YORK City will take more supporters to Wembley for the FA Trophy final than attended the famous 1993 play-off victory under the old Twin Towers.

The Minstermen have now sold around 12,000 tickets for the May 9 showpiece against Stevenage Borough – surpassing the estimated 10,000 who watched City gain promotion to the old Second Division with a penalty shoot-out victory over Crewe Alexandra 16 years ago.

There has been a surge of sales at the KitKat Crescent ticket office since City secured their Blue Square Premier status with a 2-1 victory at Weymouth last Friday, with some people buying as many as 70 seats in one go. Almost 2,000 tickets have been sold in the last two days.

And Sophie Hicks, the club’s communications and community director, is leading a final push for as many fans as possible to enjoy a day out at the home of English football – and raise vital cash to help City’s promotion prospects in the future.

“Ticket sales are still going extremely well,” she said. “There is no doubt that securing our Blue Square Premier status has had a positive impact. Monday was incredibly busy in the ticket office.

“We are delighted that we have surpassed the ticket sales of 1993 and I think this shows there is a lot of excitement in the city about the game and our visit to Wembley Stadium.”

Hicks said she was convinced the final would be a “tremendous occasion” and said everyone was looking forward to May 9, from the board, staff and players to the thousands of supporters.

“It will be wonderful to see so many York City fans turning out at Wembley,” she added. “I think it is phenomenal we have surpassed the 1993 ticket sales.

“Not only is there the excitement for the event, but I think people also want to see the quality of the new stadium. The increased ticket sales show the club is much more a part of the community than it was 16 years ago.

“We are engaging with local schoolchildren and we are a true community club now.”

Tickets will continue to be on sale at KitKat Crescent on weekdays from 9am to 5pm until noon on Wednesday, May 6. Telephone sales will continue until 5pm on Friday.

After this time, lines will close and tickets can only be bought in person.

The club are discussing the possibility of putting remaining tickets on sale at Wembley Stadium on the match day, but this will depend on the FA having personnel to staff the ticket office and on how many tickets are unsold by Stevenage.