Boyny

York v Castleford 1984 Challenge Cup quarter final at Clarence Street. Steadman scoring all our points to send York into the semis, GB v Aus Wembley 1990. Schofield running the show to help GB win the first Ashes test. GB V Aus Wembley 1994. 12 man victory and JD try. NZ V Aus Brisbane 2008 . World Cup Final. Kiwis winning it. Always look on the bright side of life. Eng v NZ Wembley 2013 World Cup semi. Heartbreak.

Am I right in thinking as it stands we could possibly play Toronto another 3 times ? Or has the heat got to me?

travelling down the Friday morning York to Kings Cross. Returning Sunday teatime St Pancras to Derby,Derby to York. Not too bad at all.

we beat you at home we beat you away when we play once more we'll beat you again STOP CRYING JOHN KEAR Stop crying your eyes out

28 of us ex Punch Bowl lads set off from York about 11am. Age range 42 to 75. Got to Hanging Heaton WMC for a couple of hours drinking before going onto the match. Enjoyed the beer garden with Bulldog Bitter getting some hammer. Good setup at Batley. Tight game with Jack Teanby the standout player for me. A draw was a fair result. Had to laugh when their long-haired forward came off the pitch and walked by us. Our Nik sez "Ey mate, you wanna get yer hair cut" he replies "im gonna, straight after the game for charity" Nik says "so will i then! Sure enough he stuck to his word and we all had quick whipround and got about £200 to add to the fund. Great laugh watching the batley lad shaving Nikkis head. Set off back to York just after 6 and of course finished up in the tavern. What a great day had by all .

Set off Friday dinnertime caught the slowest train to Sheffield ever. Shouldnt complain at £6 single ticket. First time back in Sheffield since 1978 to see The Clash. Nice walk up into the town, seems to be students everywhere. Had a nice pint in a Greene king pub with some old lags who had just done 9years inside for armed robbery of a post office ! Seems a bit harsh for a few stamps..... anyway after a few more slurps we catch a cab to the "stadium". Basic and tidy are the best I can say about the ground. Watching rugby in the sunshine is great but if it was to chuck it down here there is no shelter at all to speak of. But got to say the burgers were spot on. The game itself was a corker , hard and fast exciting rugby. Love watching this team. 2nd in the league, unbelievable. Got a much appreciated lift back to York on the supporters bus and yes we paid..pro rata. Last pint in The Tav then home. Cant wait for next week..got 30 Punch Bowl RLFC old boys on a bus to Batley. Calling in at Hanging Heaton WMC before the game if anyone fancies it.

The Iron Throne awaits those that shall be crowned "Kings of the North"

John Smiths for me. Leeds Pale joint second with Guzzler.

Anyone know if you can pay on the gate or buy tickets on the day etc?

So second half the Yorkies get louder and louder. Stewards tried telling a few to stop banging the pitch boardings to no avail. To be fair they were actually laughing along with them.Thought it was a great game from both sides and was great that both teams got plenty of applause at the end. Had chat with JF and a couple of the players afterwards then a lift to a bar near Toulouse station. We say Oh!Rayvwah to our new French amis and once again have a brill train journey back to Carcassonne. Saturday night was a bit of a blur but we all got some kip before our walk around the medieval city and walls that reminds us of Winterfell ala Game of Thrones. The rest of Carcassonne goes to sleep on a sunday so we have a marathon sesh in The Celt. Monday bite to eat in the town square and bus to airport about 2.30pm. Back in York about 8.30pm. Overall an excellent trip. Proud of our players, fans and club as a whole. Just want to do it again now.

Set off Friday York to Manchester to Carcassonne. Got to our digs about 6pm had my first pint about 7. Didnt know what to drink so settled for a large Judas. Turns out its 8.3% !! Only had one! Went on the Kilkenny after that. We couldnt be bothered to walk far so we only went in the 2 so called Irish bars...twice. Prefered The Celt to O'Sheridans. Good fish n chips.Bed. Up for brekky in Chez Felix, omelette being the order of the day. Train to Toulouse about 10.30am. Blagged 1st class on double decker train by accident honest. Really put our rail system to shame.Public bus outside station to Blagnac,meeting some French friends of a friend. To said friends house for pre-match food and drinks. Great welcome by these people who then gave us a lift to the stadium passing by The Toucan where gave all our fellow Yorkies a beep. Got to the stadium where we were given free tickets and hospitality bands for champagne and snacks, this was unreal. Watched the first half opposite where most York fans were but went accross to the other side at half time. 2nd part of this trip to follow later.

Bit late in posting this for personal reasons but never mind . Met up in Acorn and watched 2nd half of Hull derby then 12 of us set off in the club minibus to Fev. We had paid for hospitality this time as one of the 12 is a Fev supporter and promised us a good day. Sat in the club bar hoping to watch Wigan v Saints but apparantly they wont show Superleague games so we had to put up with LUFC streamed game. Anyway we had a very good feed before the game and could have watched the match from the dining room but decided we would watch it in the sunshine sat below the Fev fans. Got to give it to the home fans, they are noisy and constant though a lot of their songs contain a lot of effin and jeffin and going nurnurnurnurnur! Anyway swapped ends at arftime , a pleasant throwback. Game over, got beat, best team won by far and we know we are better than that. Thought the staff at the stadium were excellent and i can recomend the hospitality package. Got picked up about 9pm and as always ended up at BT for a few.

Watch out for the 'Gilets Jaunes' protests or should I say watch out for the french coppers coz they dont give a toss who they belt. Toulouse has had protests most saturdays since this started and The Melting Pot is near to where the yellow vests gather.They wont be putting the Bootham Tavern crew off anyway. Looking forward to this weekend after a very sad month just gone. Allez York Allez.

We usually go to the Featherstone WMC.

Cheapest parking is Sainsburys Fossbank. £4 for 4 hours.

Headaches just worn off. Return bus ticket to York station £4.40. Onto 13.17 direct train to Bradford £19 return. Stopped at every little station eventually arriving at 14.29. £7 taxi to Odsal.£25 into ground. Never had a pint before or during the game. Good banter .Every York pass was forward! Our defence was great especially when we picked up a Bulls forward and took him over our dead ball line giving us the restart. Ash Robson was involved in everything until he had to come off.Harry Carter was non stop.Every York pass was forward. The lead cheerleader had a bad looking accident I hope shes ok. At least 50 York fans there. Went into Q Gardens bar afterwards and caught up with an old mate who gave me lift back to York dropped me off at Bootham Tavern 19.30. Enjoyed rest of the night with some tightwad mates who never went but listened to the game hunched over the wireless. Another good day out. Worth every penny. Every York pass was forward!!

Will be staying in Carcassonne at the end of April while also visiting Toulouse to support York v TOXIII. We need to know of any decent bars/clubs we could visit, or indeed anything RL related. See voo play!

Anyone going by train on Sunday?

Had a good day at Heavy Woollen. Started out Sunday a.m. direct train to Dewsbury. Couple of John Smiths in Wetherspoons £1.89 a pint. Good banter with some sheeplovers who kindly ordered us taxis to Hanging Heaton WMC where they were heading. More beer and banter then 400m walk to the stadium. £16 entry. More beer which was far too cold to enjoy but needs must. First half we were awful and didnt look like scoring but when Horney was introduced we were a different side. Great win and just had to laugh at a couple of Ramsupporters playing hell about the Ref but have to say we had a good laugh with most we met. Back to the WMC then taxi for 6oclock train back to York. In the Tavern for 7. Great day out. Hope to give an awayday report as much as poss this season.

At least 20 Yorkies now doing Manchester - Carcassone

Carcassone flights now £54 return.

Yes the match was supposed to be played in Figueres Spain but they moved it to Carcassone. We flew to Barcelona stayed there one night. Then train upto Figueres then CatalanTour bus to Carcassone. Bit hectic but great experience.

Carcassone for me as well. £63 return from Manchester great value. Love Carcassone .Saw Catalans v Cas there in the dragons first season and a Lord Derby Cup Final there the day before we went to Perpignan to watch the Knights get bowled over by Catalans. Good rugby town.

On the eve of the centenary of the end of WW1 i can recommend a must-read 'The Greatest Sacrifice'-Fallen Heroes of the Northern Union. An amazingly well researched book that tells the stories of the 69 professional players who gave their lives. Though there are no York players listed in the 69,but there are York connections right throughout the book. Such as the York born Robert Randerson who is on the front cover.There is a newspaper match report from the 1914 match between Hunslet and ourselves where York turned up with only 6 men as the rest had enlisted.The VC winner John Harrison who taught at St Johns College and played for York before joining Hull. All emotional and poignant stories. Tomorrow at 11am I will be thinking of these people and all the others who suffered and I will think of them again when im at Elland Rd for the England v New Zealand test.

Pete of course i remember Con Jenkins. Great character and apparently was a hard player who was on the verge of selection for the 1946 GB tour of Oz but missed out for whatever reason(he always seemed bitter about it.) As for Welshmen who played for York i think we underestimate how many players came to us and how much we owe them. Even going back to pre-war teams, just look at the names of the players in our Wembley side v Halifax. Were all the Welsh names just a coincidence? And of course our greatest international and GB tourist Norman Fender was a proud Welshman. I would recommend watching 'The Rugby Codebreakers' to actually appreciate what prejudice and snobbery these men and their families had to face.