After a spate of recent defeats, our resident sports writer and York City F. C. fan, Simon Pattinson, is finding his patience is wearing thin.
It has been a slow start to the National League North season for York City. The pressure is on Steve Watson to succeed this year as the first three games ended in defeat for the Minstermen. It hasn’t been the start fans wanted to see after what was a successful pre-season. The optimism was soon wiped away from the fans’ minds after those defeats, and the frailties of the squad starting to show with a build up of injuries to key defensive players including Scott Barrow, Sean Newton, Josh King, Matty Brown and Michael Duckworth. With these injuries, there has been a worry (as mentioned in my last column) about the lack of defensive cover to cope with the pressure of injuries. While those worries did come true, the last two games have seen City’s first wins of the season, away at Spennymoor and their first win at the LNER Community Stadium against Farsley.
It has shown an upturn in performance in the last two games, and the great thing is that we have also seen goals coming from our attacking players with Mark Beck, Kurt Willoughby and Clayton Donaldson all scoring goals. It’s been the biggest struggle in seeing goals from attackers in the last few seasons and a gripe from fans who want to be entertained during games. While I’m sure that many would be happy to win 1-0 every week, it’s always been the worry that we have looked like conceding at times, and to have a cushion of goals is something we need, especially if games are to carry on this way. It certainly seems like we will be outscoring games to gain victory this year!
The worrying start to the season has also seen the future of the club brought under further doubt from fans with the leadership once again being questioned. It’s not the first time this has happened in the last few years and given the position that we, as a club, are currently in, it is honestly no surprise. As I write this I’m sure the outcome of the Supporters Trust meeting vote will show the true reflection of how fans feel about the current regime. I’m sure this isn’t the first or last time that I will say this, but the club’s current position simply isn’t good enough and way below fans’ expectations, and anyone who calls themselves a York City fan and accepts that needs to take a long hard look at themselves.
Whatever happens beyond this vote meeting, I hope to see more conversations with the chairman and strengthening of relations between fans and the club. It is quite obvious that, until this happens and an open dialogue is allowed to take place, both parties won’t see the club go forward in the way the fans
want it to. We can but hope…
Snooker star on the search for a sponsor
A young snooker player is looking for sponsorship for the 2021/22 Snooker season.
Liam Pullen from Wigginton started playing when he was just seven years old after his grandparents got him a mini table for Christmas. He began competing as soon as he was big enough to play on a full-size table at the age of ten.
Fast forward to today, and 16-year-old Liam is one of four amateurs nominated to represent England in the U18 EBSA European Snooker Championship in Portugal. He’s also the highest-ranked under 18 in England based on Order of Merit.
Of course, there are mammoth costs involved in competing like entry fees, travel, hotels and fuel, and sponsorship will be vital to getting Liam through the next sporting season.
Liam said: “Hopefully, the sponsorship will help me fulfil my dream of becoming a professional snooker player and winning tournaments.”
Businesses can sponsor the full season, or single events and will get their logo displayed on all competition clothing as well as advertising from local media coverage.
If you have a business that would consider sponsoring Liam, email cnpullen01@gmail.com.
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