FORMER York City favourite and current Scarborough Athletic striker Michael Coulson believes both clubs would welcome the restoration of regular North Yorkshire derby clashes.

The pair will meet at Scarborough’s Flamingo Land Stadium in a North Riding Senior Cup semi-final tie on Tuesday night, but Coulson is hoping it won’t be too long before the two teams are meeting again in the same league.

Play-off hopefuls Scarborough are currently sixth in the Evo-Stik League premier division table and, if they can make the step up at the end of the season, Steve Kittrick’s men will be plying their trade at the Minstermen’s current level – in English football’s sixth tier.

Coulson has fond memories of the mid-2000 Conference clashes between the two clubs when four contests attracted 4,000-plus attendances.

The Scarborough-born attacker actually played in one of those matches as a 17-year-old substitute for his home-town club during their 3-1 defeat on Boxing Day 2005 when 4,921 flocked to Bootham Crescent.

Ahead of hostilities being renewed next week, Coulson said: “I remember the great atmospheres with the stadiums being packed and, hopefully, we can return to that one day and sooner rather than later. It was strange when I was at York in that we didn’t really have a derby as such.

“Our biggest rivals seemed to be Luton which was a strange one and it’s good to have that local rivalry, so I think both clubs would benefit from being back in the same league.”

The Seadogs have dropped one point off the play-off pace, but still have a game in hand on fifth-placed Gainsborough, with Coulson believing the club retain an excellent opportunity to extend their campaign and climb into National League North.

“Since Christmas, we’ve under-performed a little bit, but we’re still in a great position and I’d love to have a stab at the play-offs, because I’ve only experienced that once in my career, with York back in 2014,” Coulson added.

“Promotion is still the target and the play-offs are great occasions. It’s arguably the best way to go up, but we’ve got a lot of big games to look forward to first.”

With City due to move into the new Community Stadium next season and Scarborough adding a stand to their one-and-a-half-year-old ground this summer, Coulson also reckons the former Football League foes are both laying foundations for brighter futures, reasoning: “The new stand will provide a lot more cover for our fans and a better viewing area.

“At the moment, we are getting that many people coming that some can’t see over the person in front of them, so the fans will really appreciate the development. From the pictures I’ve seen of York’s stadium, it also looks a superb set-up and it’s been needed for a few years because, even though Bootham Crescent has its history and a nice pitch, it’s a bit dated now, and the new ground will help attract good players.”

Scarborough are set to field their strongest available team for the cup clash, while City are expected to name a second-string side that could still feature the likes of senior professionals Tom Bradbury, Nathan Dyer, Alex Harris, Josh Law, Dan Parslow, Joe Tait, Jake Wright and Ryan Whitley, and Coulson stressed the contest will be treated as a serious exercise by the hosts.

“Sometimes, these types of cups can be a bit of a hindrance, but you know, when you’re playing the earlier rounds, it can lead to a good draw at this stage of the tournament and it’s a great opportunity for everyone at the club to show what Scarborough are all about,” the former Grimsby attacker declared. “A few years ago, there was a big gap between the two clubs, but Scarborough aren’t a million miles away from York now and this tournament is also an opportunity to win a trophy.

“We were a bit unlucky last season when we reached the final and probably should have won. We were beaten 1-0 by Middlesbrough under-23s, but we missed a penalty and had a player sent off.

“It was played at the Riverside, though, and was a good occasion for everybody, so we’ll be going all out to get to the final again. I’m not expecting York to play their first XI, but they have a massive squad, so most of the team are likely to be senior players and it should be a great test for us.

“We’ve got a good squad ourselves and it will be interesting to see how we do against a team from a level above. I think our fans will be quite excited by the tie too.

“They have been great since the club returned to Scarborough and we’re averaging more than 1,000 at games every week, which is incredible. I’m sure there will be a lot there on Tuesday night and they’ll get behind us, so it should be a good atmosphere.”

Coulson confessed, though, that he would have preferred to have been drawn away to give him one last chance to run out on the hallowed turf he graced from 2012 to 2016.

“I’ve never really played against an old club, other than once for York at Barnsley, so I’m looking forward to it, although I had hoped to get York at Bootham Crescent, as it would have been nice to go back and I don’t know if I’ll get another chance before the stadium is knocked down,” Coulson pointed out. “But the delay might make that easier and, being at home, also probably gives us a better chance, because of our artificial pitch.”

Along with Coulson, four other former Minstermen are currently on the Seadogs’ books – evergreen 38-year-old left-back David Merris, Matty Dixon, Flynn McNaughton and Fergus McAughtrie.

On the quartet’s merits, the ex-England C international said: “Dave Merris seems to get younger the older he gets, if that makes sense. He gives it his all in every game and, to still be playing at this level at his age, is a credit to his fitness levels.

“Matty Dixon has also done well since coming in. Flynn has had a couple of run-outs and both he and Fergus look like great young players with big careers ahead of them at Scarborough in the future.

“It’s just been difficult for them to break in at the moment, with a lot of pressure on games.”

Coulson was also pitted directly against recent City trialist Ryan Cresswell last weekend.

The former Rotherham and Fleetwood defender came out on top as he helped new club Mickelover Sports secure a surprise 2-0 away win over the Seasiders on his debut, with Coulson feeling he would still prove an astute signing at a higher level.

“He looked the part,” the one-time St Johnstone forward ventured. “I’ve played against him numerous times down the years and he’s always been a good player.

“I know that York have been keen to get him a few times in the past and he’s still really strong in the air and a solid defender. He put in a good performance and I’m sure anybody watching him would have gone away interested.”

Coulson, now 30, is combining playing part-time for Scarborough with a coach-building day job for Plaxton’s, where he works alongside several members of his family.

He has no plans to hang up his boots yet, though, saying: “I played with a stomach injury for about 18 months at York, but my body feels the best it has ever felt now and I don’t mind playing on the 3G pitch at all, so I want to carry on as long as I can.”

DAVID Mirfin has won February’s Press Player of the Month award.

The 33-year-old defender finished two points ahead of nearest rival Wes York.

Paddy McLaughlin, meanwhile, collected three points towards the contest as our man of the match during last weekend’s 2-0 home win over Nuneaton.

The other Press points went to Sean Newton (two) and Adam Bartlett (one) as our second and third-highest rated performers respectively.

Newton also received the two bonus points available to the player who polled the most man-of-the-match votes from our online Twitter poll.

The Press Player of the Year standings: Bartlett 27, Burrow 27, Griffiths 24, Wright 14, Moke 11, York 11, Newton 10, Ferguson 9, Heslop 9, Penn 9, Tait 9, Bray 8, Parkin 6, Kempster 5, Langstaff 5, Mirfin 5, Allan 4, Burgess 4, Davis 4, Agnew 3, Bencherif 3, Digie 3, Dyer 3, Harris 3, Law 3, McLaughlin 3, Hawkins 2, McAughtrie 1, Parslow 1.

The Press Player of the Month standings for February: Mirfin 9, York 7, Burrow 5, Newton 5, Kempster 4, Griffiths 3, McLaughlin 3, Burgess 2, Bartlett 1, Law 1.

Goals: Burrow 17, Langstaff 5, Wright 5, Newton 4, Bencherif 3, Kempster 3, Parkin 3, York 3, Ferguson 2, Harris 2, Moke 2, Tait 2, Bray 1, Burgess 1, Griffiths 1, Hawkins 1, Heslop 1.

Assists: Burrow 10, Harris 6, Ferguson 4, Langstaff 4, Law 4, Wright 4, Parkin 3, Bray 3, Griffiths 3, York 3, Bartlett 2, Allan 1, Agnew 1, Digie 1, Dyer 1, Hawkins 1, Heslop 1, Kempster 1, McLaughlin 1, Newton 1, Tait 1.

Discipline: Wright eight yellow cards; Heslop seven yellow; Moke, Newton both six yellow; Bencherif, Griffiths, both four yellow; Tait one red, two yellow; Davis three yellow; Ferguson, Law both two yellow; Penn one red, one yellow; Bray one red; Allan, Burgess, Hawkins, Kempster, Langstaff, McAughtrie, York all one yellow.