OFFICIALLY, August 19 is still the target date for the opening of York's new community stadium at Monks Cross.

Seasoned stadium-watchers might suspect the actual opening could be a little later than that - and that York City may still have to play its first few games of next season at Bootham Crescent.

The fact remains, however, that the club's tenure at the ground which has been its home since 1932 is rapidly drawing to a close. Persimmon, in fact, has already put in a planning application to redevelop Bootham Crescent.

Hopefully, the facilities at the new stadium (once it does finally open) will be far superior. There will still be many City fans who will lament the move, however: and not just because of the move away from the city centre.

For all the ground's limitations, there have been many great memories at Bootham Crescent. Among them are some famous matches - not least that stunning 1-0 victory over mighty Arsenal in the fourth round of the 1985 FA Cup.

But it's not so much the individual matches that count. It is the fact that, for generations of City fans, this ground has been like a second home. Some fans even chose to have their ashes laid to rest here.

In Yesterday Once More this week, we take an affectionate look back at the ground through old pictures from our archives. The photos focus not so much on individual games, as on the ground itself. they cover everything from the massive crowd that turned out for the 1938 FA Cup tie against Huddersfield (28,123 people - a record attendance at Bootham Crescent) to the straw laid to protect the pitch from frost before City's February 1985 FA cup tie against Liverpool (a game that ended in a very creditable 1-1 draw, though Liverpool did then go on to win the return leg 7-0 a few days later) to the fans who helped clear snow from the pitch ahead of that famous Arsenal game.

We hope they bring back some happy memories...

Stephen Lewis