You could feel the tension in the air before kick-off. Not aggression, but apprehension about what what was to come. A season of hard work coming down to this.
The two teams had amassed a staggering 212 points between them – and their meeting on the final day had long looked like a title decider.
York went into the game with a two-point cushion. They could afford to draw. Rochdale had to win.
It was the perfect day for it. Sun shining, fans making their way to the Crown Oil Arena with their blue and red shirts proudly on display.
Dale supporters had been filing into the Ratcliffe – the club’s pub, attached to the ground – since the doors opened at 10am.
“I’m terrified,” said Elliott Mathieson, searching through his phone to find the tickets he’d booked for his group of friends. “I think we’re gonna lose.
“The nerves are so bad I’ve tried to put it out my mind, because if I think it about too much, I wouldn’t be able to sleep or eat. Promotion would be massive… monumental.”
York had won the previous two meetings between the sides – 4-1 in the league on their own ground, and 2-1 here in the FA Cup.
But their supporters did not feel confident either.
“I’ve been to some big games, but nothing has ever felt like this before,” said Graham Fair. “It feels so important because if we lose, I don’t think we’d do it in the play-offs because of the pressure and the disappointment.”
The play-offs were on everyone’s mind.
The National League suffers from an archaic quirk within the upper echelons of the football pyramid, with only its champions going straight up.
The runners-up go into the play-offs, and in the 23 seasons since they were introduced, the team finishing second have only been promoted six times.
Clubs are calling for a second automatic place as part of a 3UP campaign. It was discussed at the English Football League AGM last month but with no vote following, the status quo remains next season.
On Friday, Rochdale and York set aside their rivalry to issue joint statements saying that, whoever finished top, they would continue the fight.
