TOM Allan is aiming to become the first York City defender to score double-figures in a season since the great John MacPhail.

The York-born 23-year-old has rejoined the Minstermen as a player this term on the back of a season in which he netted nine times for National League North rivals Alfreton.

His own personal challenge for 2018/19 is to better that tally and claim a haul that would be the best from defence since MacPhail grabbed ten during the famous fourth division title-winning campaign 34 years ago.

MacPhail’s return included no penalties even though he would later assume that responsibility and, outlining his goalscoring intentions, Allan said: “I scored a lot of goals in the league last season and that’s my benchmark for this season. I want to try and beat it if I can, so that means getting double figures.”

One of Allan’s efforts last term came at Bootham Crescent in front of the David Longhurst Stand, but probably not in the manner he had envisaged when he started out as an eight-year-old schoolboy with the Minstermen.

The 6ft 4in centre-back headed in for Alfreton to earn the part-time Derbyshire outfit a 1-1 draw, but admitted he was mindful of keeping his celebration low-key, given he was also working as a community coach in City’s Foundation department last season.

“I enjoyed scoring but thought I’d pay some respect, because I worked at the club,” Allan pointed out. “I didn’t want to go back in for work on Monday morning, having gone mad after scoring, so I cooled it down a bit.”

Nevertheless, the goal did serve to question the wisdom of having Allan on the wage roll at Bootham Crescent without benefitting from his playing potential.

City chief Martin Gray quickly remedied that situation over the summer, although Allan argued that he took the unusual set of circumstances in his stride last season, adding: “It was a funny situation and, leading up to the match, there was a bit of banter flying around the Foundation.

“When Saturday came, it was then a bit weird sitting in the away dressing room and walking out on to the pitch but, after the whistle went, I didn’t feel wary. I just reacted to what happened and treated it as another game, although I wanted to impress to show the fans here what I had become and my performance might have helped in terms of coming back here because I thought I did well.”

While stressing that his job with the Foundation had been rewarding and enhanced his understanding of the club’s importance to the city and its surrounding areas, former Community Player of the Year Allan insisted getting back into professional football remained his main priority and he has managed to achieve that two years before he would have given up on that career path.

“I did enjoy going into schools and working with the youngsters in the elite coaching sessions and, when you go into the community and meet lots of people from different backgrounds, you see what the club means to them all,” he explained. “But I set myself a target of getting back into full-time football by 25 and, luckily, this opportunity has come along and I will grab it with both hands.

“It feels good to be around the lads again. It’s what I wanted and I’m really happy.”

Allan’s first spell as a player with City ended at the age of 19 when, despite being offered a new Football League contract by then manager Nigel Worthington, he decided to drop down a division and join old City boss Gary Mills at Gateshead.

Within a year, he had left full-time football to sign for Alfreton and, from there, he even spent time on loan at Tadcaster Albion another two rungs down the non-League ladder.

But Allan feels that move to the north-east helped him mature in the long run and was prompted at the time by a feeling that it would prove difficult to secure regular football at his home-town club.

“I just thought I needed a change of scenery,” Allan declared. “I wanted to venture out and experience different dressing rooms and see how it was playing away from my home club.

“I probably was too young to go up there on my own, but I learned from it. I made all my mistakes and, going forward, I’m a better player for it.

“Also, at the time, Keith Lowe and John McCombe were playing excellently and they were experienced lads with League games under their belt, so I thought I might need to go down a league to get more first-team opportunities. I did that for so long but, unfortunately, it fizzled out in the end.”

Allan could still line up alongside a City stalwart, who he looked on as a role model during his days as an academy hopeful.

When Dan Parslow arrived for his first spell at Bootham Crescent in 2006, Allan was an 11-year-old on the club’s books.

He went on to share a dressing room with the former Wales under-21 international on his debut more than six years later – one of 11 outings Allan made for his home-town club before moving on.

In contrast, Parslow has now played 379 times in two spells with City and will move level with Happy Wanderers legend Billy Hughes in tenth place on the club’s all-time appearances list after his first game of 2018/19.

On Parslow’s mentoring presence, Allan added: “Dan Parslow was a big influence when I was first here and, when I was a young lad, I looked up to him and I still look up to him now. Because of the number of appearances he has made, I will always ask him for advice, because I know it will be good advice coming from him.”

Having played and worked at the stadium. Allan is also determined to give Bootham Crescent a fitting farewell this term.

“The main target is to get promotion,” he declared. “That’s the be all and end all.

“This club shouldn’t be in this league because of its size and we want to end the last season at Bootham Crescent on the up. I think everyone here deserves to get back in the division above and, hopefully, the League.”