FOLLOWING his York City exit this week, Ashley Chambers admitted it has been disappointing to see the Wembley double-winning team of 2012 broken up so quickly.

But the Cambridge United transfer-window signing believes those victorious Conference play-off and FA Trophy final players will always share a special bond.

Chambers was The Press man of the match for his performance in the 2-0 Trophy defeat of Newport and then claimed the equalising goal in a 2-1 triumph as City went on to clinch promotion at the expense of Luton eight days later.

Last month, however, for the first time since that historic humbling of the Hatters, City fielded a starting XI that did not feature a single member of the 16-man Wembley squad on duty that day.

Michael Ingham and Lanre Oyebanjo have returned to the fold following that 0-0 draw with Oxford, but Chambers’ departure means a dozen on the play-off final roster have now moved on to pastures new.

Centre-backs Dan Parslow and Chris Smith are the only other surviving members.

David McGurk and Jamal Fyfield were also on the club’s books at the time but the former missed out under the famous arch due to injury and the latter was out of favour.

On the fortunes of City’s class of 2012, Chambers said: “It’s a bit disappointing that the team has broken up but that’s football at the lower levels. There is a lot of swapping and changing because of the short-term contracts.

“It’s not always possible to put players on longer deals because of finances but all of those lads played a big part in the history of York City and we are all extremely proud of that.

“Nobody will be able to take that away from us and those nine days were the craziest I have ever had in my football career. I will never, ever forget everything that went on.

“To win promotion at any level and win a trophy is a massive achievement but to do it at the home of football in this country, on two consecutive weekends, is something that not many people have experienced aside from the lads that played in those games.”

Chambers has left North Yorkshire having scored 23 goals in 140 outings for the Minstermen after initially being brought to the club on loan from Leicester by current manager Nigel Worthington’s predecessor Gary Mills in November 2010.

But he has only started one City match since mid-October and did not argue with Worthington’s assertion that he would benefit from a change in surroundings.

The former England under-19 international added: “It’s very strange to be leaving York because you get accustomed to being somewhere but maybe you can get a bit comfortable too and I think this move has probably come at the right time in my career.

“I had a great couple of years at York and helped the club create history but, when new managers come in, you can’t always stick around and I have come down to Cambridge to get my career going again.

“Things haven’t worked out but I wish York all the best because there’s a great bunch of lads at the club and the league position is a very false one but they will improve on that by working hard, as they are doing all the time.”

Chambers also believes he might have suffered a little bit following Worthington’s switch to 4-4-2 football, having been used to filling one of the striking positions in Mills’ favoured 4-3-3 formation.

Regarded ostensibly as a winger by Worthington, Chambers is now hoping to reinvent himself as an orthodox striker with Cambridge.

“My position changed a little bit when we started playing a different system and I wanted to be one of the centre forwards but the manager did not see me playing up there,” Chambers revealed. “I am hoping to play more centrally now though and perhaps play off a bigger guy to try and score goals.”

Cambridge currently lie five points behind leaders Luton in the Conference standings but have three games in hand on the Bedfordshire outfit.

Chambers is now looking forward to renewing rivalries with the Hatters, starting with an FA Trophy tie between the two clubs at the Abbey Stadium this afternoon.

Commenting on what seems set to be a two-horse championship race, Chambers said: “I’ve always enjoyed playing against Luton and going to their ground but we can only concentrate on ourselves and get the results we need to do.

“There is the chance of another Wembley double header at the moment and I don’t know how many players will have done that if it happened.

“But, while it’s obviously nice to go up the route we did at York, that’s also the most nerve-jangling way and I think everybody at Cambridge would prefer it to be sorted before then.”


In-form Fletcher flies up Player of the Year table

WES Fletcher has moved to within a point of The Press Player of the Year leader Josh Carson.

The City striker was our man of the match during last weekend’s 3-1 home win over Dagenham & Redbridge.

That honour earned him another three points towards the standings, with Carson now firmly in his sights.

David McGurk, meanwhile, jumped to third on the leaderboard after collecting two points as our second-highest rated player against the Daggers.

Winger Michael Coulson picked up the final Press point on offer as our third highest-rated performer.

The two Player of the Month bonus points also went to Fletcher after he topped the man-of-the-match poll following votes made online and from followers of the @daveflettpress Twitter account.

To be in with a chance of presenting the January Player of the Month with his prize – a framed photograph – before a match at Bootham Crescent, register your man-of-the-match vote from today’s game against Northampton or tweet @daveflettpress.

The Press Player of the Year latest standings: Carson 18 points, Fletcher 17, McGurk 16, Oyebanjo 15, O’Neill 14, Lowe 12, Brobbel 11, Montrose 11, Jarvis 9, Parslow 8, Ingham 7, Smith 7, Bowman 5, Chambers 5, Davies 5, Clay 4, Coulson 3, Pope 2, Puri 2, Whitehouse 2, Kettings 1.

The Press Player of the Month for January latest standings: Fletcher 5, Ingham 5, McGurk 2, Montrose 2, Coulson 1, Jarvis 1.

Goals: Fletcher 10, Jarvis 9, Bowman 5, Brobbel 3, Carson 3, Coulson 1, McGurk 1, Montrose 1, O’Neill 1, Own goal 1.

Assists: O’Neill 5, Bowman 3, Brobbel 3, Carson 3, Coulson 3, Fletcher 3, Jarvis 3, Clay 2, McGurk 2, Smith 2, Cresswell 1, Davies 1, Fyfield 1, Ingham 1, Montrose 1, Oyebanjo 1.

Bad boys: Montrose nine yellow cards; Whitehouse six yellow; Oyebanjo five yellow; O’Neill, Smith both four yellow; Bowman two red, one yellow; Cresswell one red, one yellow; Carson, Davies, Fyfield, Jarvis, Lowe, McGurk, Platt all two yellow; Chambers, Clay, Coulson, Parslow all one yellow.