THERE'S no doubt it - York City's golden day beneath the Twin Towers was the best' of then manager Alan Little's football life.

As a player he appeared in an FA Youth Cup final-winning team.

Later as the City gaffer' he steered the Minstermen to an incredible, incredulous 3-0 triumph of domestic demi-gods Manchester United in their own Old Trafford fortress.

But, in a variation of the Prince song, nothing compares to you-know-what for the one-time City leader.

As he led the Minstermen in red out at the world's most evocative arena, Little could not have been more proud.

"It was the best," he said, reflecting on that day of May magic.

"To lead your team out at Wembley, especially now that the old ground is not even there now, was extra-special.

"There are not many managers who can say they have led a team out at Wembley, so it still makes me so very proud.

"I have got a video recording of the match so I can watch it whenever I want. But to be honest all the memories are still as clear and bright now as then whenever I think about that day."

Even the build-up to the game stays sharp in the focus of Little, whose day at Wembley was barely two months into the job as the club's manager, a post he was to hold for more than six years until his departure in 2000.

"there was the fitting for the players' and the staff's Wembley suits. We even had special Wembley shoes," he recalled with undimmed fondness.

"Everything was just so right about the way we prepared and even more so on the day of the final itself," said Little.

"We did it all the right way and that was rewarded with the right result.

"No-one can ever take that memory away from me or everybody who was connected with the club that day."