York City’s greatest FA Cup Campaign
Today is FA Cup 1st Round day so it’s fitting that for today’s dose of nostalgia we focus on a cup campaign of yore. Above you can see an article from a 1955 football annual that features the FA Cup exploits of York City during the 1954/55 season. York’s FA Cup campaign that season saw them become the first third division club to contest an FA Cup semi-final replay. On the way they knocked out Scarborough, Dorchester Town, 1953 FA Cup winners Blackpool, Bishop Auckland, Tottenham Hotspur and Notts County.
York’s cup exploits were all the more sweeter for only five years before they’d sought re-election to the Football League after finishing the 1949/50 season in 22nd and bottom position of the third division north. Season 1953/54 saw them again finish in 22nd position of the same division, avoiding re-election only because the division had previously been expanded to 24 clubs.
York met the mighty Newcastle United in the FA Cup semi-final played at Hillsborough and held them to a 1-1 draw but perhaps as the picture caption above suggests could have won the game if York City’s talismanic striker Arthur Bottom had managed to get to the loose ball in the Newcastle goalmouth. The replay a few days later was held at Roker Park and Newcastle saw off their third division opponents two nil to reach their third cup final in five years, a final in which they beat Manchester City 3-1 to lift the cup for the fifth time.
