Simply fantastic

To wide acclaim, the Knights topped the National League Two average attendances last year, and they are on course to do the same this season after opening the campaign with more bumper crowds.

And Mike Miller, the chairman of the Supporters' Club, has been quick to laud the continued increase.

He said: "It's more than we could have dreamt of, even a year ago. Other Supporters' Club events have been going well as well and hopefully the ones coming up (see below for details) will also prove popular.

"We're really pleased about it and we know the players greatly appreciate it."

After three Arriva Trains Cup home games, the Knights lie third in the attendance table with a total aggregate of 5,501 fans at an average of 1,834.

Only relegated Halifax (2,757 average) and fellow National League One big-guns Hull KR (1,967) stand above them, with the likes of NL1 contenders Leigh (1,748) below, while traditional big clubs Featherstone and Whitehaven trail in with averages of 1,435 and 1,493.

It was also interesting to note that while the Knights attracted 1,520 to their home match against Gateshead in midweek, NL1 side Doncaster drew only 395 against London Skolars.

The Knights' nearest challengers of the NL2 clubs are Dewsbury and Barrow, but both fail to hit the four-figure mark, with respective averages of 945 and 868.

All these figures don't take into account Challenge Cup matches - nor do they take into account the Knights' massive away following in recent weeks at Featherstone, Batley and Huddersfield.

Tomorrow's attendance at home to Dewsbury will probably be hit by the fact York City face Macclesfield at the same time at Bootham Crescent, but that should take nothing away from the efforts being put in by "Richard Agar's Barmy Army".

The present fixture congestion of five games in 15 days will also hit fans hard in the pockets, but Miller was confident supporters would continue to back the team.

He added: "I think the Cup run has helped keep enthusiasm up and as long as the team keep performing and putting the effort in then the fans will turn up in numbers."

TALKING of the away following, the turn-out at Huddersfield was so good the Supporters' Club can now provide cheaper travel for Good Friday's trip to Featherstone.

The match, the last in the Arriva Trains Cup group, kicks off at 7.30pm. The price for adults to go by Supporters' Club bus is £5, and free for concessions and under-16s.

Mike Miller said: "The support at Huddersfield was great and this is a thank you from the Supporters' Club for that."

The only pick-up points will be Haxby 4.45pm, Huntington Stadium 5pm and New Lane 5.05pm, although the return coach, which will leave directly after the game (about 9.30pm) will go via the usual city centre drop-off points.

All bookings should be made via the Knights office on 01904 656105 by 5pm on Thursday.

Free First York buses will be running to tomorrow's game from the city centre at the usual times and pick-up points.

AS for the upcoming Supporters' Club events, the next promises to be a Magical Mystery Tour, so Come On, Do What You Gotta Do and get some Satisfaction.

That's right, it's a Sounds of the Sixties disco to be held next Saturday, April 10.

A late licence has been granted for the bash at the Hunting-ton Stadium bar and tickets are still available. Full details, and tickets, are available from the club office on 01904 656105.

For a bonus point, the Supporters' Club are also to run a quiz night on Friday, April 23, in an event put back from last night, and you can bet that a 'Race Knight' will be held on Friday, May 14. Full details available from the Knights office.

Players enjoy Knight-time massage

THE Knights were put in the safe hands of York College students on Thursday as they took a break from their heavy schedule.

The players were given rub-downs at Huntington Stadium by students studying for a diploma in sports massage.

The players have also had ice baths immediately after their last two games to help with rapid recovery and by all accounts the feedback from them has been positive.

Coach Richard Agar explained: "We've had quite a heavy month and rather than having them train we thought it was more beneficial to have a rest and a therapeutic massage. We're very grateful to these students for helping us out."

CONGRATULATIONS are due to Knights prop Dan Briggs, who became a dad last weekend when his partner, Shelley, gave birth to their son, Harrison Morgan Briggs.

Briggs senior, who had in any case been a doubt before the big Challenge Cup match at Huddersfield because of a knee injury, was for obvious reasons not called upon to play at the McAlpine.

SEVERAL links between the Knights and Huddersfield Giants were written about ahead of last week's tie.

There was well-publicised friendships of the respective coaches, Richard Agar and Jon Sharp, and of opposing scrum-halves Danny Brough and Paul March, while Knights chief executive Steve Ferres is a former Giants coach.

But how about this for a more tenuous one... Big prop Eorl Crabtree, who came off the bench for Huddersfield, is the nephew of Shirley Crabtree, who was better known as the king of British TV wrestling, Big Daddy. And Big Daddy's dad, also called Shirley Crabtree, played rugby league for York.

SEVERAL pros and cons about the Knights playing at Bootham Crescent will have been aired this week.

But perhaps the funniest disadvantage was highlighted towards the end of Wednesday's game by a rather sheepish match-day announcer, who requested that anyone who found a match ball in the streets around the ground to kindly return it.

Apparently they were running out of balls as kicks to touch often cleared the stands.

Still, you would have thought they'd be used to that by now at Bootham Crescent given the sharpness of York City's shooting this season. (Sorry City! And good luck for the run-in.)

COINCIDENTALLY enough, the man running the bar in the York City Social Club at Bootham Crescent, Don Nixon, had the very first licence for the Huntington Stadium bar when that opened in 1989.

AS regards Wednesday's match, Knights boss Richard Agar has pointed out he was distinctly unhappy with the performance of Wakefield referee Ben Thaler.

Ironically enough, I wrote that Thaler's display was the best by any referee in charge of a Knights game this season. That shows how much I know. Either that or the previous refs have been extra bobbins.

DID my eyes deceive me at the McAlpine or did Norris the Knight at one stage try to intervene in a heated moment involving York's Darren Callaghan and a Huddersfield foe?

I'm sure Norris tried to calm the situation down by holding a player back, but it all seemed a bit surreal for a Challenge Cup quarter-final.

TALKING of mascots, apologies are due to the Knights' mascot at the McAlpine, young Gareth Richards. We ran a picture article of him prior to the big game after he won a competition to be the club's mascot for the day - but we got his name wrong. It was one of those hectic days, but we aint making excuses.

Points for Knights of bold

THERE has been plenty of movement in the Evening Press/Collier Plant Hire player-of-the-year table following the Knights' two games this week.

The Challenge Cup quarter-final at Huddersfield saw Jimmy Elston come off the bench to claim the man-of-the-match accolade after a series of testing runs from dummy-half, including a 30-yard try.

He therefore collects three player-of-the-year points which lifted him to joint-third.

Stand-off Scott Rhodes worked hard to keep the Knights ticking and picks up two points while the remainder goes to prop Rich Hayes, who came out of retirement to play and gave as committed a display as ever. It was fitting that the great man should bow out in such a big match.

It would also seem somehow wrong if Hayes, so many times a player-of-the-year winner, was not on the leaderboard.

Hat-trick hero Alex Godfrey was a clear man of the match in the mid-week Gateshead game, while Mark Cain was second after setting up several tries including Godfrey's three. The one point went to Tom Andrews.

Godfrey also unanimously won the fans' vote and thus picks up another player-of-the-year point, while the extra point in the Huddersfield match went to Scott Rhodes.

Standings: Jackson 10pts, Brough 8, Friend 7, Elston 7, Graham 6, Ball 5, Godfrey 5, Forsyth 5, Rhodes 5, Langley 3, Callaghan 3, Briggs 2, Cain 2, J Smith 1, Wood 1, Hayes 1, Andrews 1.

THE first-ever York City Knights Player of the Month, as sponsored by the Evening Press, will be presented tomorrow.

The new award, as reported in this column last week, was launched for March and gives Evening Press readers the chance to win VIP tickets to a Knights home game.

Basically, all you have to do is vote for your man of the match in each game and the player who wins most votes over the course of the month gets the player of the month accolade.

All the fans who voted then go into a hat, with one lucky person receiving two VIP match tickets and the chance to present the player with his award before that home game.

The lucky reader who will present the award before tomorrow's game is Edward Gomersall, of Bishop Wilton. The winning player will be announced before the game.

To cast your vote after each game, send either an email to peter.martini@ycp.co.uk or a postcard to Peter Martini, Sportsdesk, Evening Press, York, YO1 9YN, leaving name, address and daytime contact number. Weekly votes must be received by noon on Thursdays.

Updated: 10:20 Saturday, April 03, 2004