YORK City will meet former striking favourite Richard Brodie to discuss the possibility of a move back to Bootham Crescent.

Brodie is a free agent, having parted company with Stockport County after spending the last three months of the season playing for the National League North outfit on a part-time basis.

He moved back to the north-west to be closer to his partner, who is expecting their first baby this summer, after kicking off the campaign with National League side Aldershot, where he won the club’s August Player of the Month award following four goals in his first four starts.

Brodie, who only managed one more goal with the Shots, has since hit the target four times for Stockport and, last season, netted 15 for Southport at the level City will be plying their trade next term following relegation from the Football League.

He left Bootham Crescent in September 2010 after helping fire the club to the previous season’s Conference play-off final by plundering 37 goals – the second-highest haul in a single campaign for the Minstermen behind the legendary Arthur Bottom.

Brodie, who will turn 29 in July, went on to win a Conference title in 2011 with Crawley and another at Fleetwood a year later.

Over the last four years, however, he has led a nomadic existence, including spells at Morecambe, Grimsby, Gateshead, Hereford, Southport, Aldershot and Stockport, but The Press understands he is now keen for a return to North Yorkshire.

He is expected to watch tomorrow’s game between two of his old clubs with City supporters at Morecambe.

Minstermen chief Jackie McNamara, meanwhile, is already weighing up whether bringing Brodie back would be worth consideration, having discussed the ex-Newcastle Bay Benfield Plastics frontman with an old friend - Aldershot boss Barry Smith, who used to play for Celtic and Partick.

On a possible deal for Brodie, McNamara said: “His name is one that has been put to us, along with a number of others. I will need to do a bit of homework and I have already spoken to his manager at Aldershot, because it’s so important you do that before meeting the player themselves.

“I will speak to him, but I don’t think it would be right to do that at tomorrow’s game. A lot of players, who have been at York before, want to come back because it’s a good club with nice people and they were treated properly here.

“But, if they are coming back, it has to be for the right reasons, not just because they like the surroundings. He would have to show that he’s the same player he was six years ago, with the same fight and determination.

“He did well here and got a move, but he’s been flitting around a bit since, without finding a real home. We’ve got a lot of things to look at and we’ve got to make sure that, whichever players we get, they are ready to fight for the football club and they have to show that on the field, not just talk about it.”

McNamara added that he has held discussions with other potential targets and he expects the bulk of his summer signings to be players with a National League or Sky Bet League Two pedigree.

“I’ve spoken to a few people we might bring in, but it’s about getting the timing right and finding out who we will and won’t be keeping,” the City boss explained. “I’d like to get things done as soon as possible after the season ends though and expect a good bit of movement during the next couple of weeks.

“We’ll primarily be looking at players with experience of the Conference and League Two and are looking to get the right balance. I know the club have also had part-time players before, but they can sometimes find the demands difficult.” With chairman Jason McGill having approached the Supporters’ Trust for ideas on how £500,000 can be raised to make the club competitive next term, McNamara is also ready to operate with a reduced wage bill.

“We have got a rough idea of what the budget will be and I’ve got to work to that which, to make everything work, is understandable for where we are,” he reasoned. “The chairman is having to put money in himself and that’s a big ask and why it’s so important to recruit the right personnel.”