YORK City manager Steve Watson would be in favour of re-entering the Central League next season as a means of reintroducing organised reserve football back into the club.

The Minstermen went without official second-string fixtures for seven years between 2009 and 2016 before joining the Central League for two seasons prior to leaving again last summer.

That decision was made in tandem with the withdrawal of the youth team from the Football League Youth Alliance.

City now field a team in the National League Under-19 Alliance, who stage their games on a Wednesday afternoon with opposition including the likes of Frickley Athletic, South Shields and Eccleshill United.

Tim Ryan’s teenagers are guaranteed to finish runners-up to Guiseley in the Alliance’s Division I, but Watson believes the step up from that standard to National League North is currently too steep and would welcome an opportunity to test the club’s younger prospects in a more challenging environment.

He accepts, though, that re-applying for Central League status would, due to scheduling issues, require a change in the infrastructure introduced at the club last summer and is pondering other possible solutions to the issue of adequately preparing scholars for senior action.

“The problem we’ve got in this division (National League North) is that there is no reserve league and you can’t play matches against men’s sides other than for the first team,” Watson declared.

“The step-up from the college league (National League Under-19 Alliance) is too big and I would prefer it if we went back into the Central League, so I will have to chat to (sporting director) Dave (Penney) and the chairman (Jason McGill) about that.

“I think we have a big enough squad and younger players who are close enough to put a team out.

“The only problem is Tim’s team plays on Wednesdays, so it would be tough for young players to play in the Central League on a Tuesday and in the college league the next day so, unfortunately, it will need to be one or the other.

“What also can be a massive benefit is arranging a bounce game every couple of weeks.

“The best one we’ve had since I was here was when Chesterfield brought their full team and we played them at the stadium.

“If we could do that more often it would be a good way of integrating the young lads because it gives you the chance to look at the strikers such as Kiari (Ventura) and Ethan (Henderson) playing alongside Jordan Burrow and Jon Parkin.

“The problem, though, is sometimes the clubs will just send their under-23 teams.”

YORK City Supporters’ Trust’s commemorative Bootham Crescent beer “The Crescent” is now on sale and can be ordered by visiting www.ycst.org.uk

The beer was named at the Trust’s special ale tasting evening at York Brewery last weekend, as part of a competition that attracted 116 different entries.

A vote at the tasting event determined the winning name and The Crescent is now available in cases of 12 uniquely-branded 500ml bottles, with the first batch being shipped from York Brewery next month.

In the meantime, the ale is being brewed, along with the production of the label artwork, which will feature an iconic image from Tony Cole, whose “Home End” book, with atmospheric modern-day photographs taken of scenes from the club’s 87-year-old stadium, has proven popular among City fans.

MACUALAY Langstaff has moved up to sixth in The Press Player of the Year standings.

The 22-year-old forward was our man of the match for last weekend’s 1-0 home win over Southport, earning three points towards the standings.

Debutants Jasper Moon (two points) and Ryan Whitley (one) were also rewarded as The Press’ second and third-highest rated performers respectively.

On-loan Bury midfielder Scott Burgess, meanwhile, won the two Player of the Month bonus points on offer after heading our Twitter man-of-the-match poll.

The Press Player of the Year standings: Burrow 30, Bartlett 27, Griffiths 25, Newton 19, Wright 14, Langstaff 11, Moke 11, York 11, Burgess 10, Ferguson 10, Tait 10, Heslop 9, Parkin 9, Penn 9, Bray 8, Kempster 7, Mirfin 5, Allan 4, Bencherif 4, Davis 4, Agnew 3, Digie 3, Dyer 3, Harris 3, Law 3, McLaughlin 3, Hawkins 2, Moon 2, McAughtrie 1, Parslow 1, Whitley 1.

The Press Player of the Month final standings for April: Langstaff 3, Burgess 2, Moon 2, Whitley 1.

Goals: Burrow 17, Langstaff 9, Newton 5, Wright 5, Kempster 4, York 4, Bencherif 3, Parkin 3, Ferguson 2, Harris 2, Moke 2, Tait 2, Bray 1, Burgess 1, Griffiths 1, Hawkins 1, Heslop 1, McLaughlin 1.

Assists: Burrow 11, Harris 6, Langstaff 5, Parkin 5, Ferguson 4, Law 4, Wright 4, Bray 3, Griffiths 3, York 3, Bartlett 2, McLaughlin 2, Allan 1, Agnew 1, Bencherif 1, Burgess 1, Digie 1, Dyer 1, Hawkins 1, Heslop 1, Kempster 1, Moke 1, Newton 1, Tait 1.

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