ACE of Base were number one with All That She Wants and Graham Taylor was hanging on to his job as England manager.

Leader of the Conservatives John Major, meanwhile, was still enjoying majority support in the House of Commons and a 30-year-old Martin Foyle was preparing for an ultimately painful Wembley play-off final appearance with Port Vale against West Brom.

Much has changed, obviously, in the passing 17 years but one thing has remained constant – since May 29, 1993, York City have failed to win promotion again.

It is a record, dating back to the play-off victory over Crewe, which means only Darlington and Tranmere Rovers supporters can truly boast bigger claims to being more long-suffering than their York City counterparts in full-time English football.

Fans of those clubs have not moved up a division since 1991 and, while Coventry City might have failed to win promotion since the swinging 60s, the Sky Blues did enjoy 34 years of top-flight football before finally succumbing to relegation in 2001.

For the same reason, supporters of Southampton, Leeds United, who lie on the brink of promotion from League One today, and Oldham Athletic should be discounted from the misery stakes due to spells in the Premier League and old first division. Victory against Oxford United in next Sunday’s play-off final will, therefore, end one of the longest waits for league success in the country and place the likes of David McGurk, Richard Brodie and Michael Ingham alongside yesteryear heroes such as Wayne Hall, Dean Kiely and Andy McMillan in City folklore.