EVERYONE can be a winner if York City overwhelm Oxford United to triumph in the Blue Square Premier play-off final at Wembley tomorrow.

Players, management team and backroom staff; club officials and workers from those in the boardroom to the cleaners; those supporters who have zealously kept the faith and continue do so and, finally, even the citizens of this remarkable medieval walled city of York, can all beam with heart-bursting pride should the Minstermen put the final finishing touch to what promises to be a momentous season.

Estimates put the value of tomorrow’s Sabbath showdown to top £700,000 to the winners, but the prize is much more than just the swelling of coffers.

Conquest under the triumphal arch of Wembley will at last satisfy the undimmed desire of returning to the Football League.

It is just a year ago when City were last at Wembley in the FA Trophy final. They were beaten by Stevenage, who since then have cemented their progress to seize automatic promotion to the Football League.

Tomorrow’s showdown against Oxford, similarly desirous of a restoration of Football League status, bears no resemblance to that of 12 months ago.

The impending play-off final echoes City’s baptism at Wembley in 1993 when, beneath the iconic twin towers, the Minstermen spiritedly saw off Crewe Alexandra in a play-off final to seal promotion to what is now the equivalent of Coca-Cola League One.

Those players of 17 years ago are etched indelibly into the folklore of the club. Dean Kiely, Andy McMillan, Wayne Hall, Paul Atkin, Paul Stancliffe, Jon McCarthy, Nigel Pepper, Gary Swann, Tony Canham, Paul Barnes, Ian Blackstone, substitute Steve Tutill and manager Alan Little are interwoven in the Bootham Crescent fabric.

That honour now awaits all those on red and blue-clad duty tomorrow. Succeed in a game that is arguably the most important in the club’s 88-year history and they will be heroes.

If they prevail they will banish the six long years since membership of that exclusive 92-strong club was lost by the Bootham Crescent outfit.

In the few seasons before that exit, the club had been effectively strangled by the financial straitjacket imposed by being put up for sale with its Bootham Crescent home menaced by disappearing.

Had it not been for the actions of the Supporters’ Trust and since then, the McGill family, a day like tomorrow would never have been possible.

May 8, 2004, was the fateful day in which City’s fall from Football League grace was confirmed in a goalless draw at Swansea City’s Vetch Field headquarters. That was the last time the Minstermen played as a Football League team.

There will have been heartfelt conviction that City would bounce back instantly. But the harsh reality that the Conference is a division which ensnares even the most desperate of yearnings to escape, kicked in with a vicious thud.

City’s tenure in the fifth division – just writing that underscores a feeling of being cast into the wilderness – has yawned achingly to six long seasons.

One more win in a campaign which has restored genuine hope to the red and blue ranks will end that enervating exile. One more victory will end 2,168 days of hurt since Swansea.

Let’s hope May 16, 2010, will be a day to lovingly remember. Come on City.