Watching your first game of professional football with your Dad is a big deal. I still remember the one and only time my Dad took me to watch The Swans at the Vetch. they were playing Plymouth Argyle in the bottom tier of English football. I don't really remember the game (I have a feeling it was of poor quality); I don't remember the score (I think Argyle won 2-0). What I do remember though is the sense of occasion, the anticipation as we waited to pay our way in through the turnstiles, the buzz on the North Bank and bizarrely the managers - Frank Burrows (Swansea) and Peter Shilton (Plymouth). I'm not sure why we didn't go more often; the fact we didn't might be why it holds such special significance.
Twenty (or so) years later it was my turn to offer the opportunity for memories (and potential blogging). I gave Finn a choice of local matches - a mid table Championship clash at Elland Road (Leeds United versus Ipswich Town), League One high fliers Huddersfield Town at home to Brentford or relegation threatened Bradford City in League Two. None of these met his approval (although what he was wanting was never revealed) and instead a fifty five minute train ride to Bootham Crescent, the home of the 'Minstermen', was arranged. As I type this I realise that perhaps a confusion between 'Mister' and 'Minster' might have had some bearing on the final decision.
The game, York City versus Ebbsfleet United (Blue Squre Premier) had it all - penalty appeals, a sending off and five goals. But best of all the ticket office in their wisdom had sat a group of between 15-25 Scotsmen, on a stag do, in the rows immediately in front of us. I'm sure some of them were related but I'm not sure it really embodied the original concept behind the 'Nestle Family Stand'. Although, it must be said that, until you've watched a match sat behind a man handcuffed to a ginger wig wearing bearded dwarf in a kilt, you've not watched the real York City Football Club! I hope Finn doesn't expect it everytime we go and see a match from here on in. The game finished 3-2 to the hosts, a secondary consideration in the end.
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