MANY eyes will be on the attendance figure when York City Knights tackle

Swinton Lions this weekend.

The buoyant Knights are hoping to build on their fresh-faced fan-base which

sent the Huntington Stadium turnstiles into overdrive on Sunday.

Youngsters turned up in their hundreds armed with free tickets distributed at schools for the family fun day.

The go-ahead rugby league club's initiative helped swell the sweltering

crowd to 2,519 who witnessed the expected demolition of Gateshead Thunder.

Knights players rarely attract celebrity status, but for ten minutes they were treated like Super League stars as they signed hundreds of autographs in the scrum round the tunnel as they made their way back to the dressing room.

Hopefully, the kids will be back with mum and dad in tow as the Knights bid

to tame the Lions.

The free-ticket ploy is one neighbours York City should have a look at.

While the team imploded after January, City continued to pursue their excellent community work with great enthusiasm.

Yet, despite football's broader appeal, City have a tougher job winning the hearts and minds of York's youth.

Why? Because City have been losing for as long as many of the young fans they are trying to attract have been on this earth.

For the last ten years it has been a real struggle at Bootham Crescent with far too many well catalogued recent unwanted off-field distractions.

By and large, kids like teams that win. In York's sporting cycle the Knights are winners and City losers.

Perhaps City missed a trick by not slashing ticket prices for youngsters after the drop in to the Conference. Instead, they lowered the age for juniors from 18 to 16. Tough if you are 17.

The club could argue that they still need to turn the finances round and can't afford to take too many fiscal risks. But it may have been worth a gamble.

Sharper observers will have noted that City's 2004-05 ticket price 'freeze' is actually an increase.

There will be 21 Conference home games next season

opposed to 23 Football League games last term.

While this has hardly led to a storm of protest - the Evening Press has received just one anonymous letter - there has been some grumbling on fan websites and in newsletters.

"Can we vote this board out?" asked one.

Yes, if you are a Trust member. You can even stand yourself. That's the beauty of a club run by supporters.

But are there people out there to run the club any better?

The current board have, by their own admission, made some mistakes. But, together with the fans, pulled off the biggest result in the club's history - saving the club and securing the future of BC. The latter has been a highly complex issue and when all is revealed the value of the current board should come to the surface.

IT was good to see a great cricketer's comeback at Lord's.

No, not gritty Nasser Hussain's match-winning second innings ton, but that other man of steel, Geoff Boycott.

After battling against throat cancer, he has returned as part of Channel 4's excellent team covering the series against New Zealand.

Although he appears to have mellowed a bit, the old Yorkshire hero still has a hard edge and unrivalled knowledge of the game.

The ailing county of his birth could certainly do well to tap in to his

experience.

SIR Alex Ferguson was at Elland Road yesterday.

Surely he's not to become manager of Leeds United?

Sadly for Leeds fans, the tsar of Old Trafford was merely checking up on his

'feeder' club.

He popped in to smooth the way for Alan Smith to follow the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Eric Cantona, Joe Jordan and Gordon McQueen over the M62.

TKO was compiled this week by Evening Press sports editor Martin Jarred.

Updated: 10:47 Tuesday, May 25, 2004