This article is part of the ‘League Preview’ series, in which every day we take a detailed look at one of Aldershot Town’s 23 prospective opponents for the upcoming National League season.
Last but certainly not least, in the spotlight today is a team who would consider themselves unlucky not to have tasted Football League promotion last term. 2024/25 National League runners up, York City.
With a grand total of 96 points, ‘the Minstermen’ fell just two wins short of eventual title winners Banet, and despite going into the play-offs as heavy favourites with 13 points separating them from their next-nearest rivals, they would lose 3-0 in the semi-finals to eventual Wembley winners Oldham Athletic.
Tasked with going one better in his second full-season with the club is former Aldershot Town defender Adam Hinshelwood. The central defender turned manager made over 100 appearances for Brighton & Hove Albion in the 2000s, the club where his son and namesake, Jack, currently plays.
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Where is York?
The historic town of York is situated unsurprisingly in Yorkshire, or more specifically, the North Riding. With a population of approximately 142,000, it is the second largest settlement in the county, behind only Middlesbrough. Roughly 241 miles from the EBB Stadium, this 4h 52m journey will mark Aldershot’s fifth-furthest away trip of the upcoming league season.
York City are one of three professional football clubs in North Yorkshire, alongside League two Harrogate Town and former UEFA Cup finalists, Middlesbrough. They also share relatively close proximity with Leeds United, just 37 miles away. York currently serves as the closest place to see step-one football or higher in the towns of Huntington (~13,000 pop), Selby (20,000), and most notably, Scarborough (60,000).
York play their home matches at LNER Community Stadium, also known as the York Community Stadium. Opening its doors in 2021, it is among the newest grounds in English football. The ground is the successor to Bootham Crescent, the club’s home of 88 years, which closed its doors four years ago. With a capacity of 8,500, the York Community Stadium is the ninth-largest ground in this year’s National League.
York City finished the 2024/25 season with an average league attendance of 6,138, the third-best among teams currently in the division, behind only Southend and Carlisle. However, filling 72.20% of their capacity on average, they boast the accolade of best filling their ground on matchdays among all step-one teams.
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Recent history and club highlights
After taking five years to escape the National League North, York City have finally begun to show off their Football League capabilities after relegation from league two nine years ago.
2024/25 – National League (2nd)
2023/24 – National League (20th)
2022/23 – National League (19th)
2021/22 – National League North (5th, Promoted via play-offs)
2020/21 – National League North (8th)
2019/20 – National League North (2nd)
2018/19 – National League North (12th)
2017/18 – National League North (11th)
2016/17 – National League (21th, Relegated)
2015/16 – League Two (24th, Relegated)
Despite spending much of the past 20-or-so years non-league, much like Aldershot, the side spent the vast majority of the 20th century as a Football League Club, with 83 uninterrupted years between tiers two and four. Their highest league placement came in 1974/75, where a recently promoted York side enjoyed their first of two campaigns in the Second Division, finishing 15th in a league featuring current Premier League giants Manchester United, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, among others. They were relegated the following campaign, and are yet to return to English football’s second-tier.
In cup competition, their finest moment undoubtedly belongs to their 1954/55 season, which saw the then-Division 3 North side reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Beating Scarborough, Dorchester Town, Blackpool, Bishop Auckland, Tottenham Hotspur and Notts County, they would force eventual winners Newcastle United to a replay, drawing 1-1 at a neutral Hillsborough in late-March, before losing 2-0 at Roker Park four days later. To this day, York City remain one of just nine sides to reach the FA Cup’s final four as a third-tier club.
York City have also won the FA trophy final on two occasions. Their first came against Newport County in 2012, beating the Exiles 2-0 on the day, before being on the right side of a five-goal thriller against Macclesfield Town in 2017 in front 38,224. Aidan Connolly’s 86th minute winner proved enough to emerge victorious in one of the most entertaining finals since the stadium’s inception.
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Pre-season, incoming transfers and other news
At time of writing, York have made 8 first team signings.
| Player | Pos. | Age | Arriving from… | Highest level played |
| Hiram Boateng | CM | 29 | Mansfield Town | League One (MK Dons) |
| Ollie Banks | CM | 32 | Chesterfield | League One (Chesterfield) |
| Ashley Palmer | CB | 32 | Chesterfield | League One (Scunthorpe) |
| Mark Kitching | LB | 29 | Oldham Athletic | League One (Rochdale) |
| Alex Newby | RW | 29 | Altrincham | League One (Rochdale |
| Joe Grey | LW | 22 | Hartlepool United | League Two (Hartlepool) |
| Greg Olley | CAM | 29 | Gateshead | National League (Gateshead) |
| Ben Brookes | LB | 24 | Maidstone United | NL South (Maidstone) |
If York City’s intentions of returning to the fourth-tier were not clear enough, an incoming octet possessing a combined 810 Football League appearances between them may get the point across.
Among the more familiar faces in this list is wide-forward Alex Newby, who was one of just four players to claim double-digit goals and assists in last season’s National League, with 15 and 11 respectively.
One player with no prior experience at step-one level is 24-year-old Ben Brookes, the attacking full back made a name for himself with Hashtag United and Chelmsford City before becoming a crucial cog in Maidstone United’s oh-so-close National League South title push last term. Brookes is also a penalty specialist, and notably scored the only two goals in a 2-0 victory against Worthing in the play-off quarter-finals in April.
York’s pre-season campaign, which included an eight-goal thriller against Championship opposition, resulted as follows:
Garforth 1-0 York City (08/07)
York City 3-3 Salford (11/07)
York City 2-6 Sheffield United (15/07)
York City 2-2 Barnsley (22/07)
Marine 0-1 York City (26/07)
Spennymoor Town 0-1 York City (02/08)
With preparations concluding with a win at last year’s FA Trophy finalists Spennymoor Town, the Minstermen will now gear up to begin their Enterprise National League campaign, hosting Sutton United on Saturday, 9th August.
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When will Aldershot and York play each other?
Following the release of the National League fixture list, the Shots will travel to North Yorkshire on Saturday, 29th November, while Tommy Widdrington’s men will host the Minstermen on Saturday, 14th March.
York’s travels to Aldershot go back as far as 1959, with both sides competing in the maiden edition of the newly nationwide Division 4. After a 0-0 stalemate in January, York would visit the Recreation Ground on the penultimate day of the season. It would prove a memorable outing for the visitors, as a 2-1 win secured promotion to the third-tier. They would go on to share a division for a total of 23 seasons between then and 1992.
Including only the lineage of the phoenix club, the sides first met in the 2004/05 Football Conference, following York’s relegation from League Two, the Shots would win both fixtures 2-0, as they pushed to a play-off berth, while the Minstermen narrowly avoided relegation to the sixth-tier.
Meeting in a further eight league seasons since – one of which occurring in the Football League – and having never contested in cup competition, the sides have met a total of 18 times and counting…
Games played: 18
Aldershot wins: 6
York wins: 7
Draws: 3
Aggregate score: 18-23
Record Shots victory: 2-0 (2007)
Record York victory: 7-2 (2025)
The sides last met in April, on an afternoon to forget for Shots, succumbing to a 7-2 thrashing at the York Community stadium. With automatic promotion still on the line, the hosts were in exceptional finishing form as Lewis Richardson and Ollie Pearce scored a combined five goals on the day. The visitors were in the game for longer than the eventual scoreline would suggest, not only scoring twice in the first-half, but also earning two penalties. Unfortunately, both spotkicks were missed, and with Cameron Hargeaves receiving a red card shortly after half-time, the promotion hopefuls took extreme advantage of the extra man in the second-45.
