Northallerton are Riding high

"Who are yer?" chorused the City fans of their unlikely visitors. It seemed a perfectly reasonable question.

Northallerton's Northern League faithful usually chant "Yorksheer", but since it seemed in the circumstances to be a little ambiguous - not to mention bilateral - they contented themselves with "Sod off City" instead.

None took them seriously. It was a thoroughly pleasant evening, as laid back as the passenger seat on a River Ouse punt.

Formerly plain old Bootham Crescent, the ground is squeezed into suburban York at the end of Grosvenor Avenue (formerly Asylum Lane. ).

"Parking, " wrote Simon Inglis in The Football Grounds of Great Britain, "is only marginally less difficult than in Piccadilly Circus."

Now the stadium owes its allegiance to a snappy confectionery bar. A different brand and they could have been the City Snickers.

We'd last been there on October 3 1995, City v Manchester United in the Coca Cola Cup - second round, second leg. York, incredibly, led 3-0 from the first game; M. Cantona was making his first away appearance since his infamous impression of Bruce Lee.

City's side had cost £76,000, cut price heroes, said the Echo.

United's - also including Beckham, Giggs, Pallister, Scholes, Schmeichel and Gary Neville - was conservatively estimated at £11m.

The Premiership aristocrats scored twice in the first 14 minutes, Simon Jordan - described as "a promising Geordie" - pulling one back in the 38th. Though Paul Scholes scored again nine minutes from time, the old second division side were though.

It was a heist of which even Dick Turpin would have been proud but City, since then, have been rather hung out to dry.

Financially crippled and still beset with money problems, they've spent the past two seasons in the Conference - earlier towards the head of the table, latterly sitting around it, managed by former Darlington boss Billy McEwan.

After a nightmarish summer, they'd finished eighth. "A marvellous achievement for everyone concerned, " wrote McEwan in the final league programme of the season, a view with which in straitened circumstances the fans clearly agree. Crowds were the Conference's second highest.

They'd won the North Riding Cup ten times, but had lost 1-0 to Middlesbrough in the 1955 final - the scorer a youngster called Brian Clough - and also at Ayresome Park in 1997, in front of a competition record 12,500 crowd.

That the newly-signed Fabrizio Ravanelli was making his Boro debut may have added to the attraction.

First time finalists - "This will be their cup final, " said Colin Walker, York's second team coach in that evening's paper - Northallerton FC have been promoted from the Arngrove Northern League second division but relegated from the local domino league.

"I couldn't believe it, " said club press officer and domino king Ian Bolland. "I thought we were safely mid-table until I discovered a bloody great 'R' against our name."

Ian and his domino partner Les Hood had reached the doubles final but lost, for the third successive year, to a pair of women. "Worse, " corrected Les disdainfully, "one year it was one woman and a photographer."

City's squad were mainly youngsters, bit bairns for the Senior Cup, effectively the second string and only running at all because the gallant fans had last summer raised £10,000 - a reserve account, as it were - towards its survival.

Northallerton vested much in Carl Chillingsworth, their leading scorer. Ralph Alderson, the former North Yorkshire polliss who is the club's admirable chairman, had been down to the dressing room.

"You've done the hard bit, just enjoy yourselves, " he said.

Remembering as always the 22nd chapter of St Matthew's gospel - the parable of the wedding feast - the column loitered outside the directors' entrance until bidden to go higher, and ended up in the board room.

There was beer and sandwiches but, sadly, no KitKats. The paying crowd was 429, the pitch heavily sanded.

Described as a "treacle trap" when City first moved to the former Bootham Crescent cricket ground in 1932, it has proved similarly syrupy this season and will be dug up next week. They've launched a fans' fund for that, too.

Alex Rhodes scored for City after 14 minutes, Neale Holmes after 21. Both might have been avoided.

Billy Mac, down in the dugout, appeared rather less demonstrative (and less vocal) than they may remember him at Feethams. The Bootham faithful, home and dry, turned to singing rude songs about Scraborough instead.

Perhaps in view of York's clear home advantage, the fourth official was Mr Barry Sygmuta - otherwise the ballerina in the black - who not only lives in Northallerton but is a member of the football club.

Siggy held aloft the subs' board with admirable impartiality, was cheered every time he did it, and doubtless considered himself lucky to be out in the fresh air.

In 1934, the referee and linesmen were found unconscious in the York dressing room. City blamed a faulty heater, swore it was an accident.

Four-fifths of the game over, Northallerton brought on Craig Skelton who - Skelton in the cupboard - replied almost immediately. Ralph Alderson was on his feet, barely better pleased had he won best breed at Reeth Show.

Chas Wrigley, alas, hit a third for City with four minutes remaining. It mattered little, really. For Northallerton - county town but country cousins - it had been their Senior moment, and they'd enjoyed every minute.

BACKTRACK BRIEFS . . .

HE'S refereed in the finals of two World Cup tournaments, handled the 1980 FA Cup final, two League Cup finals and had charge of big games on every continent.

On Wednesday night, however, former FIFA official George Courtney was back on the sidelines - assistant ref in the last Arngrove Northern League game of the season, Crook Town v Alnwick.

It was a 65th birthday present from the league, of which he's president, and his first Northern League line for 38 years.

"They were singing Happy Birthday when I came off. It was great, it meant they'd missed all the dodgy offside decisions, " says George, still as fit as that fabled butcher's dog.

He also believes that word of his appointment had got around - "the crowd was even smaller than usual."

The former Spennymoor headmaster, more recently Middlesbrough FC's community director, still regularly referees youth games - he's at Sunderland tonight - but is disallowed by FA regulations from refereeing in the Northern League. He picks up his pension book on June 4.

The match, he reports, was so thoroughly enjoyable - "No problems, just a lovely night" - that he was even moved to buy his fellow match officials a drink.

Friends aware of his somewhat careful reputation are advised not to get carried away. "You have to push the boat every so often, " says George. "I do it once every 65 years."

THE cricket tourists' customary opener, Paul Getty's XI - formerly the Duke of Norfolk's - are presently playing the Sri Lankans.

Batting alongside Graeme Hick is 16-year-old Sam Northeast. Northeast comes from Kent, would probably be in the county side were it not for GCSEs at Harrow School, has no connection with up here. Though there are no Northeasts in the North-East, we may consider him a local lad made good, nonetheless.

CALCIO Italia, sub-titled Your Complete English Guide to Italian Football, includes in its May edition an A-Z of that country's greatest.

Among the last but by no means least are Marco van Basten, Zinedine Zidane, Gianfranco Zola and "Lazio legend" Guiseppe Wilson - born Darlington, England, October 27 1945.

"Played for over a decade in the 1970s and helped them out of Serie B and towards the Scudetto in 1974, " says the potted biography. "In total he appeared over 300 times in the top division for the capital club and also represented the Azzurri on three occasions thanks to his Italian ancestry."

Steve Erskine, from Hurworth Place near Darlington, is understandably intrigued. "Have you come across him before?" he asks.

"His image is a long way from playing among the tyre ruts of Hundens Lane to the Stadio Olympico as it is now.

"I understand that he also had a season with New York Cosmos, but I don't know when."

We've certainly mentioned him, puzzled over him, in the past. Memory suggested we'd cracked the story, the archive suggests otherwise. It would be great to hear from any who can hold a Roman candle to the mystery.

THAT football memorabilia auction we mentioned the other day proved that the bottom's still in the market. A programme from the 1911 FA Cup tie between Crook Town and Lincoln City went for £440, 1933 Crook programme - against Boro Reserves - for £92. A programme from the Sunderland v Preston North End 1937 FA Cup final - "with faults, " says John Wilson of Methusaleh, but even Sunderland may have faults - reached £220. The next sale's in October: John's on 07718 120274.

STAFF against pupils, men against boys, the teachers at Spennymoor School play the sixth form next Friday - Brewery Field, 7 30pm - in a match for the Macmillan Cancer relief fund.

It's being organised by sixth former Andrew Spenceley, a qualified referee and coach who manages the sixth form side.

They're also planning an associated auction, signed memorabilia already promised by Newcastle United, Sunderland and Durham County Cricket Club.

Tickets are £2, from the school or at the gate. Every penny raised will go to the Macmillan fund.

And finally...

THE Middlesbrough player once fined for improper use of a rickshaw (Backtrack, May 2) was Ray Parlour, when with Arsenal.

Paul Dobson in Bishop Auckland today invites readers to name six former Sunderland goalkeepers who've played for ten or more clubs in the Football League or Premiership.

Safe hands, the column returns on Tuesday.

Published: 05/05/2006