BBC’s Guy Mowbray shares his early York City memories

As he kicks off a new season on Match Of The Day, commentator Guy Mowbray is at the Emirates for Arsenal versus Aston Villa, the first of his trips to glamorous Premier League grounds.

But he still yearns to return to the place where it all began: Bootham Crescent.

In a piece for the BBC Football website, Guy recalled his first trip to the “Arena Of Audacity.”

“My first game was a Fourth Division match between York City and Peterborough in 1979,” Guy recalled. “I remember my older brother taking me and being behind the goal but little else – and having looked up the score it appears that York lost 2-0.”

But his most memorable early game came later that season.

“The first I properly recall was York beating Portsmouth 1-0 the following February. My dad took me and a couple of friends for my eighth birthday.

“Pompey’s blonde goalkeeper Peter Mellor was the most recognisable player on view, with many home fans keen to remind him of the shocker he’d had playing for Fulham in the FA Cup final a few years earlier!

“At the end of September Portsmouth visit York for the first time since that game. I’d love to be there again, but MOTD duties will see me at a Premier League match instead.”