FORMER York City favourite Andy Provan has warned his old club to expect hard-working opposition this afternoon after being on the receiving end of an FA Cup shock at South Shields more than half-a-century ago.

The Minstermen were dumped out in a first-round tie at Shields back in November 1965 with 7,000 supporters packing out the north-east outfit’s old Simonside Hall ground.

Paul Aimson’s penalty was the only consolation on that day as City suffered their first Cup defeat to a non-League side for 19 years following a 1946 home loss to Scunthorpe, before their elevation into the professional game four years later.

Along with popular pair Aimson and Provan, the likes of legendary record appearance holder Barry Jackson, Gerry Baker, Billy Rudd, Alan Woods and Eamon Dunphy were also in the humbled visiting side, who went down 3-1.

But Provan did not expect an easy ride then and believes City’s hosts, albeit at a different capacity-filled stadium with Mariners Park being Shields’ home since 1992, will put up another fierce fight five decades on.

“People who came from the north-east back then often worked down the pits and they were hard-working people,” the former Scottish winger pointed out. “I don’t think that attitude has ever changed either and, even though I never expected to be beaten, we knew we were in for a game and you always got surprises back then.

“It wasn’t just teams like South Shields either. Bishop Auckland used to cause a lot of shocks.

“You never take these teams for granted when you go away to them, but you do think you’ve got to beat them because, when you don’t, everybody is on your back and it’s not very nice. It’s all about what happens on the day and, if we’d played them the following week, we more than likely would have beaten them because we had a reasonable side.”

Provan, now 73, reasoned that the draw would not have been City chief Gary Mills’ first choice after his team’s inconsistent start to life in National League North.

Nor was it a welcome distraction as Tom Lockie’s Minstermen attempted to acclimatise to life in the old third division following promotion – a campaign that would ultimately see them relegated straight back down.

Provan and his team-mates went into the tie without a win in six games, including four losses and he admitted: “A tie away like that is the last thing you need if you’re having a difficult time.”

The ex-St Mirren and Barnsley attacker does, however, feel the gulf between professional teams and part-time outfits is wider now these days.

South Shields were actually competing against City’s reserves and other second-string Football League outfits in the Northern Regional League, so were used to tackling their so-called superiors on a regular basis.

“It was a bit different then, because professional teams had part-time players too,” Provan explained. “Norman Wilkinson was a cobbler when he played for us and there were a few others.”

Illustrating the highs and lows of the world’s most famous domestic knockout competition, City went on to play in front of big crowds the following season in a titanic tie that required three matches before Middlesbrough emerged triumphant.

Provan even netted in a 1-1 draw at Ayresome Park and, recalling that tussle, he smiled: “I remember playing at Manchester City when we forced the second replay and it was Paul Aimson’s old club, so it was a special day for him as well.

“I’d played there before with Barnsley in the Central League and, when you went to such big grounds, you always thought ‘this is the life’. We played in front of 20,000 crowds at Maine Road and Ayresome Park that season and I loved it.

“You’re thinking ‘I could do with this every week,’ so to score at Middlesbrough was great as well. I remember chipping the keeper there after coming in from the left, because I was right-footed.”

Provan is still based in Devon, having seen out his Football League career at Torquay in 1976.

He was still playing five-a-side football, however, into his 60s before a cartilage operation and, having retired from his job as a psychiatrist nurse in 2009, he successfully overcame cancer five years ago.

National League bottom-of-the-table outfit Torquay and City are still the first clubs he keeps tabs on, after his boyhood team Rangers, but he admits the recent plights of both have left him saddened and questioning whether the support from surrounding communities could be better.

“People just don’t seem to be interested in the likes of York, Torquay and other clubs in the lower divisions any more outside of the loyal supporters,” he argued. “I talk to businessmen who could help around here and they can’t tell you the last time they watched their local team.

“They’d rather watch the Premier League on the television and support Man United or Man City. It saddens me to see where Torquay and York are and I keep looking out for their results and they don’t often cheer me up, but I really hope they can do what we didn’t 50 years ago and win at South Shields.”

City did manage to knock Shields out twice in away Cup ties either side of the 1965 upset.

In 1957, John Robertson, Norman Wilkinson and Arthur Bottom were on target in a 3-1 triumph, which set up a third-round tie that saw first-division Birmingham City knocked out 3-0 at Bootham Crescent.

A top-flight Bolton team, featuring the legendary Nat Lofthouse were then held 0-0 by City in front of a 23,600 home crowd before the replay was lost 3-0.

Lofthouse went on to score both goals as Wanderers defeated Manchester United in the final.

In 1968/69, meanwhile, Tommy Ross hit a hat-trick, Ted MacDougall bagged a brace and Gerry Baker converted a penalty during a straightforward 6-0 romp.

City eventually exited the competition to Stoke in the third round, with England legend Gordon Banks keeping a clean sheet during a 2-0 defeat at Bootham Crescent.

Elsewhere, Jon Worsnop cannot be caught at the top of The Press Player of the Month standings with one game still to play.

The City keeper is six points ahead of nearest rivals Josh Law and Jon Parkin, meaning his lead is unassailable ahead of this afternoon’s FA Cup third qualifying round trip to South Shields.

Alex Whittle was the big mover in the contest after collecting a maximum five-point haul following last weekend’s 2-0 defeat at Harrogate Town, winning our man-of-the-match award and receiving the most votes in the Twitter poll.

The other City players to be recognised for their efforts were Louis Almond (two) and Law (one) as our second and third-highest rated performers respectively.

The Press Player of the Year standings: Law 11, Newton 10, Parkin 10, Worsnop 10, Almond 6, Heslop 6, Parslow 6, Whittle 6, Morgan-Smith 5, Bencherif 3, Rankine 3, Moke 2.

The Press Player of the Month standings for September: Worsnop 14, Law 8, Parkin 8, Whittle 6, Almond 3, Heslop 3, Felix 2, Morgan-Smith 2, Parslow 2, Wharton 2.

Goals: Parkin 5, Newton 3, Heslop 3, Morgan-Smith 3, Rankine 2, Almond 1, Felix 1, Law 1, Own Goal 1, Parslow 1.

Assists: Almond 7, Morgan-Smith 3, Newton 3, Parkin 3, Parslow 2, Heslop 1, Whittle 1, Worsnop 1.

Bad boys: Bencherif, Heslop both one red card, one yellow; Newton, Smith, Worsnop, Wharton all one yellow.