Manager’s comments:

City manager Steve Watson hopes tonight will be ‘the first of many great days’ as York prepare to start their journey in a new home.

Although tonight is technically a home fixture, there are no fans, and the pitch poses new environs for both teams. Watson was reluctant to make a prediction on how his side might take to the new surroundings, but admitted the stadium was a big draw for himself and many of his summer signings:

“It’s a completely unique experience. We’re going into a new stadium that should, for all intents and purposes, give us a home advantage, but none of us have been there, none of us have been on the pitch, we’ve not had a training session on there.”

“The stadium just became part of the overall package of a fantastic opportunity. The stadium, the size of the club, the city itself and the fanbase, it was all a great project for a youngish manager to take on.”

“For a lot of these players who came in the summer, the stadium was a big draw to them as well. They’re all massively looking forward to it.

“There are two or three York lads in there as well – Woodsy (Michael Woods), Ducky (Michael Duckworth), Rob Guilfoyle and a couple of the goalies, they know the history of York and they’ve been waiting on this as long as the fans have. They’re fans themselves so they’ll be dying to get going in the new stadium.”