FORMER York City left-back James Meredith is relishing the opportunity of a farewell appearance at Bootham Crescent before the 83-year-old stadium is demolished.

Meredith made 163 appearances and scored three goals during three seasons as a Minsterman before moving on to tonight’s Captial One Cup visitors Bradford City following the glorious double Wembley-winning summer of 2012.

Since then, he has also racked up 126 outings for the Bantams but missed out on a previous chance to play at his old stamping ground for a Sky Bet League Two fixture when he was struck down by glandular fever - an illness that also saw the Australian defender ruled out for the 2013 Capital One Cup final clash against Swansea.

On the prospect of a return to North Yorkshire during what is expected to be the last full campaign before City relocate to Monks Cross, the Albury-born, 27-year-old said: “I was on holiday when I found out about the draw.

“People were getting in touch with me on Twitter about it and it will be especially nice for me to go back to Bootham Crescent. I’m really looking forward to the occasion.

“I have so many great memories playing in two good York teams for Martin Foyle and Gary Mills. To win at Wembley twice and get promoted was also incredible and I’m really happy that I could get to play at Bootham Crescent before it’s knocked down.

“My only regret during my time at the club was that I didn’t get to play in the old and new stadiums. The plans always looked exciting, but it never got round to being built back then and I left just as the project was given the green light so I’m glad to hear it’s going ahead now.

“I’m glad for the chairman (Jason McGill) too because I’ve always had a really good relationship with him and he’s always been good to me.”

Bradford have excelled in knockout competitions during recent campaigns, building on their heroics two years ago with an unbelievable 4-2 victory at Chelsea last term, as well as a defeat of old derby foes Leeds and a triumph over Sunderland.

But, having also despatched Halifax and Dartford en route to an FA Cup quarter-final meeting with Reading, the Bantams are equally adept at avoiding the kind of giant-killing they love to inflict on others.

As a consequence, Meredith insists Phil Parkinson’s men will not be be under-estimating the threat of their League Cup first round hosts.

“I’m expecting a good competitive game and I know York are a good team and a club that can do well in these type of competitions,” he reasoned. “We proved that when we won the FA Trophy there and everybody at Bradford is expecting a tough time.

“Our team ethos at Bradford does not allow us to take ties like this for granted and I know nobody will be doing that. Everybody is very professional and hard-working and, last season, we didn’t treat playing Halifax in the Cup any differently to Leeds.

“We played both games with the same level of enthusiasm and drive.”

Bradford’s summer transfer activity has seen strikers Steven Davies and Luke James recruited from Blackpool and Peterborough respectively, while defender Nathan Clarke (Leyton Orient), full-back Tony McMahon (Blackpool) and midfielder Josh Morris (Blackburn) have also been drafted in, leaving Meredith confident that the club can improve on last term’s final finish of seventh in the League One standings.

“The new players look like good additions,” Meredith added. “I’ve got every faith in the manager and believe we can compete for the play-offs and really go for it this season, while another cup run would be great too.”