YORK City will be looking to kick off the new season against Northampton Town with their first opening-day home victory since 1999.

The Minstermen have failed to win on the last seven occasions they have started a League campaign at Bootham Crescent, taking a miserable two points from a possible 21 in that time.

Last season’s 3-1 reverse against Wycombe was the club’s third consecutive opening day loss at home following on from 2-1 defeats against Kidderminster and Cambridge in 2010 and 2007 respectively.

A 1-0 success over Swansea 14 years ago, courtesy of Mark Atkins, represents the last time City made a winning start to the season in front of their own fans and Worthington would like to end a wait that stretches back to the last millennium.

City will play host to last season’s League Two play-off finalists Northampton on Saturday, August 3 with Worthington saying: “Those records are there to be broken.

“It’s a brand-new season with a brand-new team and I’m full of optimism. It will be a tough game but a good one to start off with and it's always nice to be at home.

“I don’t know what their budget is but I am sure they will be looking to emulate what they did last season or go a step further. We will have to do what we do well and go for it as we did the last time we played them.”

The Minstermen took a significant step towards safety and dented Northampton’s automatic promotion hopes following a 2-0 win at Sixfields with three games left to play last season.

But Worthington believes that result will have no bearing on the next contest with contrasting line-ups expected from both teams.

Following their 3-0 defeat to Bradford in the play-off final, Northampton captain and former City defender Clarke Carlisle announced his retirement.

Top scorer Adebayo Akinfenwa was also released, along with John Johnson, Louis Moult, Jake Robinson, Lewis Wilson, Paul Turnbull and Seth Nana Twumasi, although manager Aidy Boothroyd has yet to bring in any new faces.

Three of City’s first four games of 2013/14 will now be played at home with the Capital One Cup clash against Burnley on August 6 followed by a trip to Dagenham & Redbridge four days later before another Bootham Crescent meeting with newly-relegated Hartlepool the next weekend.

It is a schedule that will give Worthington an early opportunity to issue a signal of intent for the rest of the season.

During the last two campaigns, the Minstermen have picked up more points on their travels than on their own turf and a record of six home wins was the lowest in League Two during 2012/13.

But Worthington claimed two of those victories during the four home games he oversaw after succeeding Gary Mills in March and he added: “I would like to make Bootham Crescent a fortress and get the crowd and everybody behind us.

“That helps to build momentum. You are looking for a good platform at home and then you try to get as many points away from home as well.”

The Minstermen’s first League meetings with 2008 FA Cup winners Portsmouth since 1980, meanwhile, will take place on Saturday, September 28 at Bootham Crescent and at Fratton Park on Saturday, March 22.

An away match with Scunthorpe concludes the campaign on Saturday, May 3.