Selby Town put themselves back on the football map in February 2017 by reaching the West Riding County Cup Final for the first time in 25 years by beating NPL local neighbours Tadcaster Albion in a shock 2-0 victory at i2i Sports Stadium.
Starved of success for years, the semi-final win finally unlocked the club’s potential and gave Selby the belief they still retain to this day.
Playing against Tadcaster and their heavy-weight superstars, Selby had their backs firmly pressed against the proverbial walls for long periods, but second half goals from magic man Joe Dale and Liam Flanagan booked an unlikely date with Farsley Celtic in the final.
In the latest ‘My Greatest Game’, manager Christian Fox explains how the Robins pulled off one of their greatest victories of the past ten years and why his first season in charge was the “rebirth” of Selby Town.
Tadcaster Albion 0-2 Selby Town (Joe Dale 53, Liam Flanagan 70) – 6th February 2018
The Teams
Tadcaster Albion: Young, Sheppeard, Hunter, Milne (captain), Papprill (Davidson 62), Barrett, Whitehouse (Pugh 77), Sellars, Corner, Savory, Stewart. Subs unused: Ingham, Hardy, Howarth.
Selby Town: Hagreen, Pearse, Lock (Metcalfe 85), Snodin, Gothard (captain), Kennedy, Woodhead, Clamp (Foster-Vigars 78), Flanagan, Collier (Snaith 70), Dale. Subs unused: Jones, Bissett.
Attendance: 352
“Considering quite a number of the lads had been playing in the York and District League in the previous season, to beat a top NPL side with all their big guns playing was an unbelievable achievement. We weren’t expected to win by any stretch of the imagination. We’d played them in pre-season and they had battered us 5-0 and I think the majority of people thought it was going to go down the same route.
“There’s no doubt that the result put Selby back on the map and helped us to get to where we now with the results and the crowds. That night was brilliant for the fans and volunteers and it gave everyone huge belief.
“Tadcaster had a lot of success over the previous few seasons and are a local rival. They had big-name players and they were drawing decent crowds and Taddy were always the club who Selby thought they couldn’t be like in terms of fans and exposure profile-wise. In recent times we have challenging them attendance-wise and the exposure through social media. We have followed the same trajectory off-the-pitch. When we (myself and assistant manager Jonny Bruce) came in we always said to (chairman) Ralph (Pearse) that we could emulate what Tadcaster had done in terms of raising the profile of the club and getting more fans through the gate. You look at the population of Selby and the surrounding villages, the people are there. The ground is also right in the heart of the Town Centre.
“Tadcaster had close to their strongest side out that night and I don’t know if they thought they were just going to turn up and turn us over? People like Tom Corner, Davidson, Aiden Savory, Casey (Stewart) played. There were players with big pedigrees playing. Players who had been there and done in the Conference North.
“We had a game-plan and it was one of those nights when everything seemed to come off. We always play 4-3-3, but changed it to a 4-4-2 and it is one of the only times we have done that. We did it just to be more compact and have two banks of four to protect (goalkeeper) Paul Hagreen. We knew fine well we would have less of the ball than Taddy so it was a case of trying to be compact, keep the ball in front of us and not let them penetrate us. We did ride our luck at times. I think they hit the post and Hagreen made some good saves, but we knew he would have to. We also knew everyone would have to be a seven our of ten at least and they all were.
“We’d said before the game that there was no pressure and to go out and enjoy it. It was 0-0 at half-time and we didn’t change anything because the game-plan was about staying in the game as long as we could and try and nick it. The first game came on 53 minutes and it was basically a long ball from a goal kick. Paul had a massive kick and Joey Dale was picked out and he ran onto it and slotted it in. That was the killer blow for Tadcaster. We were solid on the night and we proved hard to break down. Once as Liam Flanagan scored the second we knew we had done it. You couldn’t see Tadcaster getting back into the game after that.
“Everybody was so proud at the end, especially people like Ralph, (secretary) Tommy (Arkley) and (match secretary) Mark (Aldred) who have been around the club for years. The celebrations didn’t really start until we got in the clubhouse. I don’t think many of the Taddy lot were in there and we must have stayed in there until 11pm, maybe 11.30pm. It was like a Selby Town home game in the bar because it was literally just people from Selby in there. People were emotional and I think even Tommy bought me a pint that night so he must have been happy.
“Selby playing in a County Cup Final was unheard of. They hadn’t got to it in 25 years and you’d have mad to think that we would get there in our first season in charge with a team full of lads who had been playing in the York & District League the previous season. We had taken over less than a year earlier and we had to bring in a completely new team as well.
“When we knew we were going to be playing Farsley we knew that it was going to be a lot different to Tadcaster. We would have had to had some luck to beat Farsley. The best we could have hoped for was to ride our luck, stay in the game and hope for a penalty shootout. We knew fine well we couldn’t do much and it was all about experience for the lads.
“I actually missed the final because I was suspended for it. I still had to drop Jonny and (my son) Harry) at the game and I went off and went to Ikea (at Junction 27 off the M62) with a shopping list my missus had given me. I can’y remember what I bought, probably the usual, glasses and candles. I ended up in Pizza Express all by myself and had a three course meal and then went back and picked them all up.
“I wasn’t disappointed (about missing the game) because it was never about me. It was about the players and a celebration for what we had achieved that season. We had had a decent season and we were always around the play-offs and we were always hoping we would scrape into them. Obviously we missed out on them by a couple of points. The weather badly affected us. We lost key players like Casey Stewart who was a big player for us in the early part of season to other clubs and also players to injury at key points.
“I was more gutted about missing out on the play-offs than missing the final. We missed out (on the play-offs) by one game really and you look back at the games and look at where we should have taken points. A lot of people had wrote us off at the start of the season. We proved them wrong fairly early on, but all in all we probably overachieved that season. It was certainly a rebirth of Selby Town, that’s fair to say.
“In the second season, the weather and other things like suspensions conspired against us. Then everything was going to plan in the third season and luck goes against us again. We don’t have any luck. However, I do think because of all the hard work gone in over the last three years on-and-off-the-field the club is in a good shape to return when we are allowed to. The crowds, apart from North Ferriby, dwarf the rest of the league.
“It is a building process. It is rare when teams start a season with a new team and take off. Things take time and being in our third season we were on par with the three-year plan we set out in 2017. We’ll have to look at it when we return and hopefully take off again. I’m hoping the FA changes its mind on expunging the results. There’s got to be one rule for all leagues, including the Premier League. I think they have come up with the worst decision possible. I think they could have waited because I don’t see why there’s a rush to make the decision now. They could have had a permanent suspension on the current season and got that finished when it is possible. I don’t think anyone would have a problem with that. No-one has any idea when we will start again. No football could be played until September or October for instance and that would be too late to start the season again from scratch. I really don’t get the decision.”
Christian Fox was interviewed by James Grayson.