Musselwhite heads parade of York City oldies (From York Press)

Musselwhite heads parade of York City oldies

9:16am Saturday 28th April 2012 in Diary By Dave Flett, Sports reporter

DINO Zoff was younger when he lifted the World Cup for Italy at 40 and when he played in the European Cup final for Juventus a year later.

German shot-stopper Jens Lehmann, meanwhile, was a mere babe in comparison when he took part in the last European Championship final aged 38.

Both set records in those respective finals due to their advancing years.

But York City manager Gary Mills this week insisted he would not be fazed if York City’s evergreen goalkeeping coach Paul Musselwhite, a mere 43 years and four months young, was required to play for his team in two Wembley finals.

With first-choice Michael Ingham still nursing an ankle injury, there is the distinct possibility that Musselwhite, six years after effectively hanging up his professional gloves, could end his season with a couple of outings under the famous arch having just kept two clean sheets to help City secure a play-off place.

To put into context how remarkable an achievement it would be to see Musselwhite between the sticks for the FA Trophy final and then, possibly, the Blue Square Bet Premier play-off final, Liverpool and Chelsea are currently preparing to face each other in next month’s 140th FA Cup final with Billy Hampson, nine decades ago, still the oldest player to participate in that match at 41 years and 257 days.

In a strange quirk of fate, Tommy McDonald – City’s fourth-oldest player of all time behind Musselwhite – was a team-mate of Hampson as he set that record during Newcastle’s 2-0 victory over Aston Villa in 1924.

Should Musselwhite play in the Trophy final on May 12, meanwhile, he would also be younger than the Premier League’s most senior citizen John Burridge was when he appeared in the top-flight for Manchester City in 1995.

An outing in the play-off final eight days later, though, would see the Bootham Crescent’s elder statesman also eclipse Burridge’s notable landmark.

In City’s top ten golden oldies, Musselwhite is interestingly one of three entries from the present-day non-League era following on from current Bournemouth boss Paul Groves, brought to the club in 2004 when then manager Chris Brass opted for experience in his unsuccessful plot to bounce back into the Football League at the first attempt.

Current youth-team coach Steve Torpey was also drafted in at the tail-end of 2009 for two outings by Martin Foyle, as he grew frustrated with his striking options ahead of that year’s Trophy final against Stevenage.

Torpey never made the final 16 at Wembley but, should Musselwhite finish on a victorious side under the famous arch, he will emulate City’s seventh-eldest player Roger Jones, captain of the record-breaking 1983/4 old Fourth Division champions, by becoming a member of a trophy-winning team.

That honour was denied Happy Wanderer George Howe who, tenth on our all-time veterans’ list, still deserves an honourable mention as a key member of the club’s 1955 FA Cup semi-final team.

Howe famously tamed the legendary Stanley Matthews en route to the last four.

Harrogate Minstermen will hold their monthly meeting on Monday night.

The evening will start at 7.30pm in the Harrogate Conservative Club on East Parade with members and non-members welcome.

A members’ draw will be made on the night with a cash prize of £50 and seats are also still available for the executive coaches the group will be taking to the FA Trophy final against Newport on Saturday, May 12.

They cost £22 for members and £32 for non-members with Monday night the deadline for payment.

Anybody wanting to book a seat should phone John Uttley in advance on 07805 226342.

Departure points and times will be: Boroughbridge (5.30am), Knaresborough (5.50am), Starbeck (6am), Harrogate (6.10am), Wetherby (6.30am) and Garforth (6.50am).

A refreshment stop will also be made en route, prior to arrival at Wembley.

Minstermen veterans

1 Paul Musselwhite – goalkeeper (2012) 43 years, 4 months

2 Matt Middleton – goalkeeper (1950) 42 years, 6 months

3 Arthur Roberts – centre-back (1946) 39 years, 7 months

4 Tommy McDonald – inside forward (1935) 39 years, 6 months

5 Paul Groves – centre-back (2005) 39 years, 2 months

6 Steve Griffiths – inside forward (1953) 39 years, 2 months

7 Roger Jones – goalkeeper (1985) 38 years, 6 months

8 Steve Torpey – centre-forward (2009) 38 years, 4 months

9 William Gardner – centre-forward (1931) 37 years, 8 months

10 George Howe – full-back (1961) 37 years, 4 months

Dan can only be denied by Ash

DAN Parslow and Ashley Chambers are contesting the latest The Press Player of the Month award going into today’s final match of April at home to Forest Green.

Former Wales under-21 international Parslow is four points clear at the top of the standings with only Chambers able to catch him.

The latest points towards the contest, awarded for performances in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Braintree, went to man-of-the-match Jon Challinor (three), our second-highest rated player James Meredith (two) and our third-highest rated player Matty Blair (one).

Full debutant Michael Potts, meanwhile, collected the two Player of the Month bonus points on offer after receiving the most man-of-the-match votes from visitors to our website.

Blair has closed the gap to two points, meanwhile, on The Press Player of the Year leader Jason Walker.

For the chance to present the April Player of the Month with their award at next week’s semi-final, play-off clash, register your man-of-the-match choice for today’s game.

The Press Player of the Year standings (excluding Player of the Month bonus points): Walker 33 points, Blair 31, Kerr 28, Smith 26, McLaughlin 24, Meredith 23, Chambers 19, Ingham 19, Parslow 18, Fyfield 16, Challinor 14, Oyebanjo 14, McGurk 10, Gibson 9, Moké 9, Doig 8, Reed 6, Boucaud 5, Pilkington 4, Blinkhorn 2, Henderson 1.

April Player of the Month standings: Parslow 11, Chambers 7, Walker 5, Blair 5, Doig 4, Gibson 4, Challinor 3, Ingham 2, Meredith 2, Oyebanjo 2, Potts 2, McLaughlin 1.

Goals: Walker 18, Blair 17, McLaughlin 13, Reed 12, Chambers 9, Smith 4, Challinor 3, Fyfield 3, Blinkhorn 2, Meredith 2, Moké 2, Oyebanjo 2, Pilkington 2, Ashikodi 1, Boucaud 1, Henderson 1, Kerr 1, McGurk 1, own goal 1, Tonne 1.

Assists: McLaughlin 14, Chambers 13, Blair 9, Moké 8, Reed 8, Meredith 7, Pilkington 7, Walker 7, Challinor 4, Kerr 4, Oyebanjo 4, Potts 3, Blinkhorn 2, Bopp 1, Fyfield 1, Henderson 1, McGurk 1, Parslow 1, Smith 1.

Bad boys: Smith 10 yellow cards; McGurk, Meredith both 8 yellow; Blair, Challinor both 7 yellow; Kerr 6 yellow; Walker 1 red, 4 yellow; McLaughlin, Reed both 5 yellow; Boucaud 1 red, 3 yellow; Fyfield 4 yellow; Parslow 3 yellow; Ashikodi, Moké, Oyebanjo all 2 yellow; Brown, Gibson both 1 red; Bopp, Chambers, Ingham, Potts all 1 yellow.