York City media centre manager Phil Howden hopes he will be out of a job this time next year.

The life-long city supporter has just produced his 30th DVD for the Bootham Crescent club but is looking forward to the day that he vacates the camera gantry and returns to his place in the David Longhurst Stand on match days.

Self-taught Howden is employed on a part-time basis to provide footage from City’s home matches and run the club’s media centre.

But, although he loves his work, the 37-year-old former teacher knows that losing his right to film Minstermen games would mean the club had gained promotion back to the Football League It is a sacrifice he would gladly make, saying: “I was hoping I’d be packing my camera gear for one final time at Wembley just over a year ago but it wasn’t meant to be.

“I enjoy my job and it’s great if my work is benefiting York City. I imagine most supporters would also love to be in my position but, equally, I’d be a happy man if I’m back on the terraces in 2012/13 and Sky and BBC are providing the cameras again.”

For now, YCTV remains a useful income stream for the club with the annual £30 subscription fee, providing on-line access to full games and highlights, contributing between £3,000 and £5,000 to the club’s coffers.

DVD sales also amount to another £3,000 of revenue per year with Howden adding: “I try to target a £5,000 profit every year but it would be nice to aim for five figures because that would be a really significant amount for the club.”

Howden regularly acts on fan feedback in his role and, subsequently, will be listing games in date order rather than alphabetical order from next season, making the service more user-friendly.

He also decided to make full matches available on the internet following requests from overseas supporters and is constantly attempting to enter into as many reciprocal agreements with opposing clubs as possible to exchange away game footage.

City fans are not the only beneficiaries, however, with first-team manager Gary Mills taking full advantage of Howden’s work since his arrival from Tamworth and players using DVDs to analyse their performance and send copies to family members in different parts of the country.

“I try to provide a service for everybody at the club whether that be for the management staff, players, office staff or supporters,” Howden explained. “The fans are obviously a big consideration as they are the people who subscribe to the service and buy the DVDs.

“But a lot of players have come to me asking for copies of games and I have even produced other things like motivational videos based on film footage that the manager has requested and played in the dressing room before matches. I can also edit the footage down and save Gary time by getting rid of the stuff that won’t be of interest in games.

“He probably gets a different and better view than he would from the dugout too. I can’t imagine you can see what’s going on down the far touchline from there.”

Howden, who cut his broadcasting teeth as a volunteer at the short-lived, free-to-air local station York TV, has learned to film, edit and produce largely on a self-taught basis.

He has also invested in his own equipment after swapping professions having previously taught English as a foreign language in the Ukraine and Lithuania and trained teachers in Newcastle.

City chief Mills, for one, is pleased with the assistance he receives from the media centre, saying: “Phil does a great job and we are lucky to have the service.

“If I want to see an incident from, say, the 56th minute of any game, I can be watching it at my desk within minutes. You like to look back at certain aspects of a game at times and, from that point of view, it’s a massive help.

“For example, if I’m unhappy with a goal that has been conceded from a free-kick or a corner, I can quickly analyse what went wrong. You can see who has or hasn’t done their jobs and, instead of the players taking my word for it or not, I can show them the footage, which is very professional too.”

The latest DVD, featuring all City’s significant action from the final three months of last season, is on sale for £10 at the club shop.