I've supported York City all my life, I don't expect much. Occasionally we'll put together a good side and have some success. I'm too young to remember us shaking the football world by taking the (once) mighty Newcastle to a replay in the FA Cup semi final. Too young even to remember our early promotion successes.

Subsequent promotions followed. The MacDougall / Boyer years, a brief flirtation with the old Division 2, our only championship and Wembley glory bring back happy memories. Throw in recent cup successes over Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Everton and supporting City isn't too bad. Most of our success has been the reward for dour hard working teams.

1983/4, our record breaking Division 4 Championship season was different. The first club ever to obtain 100 points in a season. From one to eleven, not only were we solid and effective; we also had class and flair, the team had an air of invincibility about it, from veteran Roger Jones in goal through to the strikers. Its foundations date to the arrival of Denis Smith as player manager in May 1982.

He signed some former colleagues and added a few hungry youngsters to what we already had, namely John Byrne, a young reserve striker who we couldn't give away, and Keith Walwyn, a barnstorming striker who didn't know how to give less than 100%. With Smith in charge, he would've scored at any level (although Blackpool and Carlisle fans might disagree!).

Smith's first season saw use progress steadily, despite being almost unbeatable at home, a slow start and poor away form kept us just outside the promotion race. The spring time signing of John MacPhail completed the jigsaw. A free from Sheffield United, reviving the tradition on which our previous promotion side was based, he provided the on pitch confidence, cockiness and exuberance that Smith provided off pitch.

His class in defence was readily apparent. Meanwhile the young reserve striker, John Byrne, was now established up front. Smith and his assistant Viv Busby had removed all his self-doubts; he was later to play for Eire, QPR and Sunderland. With Walwyn, they formed a lethal strike force.

As much as anything, during the 1983/4 Championship season, it was Smith's motivation and bravado that inspired us to greater things. He attributed defeats to offside goals, free kicks that weren't, penalties conceded outside the area or blind referees, usually a combination of them. Smith deflected any poor individual performance as something "to put right in training". More often than not, it was.

Looking back, it is players, not games that come to mind. With our defence it was unusual to concede more than one, whilst our strikers, despite being profligate in front of goal, would usually score 2 or 3. Going top in October, we steadily pulled clear, finishing as runaway champions, by an all time record 15 points. As we went top, the Wrexham game is one that does spring to mind, going 2 goals down very early, the side kept playing in their usual style, no panic, just the knowledge that if the team kept attacking, we would score. We won 3-2.

Many club records were broken along the way. Another game that stands out, for the wrong reasons, was a 3-0 defeat at Blackpool in front of BBC "Match Of The Day" cameras, missing our big chance to show off in front of the country. Our shirts sported a sponsor's name for the first time that day.

As the transfer deadline approached in March, Keith Walwyn turned down a big money move to top division Coventry, preferring to stay with his mates in York.

Come April, the inevitable became reality. Promotion was assured, them the championship and then the record books as we became the first team to score 100 points in a season with a win over Bury in our final home game of the season. After the game, there was an open top bus celebration around the narrow streets of York, with me, many others that were old enough to know better, chasing it along its entire route. Incidentally, Sid Storey, one of our 1955 FA Cup heroes, drove the bus.

The only disappointment (excluding the squad's naff "Here We Go" / "Hello Den Got a New Striker" single with John Byrne extolling the virtues of the team travelling to away games by train funded by Persil vouchers) was a final day defeat where we failed to reach a 100 goals to add to our 101 points.

For York, good teams come together about every decade. In each of the next 2 seasons, we took Liverpool to Round 5 FA Cup replays and stayed in the promotion race until March. As the championship winning side, which cost just £20,000 to assemble, broke up, we couldn't find (or afford) adequate replacements. We dropped back to the basement with an almighty thump in 1988 where we remained until our Wembley play off success in 1993 when it all came together again.