enjoyed a hospitality box at Bootham Crescent. Joel Stern [Chair], Julie Carruthers, Helen Ferguson and Dot Goodearl were on the pitch for the pre-match photo. Joe Holmes, Jan Crawshaw and Andy Naylor picked out the half time draw tickets and we were all involved in selecting the Man of the Match [Michael Coulson]. After the game, Joel presented our York City South Player of the Year award to Lanre Oyebanjo. David McGurk was given a gift for his benefit season [a little late !!]. Joel gave a gift to our Vice Chair, Andy Naylor, to congratulate him on his recent performance on 'Countdown' where he had won 8 games and is now in the finals [to be shown later in the year]. Sally Fenn presented the final prize of the day to the winner of the 'guess the number of away fans' competition - won by Mr 'Countdown' in a close competition. We all had a great day - and would like to thank Dave Hendry and all the staff at YCFC for looking after us so well.

Wycombe (March 15 2014 / Joel Stern)

Our Annual Hospitality Match

Good afternoon. It's great to be back at Bootham Crescent for our annual hospitality match. This time last year we attended the game against Accrington where a late equaliser for the visitors felt more like a devastating blow in our fight against relegation. This year, it's great to be in a more comfortable position and (hopefully) able to enjoy the last few games of the season.

For those of you who follow us on Twitter (@YCFCSouth), Facebook or read 'There's Only One Arthur Bottom', you will know we have held our annual vote for Player of the Year and will be presenting the winner with their award after the game today. There have definitely been a few good candidates for the James Walker Memorial Trophy this year and it's been a close contest. We will of course let you know who the winner is once it is announced.

As the southern branch for York City supporters, this annual day out is always a special occasion, but we do hold a number of other social events throughout the year and are always welcoming of new fans who find themselves 'down south' for a short visit or more permanently. If you are planning to base yourself in the South, do get in touch. You can find all our contact details at www.yorkcitysouth.co.uk - or follow us on Twitter @YCFCSouth or search for 'York City South' on Facebook.

Here's to an enjoyable game this afternoon and 3 more points on the board!

Exeter (March 1 2014 / Dot Goodearl)

Spring Is In The Air

Spring is in the air and York City South have a few social events lined up before the end of the season. We are in hospitality box at Bootham Crescent on 15 March [and plan to present our Player of the Year Trophy] with an AGM booked for 29 May at Old Doctor Butler's Head at 2 Masons Avenue, London EC2V 5BY.

Sharpen your arrows!! Our next social evening (with darts tournament) on Thursday 27 March from 7 pm will be in The Sheephaven Bay at 2 Mornington Street, Camden Town, London NW1 7QD. The nearest tube stations are Camden Town or Mornington Crescent. All welcome.

Southend (February 22 2014 / Chris Forth)

York City Fanzine

Issue 22 of New Frontiers, the York City fanzine is now available as a free download from the www.yorkcitysouth.co.uk web site. It compares and contrasts Nigel Worthington’s job as City manager with that of his cousin Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, takes a look back at the career of Billy Fenton, after whom City’s player of the year trophy is named and selects a City side from players still playing in The Football League. Elsewhere questions are asked about David Moyes, Nicolas Anelka and the trend towards nicknames on player’s shirts. In a bumper 32 page issue there is still room for a lot more articles, some serious, other humorous. When published in the 1990s, it cost 50p, Although free, a donation is suggested next time you visit Bootham Crescent, before the game, buy either an extra pint in the social club or a 50:50 draw ticket. Happy reading.

Cheltenham (February 8 2014 / Dot Goodearl)

Countdown

Branch vice-chairman Andy Naylor is due to appear on Channel 4’s Countdown on 19 February. Will the mistakes he made prove costly, or will he achieve all the goals he was aiming for? Will his loyal support for York City ever be mentioned? Was he inspired by being filmed in a studio close to Old Trafford, the scene of what he regards as City’s greatest ever triumph? Will Reds fan Rachel Riley forgive him for mentioning it, or will she serve him up an impossible numbers game? You’ll just have to watch to find out!

Chesterfield (January 28 2014 / Dot Goodearl)

Update

York City South welcome new members - We organise regular social evenings and car shares to matches. So if you are based in 'the south' then please get in touch. Membership is £10 for the year [and includes membership of York City AFC 1922 Supporters Club]; Juniors £5 for the year; £125 life membership. We have a programme of events lined up for this season including a hospitality box at Bootham Crescent (15 March); a darts competition (29 March) and our AGM and annual quiz (29 May).

Bristol R (January 18 2014 / Dot Goodearl)

Next Social - Bicycle Kicks

Our next social evening is on Thursday 6 February (7.30 pm). Our guest speaker for the evening is Simon Hood, author of "Bicycle Kicks". The book tells the story about Simon cycling to every game in a season. Simon will talk to us about the book and his experiences which formed it.

Dagenham (January 4 2014 / Dot Goodearl)

New Year Resolutions

A New Year's resolution is a secular tradition where a person makes a promise to do an act of self-improvement starting on New Year's Day. Well here we are - a few days into the New Year - and how are you getting on with your New Year resolutions? Are they realistic? Are you making good progress? Like lots of people, many of my new resolutions are already out of the window - oops! Full of good intentions but some of them difficult to implement and hard to keep going. However my ongoing - and very important resolutions for personal development are to support York City FC and to "have more fun". All going well so far this year.

Morecambe (January 1 2014 / Chris Forth, YCS Webmaster)

Happy New Year

We would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2014. Christmas already seems a long time ago, the YCS advent calendar even more distant. Many thanks for all the messages of support the advent calendar drew. The Bobby Robson story (yes, it was true) and the look back at City’s keepers were particularly popular. Here’s hoping to a repeat of last year’s 3-0 New Year's Day win over Burton. Our next social evening is Thursday 6 February (7.30 pm) at The Old Doctor Butlers Head Public House, 2 Masons Avenue, Moorgate, London EC2V 5BY. We have invited Simon Hood, author of "Bicycle Kicks", to be our guest speaker for the evening. More details to follow.

Oxford (December 21 2013 / Dot Goodearl)

Season's Greetings

On behalf of the York City London and Southern Supporters Club committee, I'd like to wish all our members and friends as well as the fans, players, staff and board of York City a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous 2014, hopefully starting with 3 points against the league leaders Oxford here today. I don't think anyone can deny that 2013 hasn't been the best year for our club but we're still here, we've stuck together and will continue to do so whatever our future holds. All the best to you and yours.

Bristol R (November 19 2013 / Chris Forth)

'City Books' on our website

The latest update to the City Books section on our website, is a review of Clarke Carlisle’s recent autobiography - "You don't know me, but .. a footballer's life". The book is essentially a diary of last season, so features his time with York City. He provides a lively insight on life at City including dressing room fights and training ground rebukes.

Plymouth (November 16 / Dot Goodearl)

Christmas Social

Our next event will be our Christmas Social on Wednesday 4 December at "The Sheephaven Bay", 2 Mornington Street, Camden Town, London NW1 7QD [Telephone 020 7380 1323] - note your diaries - more details to follow.

Scunthorpe (October 29 2013 / Chris Forth)

new frontiers

The new issue of new frontiers, a York City fanzine, is available for free download on the York City South web site. It contains a look back at Gary Mills’ time with City and the footballing career of John Ward. Elsewhere, it comes up with a series of suggestions to pander to the big clubs in their quest to promote English talent. The latest production from York’s Pilot Theatre, “Chocolate + Blood” featuring an ex YCS member is showcased. It also contains updates to the popular City books page, including an extended look at City fanzines plus much more City reading.

Fleetwood (October 26 2013 / Dot Goodearl)

Deb & Dave Attend Their First Home Match

Today we would like to welcome two new York City South members from 'across the pond' to their first home match at Bootham Crescent. Deb and Dave Rubenstein are visiting the UK from Chicago as part of their fifth wedding celebrations. Deb and Dot [Secretary of York City South] have been penfriends for many years - and have met on several occasions. On a previous visit to London, Deb enjoyed a day out at Ebbsfleet to watch the team. During their stay they also hope to help Dot and Ray sample a few ales in 'York' named pubs. We hope they enjoy their "soccer" experience and their visit to Bootham Crescent.

Portsmouth (September 28 2013 / Chris Forth)

City On The Web - 1938 Onwards

Do you remember City beating the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City, Spurs, Everton, Fulham, Sunderland & Norwich. No? Don’t believe it!. Well check out our website and see for yourself.

Mansfield (September 14 2013 / Dot Brown)

Player Sponsorship

This seaon, York City South are sponsoring Tom Platt's tracksuit - and we would like to wish Tom and all the team a great season.

We are finalising plans for our next social events - so please check our website for more information.

AFC Wimbledon (September 7 2013 / Dot Goodearl)

Dr Ron

NEXT SOCIAL EVENT - THURSDAY 12 SEPTEMBER from 7 pm - All welcome to join us for a social evening with the opportunity to meet up with York City South member, Dr Ron, who is visiting London from Hawaii. We are meeting at the PRINCE OF WALES pub in Kensington at 8, Kensington Church St, London, W8 4EP [Telephone 0871 951 1000]. Food available in the pub from noon to 11 pm.

Hartlepool (August 17 2013 / Dot Brown)

Hospitality

NEXT SOCIAL EVENT - TUESDAY 27 AUGUST: We are planning an informal social evening - note your diaries - details to follow!

Northampton (August 3 2013 / Joel Stern)

Welcome Back

Welcome back and enjoy the season.

Check Us Out. York City South welcome new members. If you are based in 'the south' then please get in touch. Membership is still just £10 for the year [and includes membership of York City AFC 1922 Supporters Club]; Juniors £5 for the year; £125 life membership. Join Now. Visit our York City South web site for all the latest branch updates [with thanks to Chris Forth our webmaster]. Want to see your name in print? The branch is invited to write a short article in every City home programme. The more people who contribute, the more varied and better our page becomes.

Social Networks Find us on Twitter at @YCFCSouth or on Facebook, search for York City South

In Person Look out for us (and our flags) at matches and come and say Hi