Promotion for York City at Wembley recently was an emotional occasion for the club’s management and players, with boss Gary Mills and goalkeeper Mike Ingham both admitting they broke down in tears.
Just days later, thousands of fans lined the streets of the historic city to celebrate being back in the Football League, bringing to a close eight years in the non-league wilderness for the Minstermen.
Their 2-1 win over Luton Town in the Blue Square Premier playoff final epitomised the turning tide of fortune for football in Yorkshire, as it meant the capital of ‘God’s own county’ was back in the Football League.
Promotion was also savoured by two other white rose teams, with Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town rising to the Championship. In fact, only Doncaster Rovers suffered any serious reverse by a Yorkshire team after being relegated to League One.
It now means a changing complexion for the county’s teams, with the Championship boasting six Yorkshire clubs (a quarter of the division) with Leeds United, Middlesborough, Hull City and Barnsley now joined by Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday.
While joy was felt by Huddersfield Town fans at Wembley last month, this was offset by despair for Sheffield United supporters who saw their side fall agonisingly short of bouncing back to the Championship at the first time of asking, after losing the League One playoff final 8-7 on penalties.
Danny Wilson’s side will have their sights firmly set on automatic promotion next season, as will Dean Saunders’s Doncaster, who are set to undergo a summer clearout at the Keepmoat Stadium.
York will have derbies with Bradford City and Rotherham United to enjoy in League Two for 2012/13 and traditionally teams promoted from non-league often go on to challenge for back-to-back promotions to League One. Rotherham will however be the likely candidates to make the biggest push next season, with former Crawley Town boss Steve Evans now in charge.
One of the most pleasing aspects for fans of White Rose teams is that, financially-speaking, Yorkshire football has probably never been in greater shape.
Historically, due to the county’s size and a large dose of old Yorkshire pride, clubs have often over-reached themselves in pursuit of glory, which can actually be attributed to why football in this part of the world sunk so low. But now a new dawn is breaking for Yorkshire football and with six teams challenging for promotion to the Premier League, next season it is an exciting time to be a supporter of one of the county’s 11 Football League teams.
Photo courtesy: Neale Austin
