A table-topping clash between 2 of the 3 main contenders in the National League.  2nd is playing 3rd.  Remember the kick-off is 5.30 (just like the return game back in November).

The table looks like this – Barnet – played 35, points 76, York City – played 34, points 70, FGR – played 34, points 67.

Not a surprise that York is in Yorkshire.  York is Yorkshire’s most northerly city (about 30 miles north-east of Leeds).  It is a journey of 205 miles taking around 4 and a quarter hours by road if all goes smoothly.

By Supporters Coach – This is by far the cheapest and easiest way to travel.  For the rest of this season away travel is £5 per person for everybody.  Away travel is subsidised by FGR and the Supporters Club.  For full details go to Away Travel Offer – Remaining games (24/25) | WE ARE FGR.  Coaches leave the New Lawn at 1030 (Sainsburys at 1045, Stonehouse at 1100).  For more details of coach pick-up points etc go to FGR Away Travel – Forest Green Rovers Supporters Club (fgrsc.com)

Book your coach ticket from FGR Tickets | WE ARE FGR or by phone on 0333 123 1889 Monday to Friday, between 9am and 3pm. (Closed Wednesdays)

Please try to book as early as you can as seats will be on a first come first served basis..

By Car – The LNER Community Stadium is located in the North East of the City of York, adjacent to the Monks Cross and Vangarde Shopping Centres. If you are travelling by car, use the postcode YO32 9AE in your satnav.  There are 400 dedicated spaces in the Monk’s Cross park and ride car park – book in advance through the club’s website.  The Vangarde Shopping Park allows 6 hours parking provided you spend £5 in one of their stores.  The surrounding area is largely retail – given the kick-off time there may be chances of parking a little further from the stadium.

By Train – Train travel for this one looks quite long (just short of 4 hours) and expensive (about £130 return).  It isn’t possible to get back home by train after this late afternoon kick-off so, unless you are planning to overnight in York, this isn’t an option.  The stadium is on the ring road to the north-east of the city.  There is a park and ride bus every 10 minutes from the city to the ground.  It’s the Number 9 (Silver Line) or special Y22 Match day service from York City Centre (Rougier St and Stonebow).  It is £3.50 return and runs 2 hours before and 90 minutes after kick-off.

York City play at the LNER Community Stadium.  The club describes it as follows;

“Planned since 2006 and opened in 2021, the LNER Community Stadium is a state of the art, 8,500 capacity facility built to Championship standards. Owned by the City of York Council, the stadium is home to York City FC and York RLFC Knights. Incorporated into the development are hospitality facilities, a leisure centre, community library and NHS drop-in centre.”

Only opened in 2021, York City’s new stadium is still building its reputation.  But it seems as though it is a stadium that is starting to bring York City the fan support that it needs.

York City are looking pretty formidable opposition this season.  Their home form is second only to Barnet and only Barnet have scored more than York’s 66 goals so far.  Defensively, they have only conceded 32 goals in 34 games (behind only FGR & Rochdale).  They have lost 6 times and drawn 7 times while winning 21 games this season.

The Minstermen’s number 10, Olly Pearce, is their leading scorer (22 goals)  with Josh Stones (8 goals) and Tyrese Sinclair (7 goals) providing back-up.  But York have goal scorers throughout the team.  Attacking midfielder Tyrese Sinclair is the son of ex-Chelsea defender Frank Sinclair.

It is impossible to look beyond striker Olly Pearce as York’s most important player this season.  He leads their goalscoring with 22 goals and has provided more assists (7) than any other York player.  He is the National League’s leading goal-scorer this season.  Pearce joined York from Worthing this year.  He was a prolific goal-scorer in the National League South before he joined York and is certainly continuing this form.

Attacking midfielder Tyrese Sinclair is another of York’s goal threats.

York were founded in 1922.  After 7 years as a non-league club they entered the football league in 1929.  Until 2004, they oscillated between the 3rd and 4th tiers, with just a brief couple of seasons in the 2nd tier in the 1970’s.  In 2004 they dropped to the 5th tier.  They managed to claw their way back into the EFL between 2012 and 2016 before dropping back to the 5th tier again.  In 2017 things got worse when the club fell into the National League North for 5 seasons.  They came back into the National League in 2022.

York are known as the ‘Minstermen’, after the city’s most famous landmark.  The club are 49% owned by their Supporters Trust.  The remaining 51% used to be owned by businessman Glen Henderson.  But the controversial Henderson lasted less than a year, and his shareholding was bought in 2023 by Canadian billionaires, the Uggla family.  The Uggla’s had previously attempted to buy Yeovil Town but that deal fell through.

York City co-Chair, Matt Uggla.

York is some 26 miles east of Leeds, and 90-odd miles south of Newcastle.  It is now much smaller than these industrial cities (and others nearby such as Sheffield & Manchester).  However, this North Yorkshire city has been one of the most important in the north of England since Roman times.

In 207 AD the Emperor Severus declared York as the capital of what the Romans called Britannica Inferior.  It maintained its importance for over 1,000 years, through Saxon Kings, the Vikings, and the Normans.  It was the centre of  northern England’s ecclesiastical province.  It declined in the Middle Ages, especially during the dissolution of the monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII .

By the 19th century, York had become famous for trains and chocolate.

Trains – The York and North Midland Railway (succeeded by North Eastern Railway) were headquartered in York and propelled the city into a major rail centre by the late 19th century.  The National Railway Museum is in York (free entry, close to the mainline station).  Even today the city is very well connected by train – York to London’s King’s Cross takes under 2 hours and there are 25 trains a day each weekday.  Go north for 2 hours 25 minutes and you’ll be in Edinburgh.

Chocolate – the growth of the railways proved to be the incentive for the chocolatiers to sert themselves up in York.  The most famous were Joseph Rowntree and Terry’s of York.  The classics Kit-Kat and Chocolate Orange are both from here and Terry’s recently celebrated 250 years in the city.

The National Railway Museum at York.

The former Terry’s factory at York (now residential) next to the city’s famous racecourse.

It would be hard to visit York and not take a look at its famous Minster and the surrounding medieval streets.  This 900 year-old Gothic cathedral is one of England’s finest.

Another of York’s famous landmarks is Clifford’s Tower.  Built by the Normans it is the largest remaining part of York Castle, when York itself was England’s northern capital.