Up the Minstermen? York close on promotion in epic National League battle

York is a city famed for centurions of the Roman kind, but now its football club are centurions too. With 101 points on the board and 109 goals scored, the Minstermen have a Football League return firmly in their sights after a decade away.

It has been a gruelling journey, punctuated by a near miss last season. The job isn’t done, but Monday’s last-gasp win against Altrincham put them two points clear of Rochdale at the top of the National League with three games to play. Tantalisingly, they go to Rochdale for what could be a final-day shootout for the one automatic promotion spot on 25 April.

• Traditional pre-match pies, fans enjoy themselves and Yorkie the mascot.

York are unmatched for goals or points in England’s top seven tiers but for all the attacking freedom with which they have played, their run-in is requiring a different skillset, their past three games delivering narrow wins: 2-1, 1-0 and 1-0. “We never stop until the final whistle,” says the defender Malachi Fagan-Walcott, whose 96th-minute header clinched three points in last weekend’s comeback victory. ”

As the pressure builds, a more laser-focused mindset is needed. “During the season it is different; you will see us score four or five,” Fagan-Walcott says, the team having scored four goals on nine occasions and five three times. “When you get to April, it is just about results. We can go one down because we believe in ourselves and we know we can win.”

• The players of York and Altrincham, along with the matchday mascots, enter the fray.

The manager, Stuart Maynard, insists nothing has changed from his perspective but feels the desire to stop York may be giving opponents more focus. Next up is a Saturday lunchtime kick-off at mid-table but in-form Tamworth.

“We haven’t changed the way we played all season,” Maynard says. “Defenders are making blocks, goalkeepers are making saves. You’ve got to credit opposition teams for stopping us, but the target is getting bigger on our backs. Teams are more compact and making it tougher. When you’re representing a club like York, a massive club, every game has added pressure of winning games.”

Has the heartbreak of going so close a year ago – finishing second behind Barnet on 96 points, 13 clear of third-placed Forest Green then losing in the playoffs – driven them on to avenge their failure?

• Joy for York after midfielder Ollie Banks equalises in the first half.

“I think it has,” Fagan-Walcott says. “Last season was a learning curve. We were in a similar position and we didn’t quite do it. We know the pressure we have to play with because we did it last year. It is not a shock to anyone; it has helped us. We’d have loved to [have gone up] but we know not to panic or lose our way. It has made us more robust.”

Last season’s manager, Adam Hinshelwood, was sacked in late August after starting this term with a win and three draws, and was replaced by Maynard, a decision not universally popular with supporters at the time. The bar for promotion, Maynard says, is so high it requires near perfection.

• York celebrate Malachi Fagan-Walcott’s injury-time winner in front of their fans in the South Stand.

“They had an incredible last season,” he says. “They added to the group in the summer, with experience and knowhow when it comes to promotion from this division. There is a fire in the lads’ bellies; it has fuelled us this season and I said that when I came in. There was always a big target because of how good they were last year. We have to be even better in scoring goals and conceding fewer.

“For this football club to be out of the EFL for as long as it has, it just shows how hard promotion is to achieve. One automatically with one through the playoffs is a tough, tough ask. You need to be near-on perfect. Rochdale have been almost perfect with us; it is going to go all the way to that last game.”

• Pandemonium among the home fans after York’s late winner.

The majority owners, the mother and son pair Julie-Anne and Matthew Uggla, have helped to turbocharge the club’s fortunes since their arrival in June 2023. During their first season, York staved off relegation by a point, since when it has been quite the turnaround.

“They’re investing on and off the pitch and you can feel that in the city,” Maynard says. “There have been bumps in the road this season, but we’ve got to keep fighting.”

Fagan-Walcott is also grateful to the owners. “They’re nothing but supportive with everything we do. Even if we lose, it’s not the end of the world. They always get behind us. They’ve built a real togetherness; the fans are with us. There is a lot of transparency; it is a big family and they’ve built that.” Crowds this season average more than 6,500.

• Manager Stuart Maynard and co-chair Julie-Anne Uggla celebrate victory. Zak Johnson signs a young fan’s shirt

The captain Ollie Pearce has been York’s linchpin, top-scoring with 32 National League goals and supplying nine assists during this campaign. “They need to build a statue of him,” Maynard says. “The goals he’s scored are absolutely incredible. But it is not just that. His mentality has been fantastic, he’s a real winner who has led the group when called upon.”

York are eight goals from eclipsing the National League scoring record for a single season – but getting over the line by any means would do them now.