York City manager Gary Mills has slammed FIFA for banning England’s players from wearing poppies on their kit but applauded his own club’s plans to commemorate the nation’s fallen heroes.

The Minstermen have chosen Remembrance weekend to announce that five marble plaques will be unveiled at the next home match against Kettering on December 3 in recognition of each of the club’s former players who died during active service for their country in World War Two.

Private Samuel Grenville Roberts, Sergeant Leonard Milner, Sergeant Gac Reynolds, Sergeant Alfred Edward Bonass and Sergeant Eric Robinson will all be honoured at Bootham Crescent and the plaques will also enjoy prominent exposure at the anticipated new community stadium.

The idea was the brainchild of passionate lifelong City fan Bob Burns, who died last year at the age of 95, having himself fought at Dunkirk and, in recent years, helped club historian Dave Batters identify the players and establish their roles during the War.

A memorial service for the five players and Burns will take place before the Kettering match when the plaques will be blessed by the Reverend Steve Benford from St Luke’s Church.

Elizabeth Lewis, the daughter of Bob Burns, will lay a wreath on behalf of her father and the club is hoping the families of City’s War heroes can also attend the ceremony.

The plaques have been sponsored by Bob Burns, Shepherd Building Group, Howard Lewis, James Burns and David Doggett and the club will match that gesture by donating £1,000 to Help For Heroes.

City’s vice-presidents will also be making a donation to the charity that assists injured servicemen and women.

Commenting on the contrast between City’s respect for past sacrifices and that of world football’s govening body, who originally vetoed the Three Lions’ wish to wear poppies for today’s friendly against Spain before agreeing to them being displayed on armbands, Mills could not help but think of how his old mentor – the late, great Brian Clough – would have reacted this week.

The Minstermen chief said: “I find it absolutely ridiculous that the England players can’t wear poppies (on their kit). We are a proud country and we should be wearing them.

“I would still wear one if I was told I couldn’t and I know an old manager of mine that would tell the players to wear them and take the consequences later. I would be the same as a manager.

“With that in mind, it’s fantastic what we will be doing in the next home game. It shows what this club is all about – we do things right and care.

“I am sure the plaques will mean a lot to the families of those players.”

Sergeant Bonass was born in York in 1912 and was a left-winger who shone in local junior football, playing for Dringhouses and York Wednesday before being snapped up by Darlington.

He went on to make six league outings for his home-town team in the 1933/4 campaign before moving on to Chesterfield, where he shone for three seasons, following a brief spell at Hartlepool.

Serving in the RAF for two years after four years as a war reserve policeman in London when he was on QPR’s books, he reached the rank of sergeant wireless operator and was a member of the Caterpillar Club having baled out over Manchester from a Wellington aircraft.

He returned to play for City as a war-time guest but died in October 1945 as a crew member of a Marston Moor-based Stirling transport plane that crashed on its last training flight at Tockwith.

Sergeant Milner was a left-footed midfielder also born in York in 1917.

He started playing for the Minstermen in June 1937 after turning out for York RI and earning a trial with the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.

In total, he played 12 league games in the Third Division North for City and scored four goals, including a brace against Carlisle.

He also made seven war-time appearances but, following four-and-a-half years in the army, he died in north-west France in July 1944.

Sergeant Reynolds, from Eltham in London, played for Charlton and Torquay before guesting for City during the War and became highly popular with supporters.

He played the last of 13 war-time games on March 25, 1944.

A sergeant in the Household Calvary, he died in an RAF hospital in August that year from injuries sustained during the Normandy campaign the previous month.

Private Roberts was a 20-year-old who also played for the club as a war-time guest while stationed in the city. He scored a goal in a 6-4 North War Cup victory over Bradford City in April 1940 but died two months later after having his leg blown off at Dunkirk.

Sergeant Robinson guested for both City and Huddersfield as a centre-foward before being killed in action.

He played 13 war-time games for the Minstermen from 1940 to 1941, scoring four times including two efforts against Newcastle United.

In tribute, City chairman Jason McGill said: “It’s thanks to the efforts of Bob Burns, who was 90 years old when he embarked on this project, that we are able to properly recognise the former York City players who lost their lives in World War Two. It is important for the club’s history to commemorate and remember these brave individuals who fought and died for our country.

“The plaques will be positioned next to the players’ entrance in the main car park where all our supporters can see them and remember the ultimate sacrifice these former players made.”