MARTYN WOOLFORD has revealed that he was twice close to making a return to York City.

The attacking midfielder had discussions with manager Steve Watson in 2019 before moving to Vanarama National League North promotion rivals Boston United.

Woolford was also invited to train with City the following summer but, with one eye on succeeding in his property business which he hopes to move into once retiring, he decided against the move.

Although the 35-year-old admits that there is part of him that regrets not moving a comeback with the Minstermen.

“Before I signed for Boston, I went and met up with the manager (Watson) and it just didn’t happen for one reason or another,” said Woolford, in a revealing interview with York Hospital Ball, as part of their new series.

“It was late and he’d got his squad together and I don’t think he could see how I would have necessarily fit in there.

“I don’t know if he was looking for the type of player that I was.

“Then, the following season, they said, ‘Why don’t you come in (for) training?’.

“In hindsight, after leaving Grimsby, I could have stayed full-time. I got offered to go to Yeovil and I’ve got my two girls up here.

“I didn’t take it for that reason, although I really wanted to, because I still wanted to play at that sort of level.

“Boston offered me something and I was looking at the property business and thought it would be the perfect transition for me for life after football.

“But there’s a little bit of me that thinks ‘Maybe I should have gone in and trained at York to show that I’ve still got and maybe I could have forced my way back in.

“There’s a part of me that wishes I’d have gone down that route and shown what I can still do.

“As a winger, once you get past 30, I think people start to see you differently. Wingers are generally young flyers and when you get past 30, people start to question that.

“I’ve changed my game quite a lot and I’ve become a more clever footballer and I’ve played more in centre midfield throughout the years.”

Woolford kickstarted his career at York, having scored 25 times in 102 appearances between 2006 to 2008. After a successful career in the Football League, he says he does wish he could have had a fairytale ending back at City.

“I’d come to York tomorrow, it’s a club that I feel I owe a lot for what they did for me,” he added. “It felt like the fitting place for me to retire.

“On a personal level, it would have been nice to have finished where I started and it would have made it easier to draw a line under it after my career is over.”

Series 6 of the York Hospital Ball podcast begins this weekend, with Woolford, Jason Walker, Russ Howarth, Paul Stancliffe, Paul Barnes and Gary Ford among the guests discussing their time at York City.

Dan Tait, the creator of the podcast which has had over 10,000 downloads, said: “This is our biggest ever series and I wanted to cover a few different era, so there was something for every York City supporter.”

To listen to the full interview with Woolford, in which he discusses his journey into football, his time at York City and his career in the Football League, visit: hospitalball.podbean.com

To donate to York Hospital Radio, visit: justgiving.com/yorkhospitalradio