THERE can be few fixtures in the history of the beautiful game that have served as such a pivotal moment in both teams’ futures than the one whose 20th anniversary will be marked on Wednesday.

Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat at Bootham Crescent on December 19 1998 is regularly cited as the Sky Blues’ nadir, as they struggled to mount a promotion challenge during their only ever season in English football’s third tier.

Their hosts York City, meanwhile, were in the midst of a sixth successive season in the same division during a period that had also heralded League Cup triumphs over the visitors’ illustrious cross-city neighbours Manchester United and Everton.

At the time, nobody could have foreseen the then Maine Road outfit’s transformation into one of the world’s leading superpowers under managerial great Pep Guardiola.

Rather than having the likes of Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne to call upon, Joe Royle was relying on players of the ilk of Nick Fenton, Tony Vaughan and Lee Crooks to secure a result against the Minstermen.

But, while the home team went on to take maximum points thanks to goals from Gordon Connelly and Andy Dawson – the latter netting the winner in fairy-tale fashion with his first kick in professional football – there were darker days ahead for the red-shirted City club.

Following the December defeat, Royle’s men went on to reach the play-offs, where they won a legendary Wembley final on penalties despite trailing Gillingham 2-0 going into the last two minutes of normal time.

The next season saw Royle celebrate back-to-back promotions as the team returned to the Premier League.

And, since then, with huge financial backing, the Manchester club have won three top-flight titles and spent the last nine seasons competing in the Champions League, reaching the semi-finals in 2016, while being the bookmakers’ favourites to win this term’s tournament.

In contrast, the rousing Bootham Crescent triumph would prove the high point in a campaign that ended in relegation for the Minstermen after the Sky Blues gained revenge with a 4-0 final-day win at Maine Road that, fatally, saw their visitors fall into the drop zone for the first time during the campaign.

Alan Little also lost his job as manager two-and-a-half months after humbling the fallen Lancashire giants, with his successor Neil Thompson overseeing the club’s departure from a level that they have never reached again.

Turbulent times followed with the club rescued from the genuine threat of closure during the dark final days of Douglas Craig’s chairmanship and the regrettable reign of John Batchelor.

Subsequently, City have twice dropped out of the Football League and now ply their trade in the regionalised sixth tier of the game, with 128 places in the football pyramid now separating the 1998/99 League One rivals.

To celebrate the platinum anniversary of a true Bootham Crescent classic, The Press have spoken to four leading protagonists on the day, including unlikely goal hero Dawson.

For the latter, who had just turned 19 a fortnight before the match, his 86th-minute winner remarkably proved the only goal of a professional career that would also take him to Carlisle, before spells at non-League pair Scarborough and Selby Town.

Now living with his family in Australia, Dawson unsurprisingly has vivid memories of a day in which he took his place in Minstermen folklore.

In front of a bumper crowd of 7,527, Little’s team took just 82 seconds to forge in front when Martin Garratt, who would sadly pass away 15 years later, freed Richard Cresswell and his low cross was missed by Neil Tolson, but slammed in from 15 yards by Scottish striker Connelly.

The visitors went on to level just past the half-hour mark when Craig Russell’s speculative shot from way out on the left looped over Bobby Mimms after clipping the shinpad of Tony Barras.

But Strensall-born Dawson had the final say.

Accepting a pass from fellow sub Rodney Rowe, he curved a 15-yard shot beyond keeper Nicky Weaver and, on an afternoon when even the build-up was somewhat different to the norm, Dawson recalled: “We were treated to a pre-match meal at the Jarvis A19 Hotel, and it was like we were treating the match as a special occasion.

"At that point, the team had not been announced and it was only on arrival at the ground that I was told I had made the bench. It was very noticeable, before the game, that lots more people were around Bootham.

"Both sets of fans were very vocal throughout the match and there was a different buzz in the air. I had been on the bench numerous times that season, but I still thought it would be another occasion I would not get on, as there were other players on the bench that were normally used in front of me.”

Dawson’s memories of the events that unfurled, as he watched from the dugout, are just as clear.

“The first half was end-to-end, but York appeared to dominate the opening minutes,” he said. “Martin Garratt was playing well in midfield and Richard Cresswell was very busy.

“We went ahead 1-0 and, from thereon, it was quite open. Man City got a deflected cross in over Bobby Mimms, but neither team dominated the second half and the game could have gone either way.”

As the game entered its final throes, Dawson got his surprise call from manager Little, leading to a bout of butterflies.

“Gordon Connelly got a knock and he couldn't shake it, so I replaced him,” Dawson said of the moment he was summoned for his senior debut. “Alan told me to warm up as I was going on for Gordon and then I got nervous.

“I also didn't expect to play right wing, as I only ever played right back - even in the reserves. The only instruction I got was to do what I did in the reserves and to run my socks off for the rest of the game.

“It was definitely a mixture of nerves and excitement when I got on and I felt tired after my first run, as I had used up a lot of nervous energy.”

Of the moments leading up to the goal, meanwhile, Dawson admitted he might easily have been the villain of the piece rather than the hero.

“I remember my first involvement was to defend a corner where the person I was marking almost scored from a header,” he said. “It just went wide, and I thought I better buck my ideas up.

“From the resulting goal kick, we worked our way up the pitch and won a throw in, in the Man City half. I remember making a 60-yard sprint to support Cres and Rodney and I shouted Cres for the ball.

“He ignored me and threw it to Rodney who held the ball up on the edge of the six-yard box. I remember me and Cres then made the same run, but I was just in front.

“Rodney laid the ball off and it fell to me more favourably and I remember thinking, as I was being closed down, ‘don't smash it - just hit the target.’ It was my first touch in professional football and I deliberately side-footed it into the far corner with my left foot.

“Nicky Weaver got a fingertip to it and I didn't see it hit the back of the net as I had already turned to celebrate.”

On the reaction of his team-mates and the City supporters to his goal, Dawson enthused: “I ran off and Martin Garratt was first to get hold of me and shouted a few expletives.

“Then, everyone piled on. My brother was also in the Longhurst with his mates and I was very aware of the crowd going crazy and it did not calm down for the rest of the game.

“Any contribution I made was being cheered and, at the end of the game, I felt a mixture of excitement and relief. Relieved to have finally made my debut and over-excitement at what we had just achieved.

“I was trying to calm down, but the adrenalin had set in. There was a lot of singing in the dressing room afterwards and everyone involved came up and congratulated me with a ruffle of the hair.

“I remember laying in the team bath by myself and being the last person out of the changing room. I went straight from the dressing room for an interview with Chris Kamara, who was there doing a special for Sky Sports on Cres.

“That was followed by a few radio interviews and a press interview with Alan Little just outside the dug out.”

Dawson’s celebrations carried on well into the evening with the full-back recalling: “I went to a restaurant in the city with my mates and was recognised by a number of Man City fans. I was worried I was in for a spot of trouble, but they actually shouted me and my mates to a couple of rounds of drinks.”

On the recognition the goal still merits inside and outside of his home city, Dawson added: “It always seems to get a mention as a pivotal moment in Man City’s history and I’m proud of that.

“Even living in Australia now, the match crops up from time to time, especially given where Man City are now.”

The game also proved loyal servant Andy McMillan’s final win at Bootham Crescent in a career that saw him make more outings for the club than any other player aside from Barry Jackson.

Sharing his recollections, McMillan confessed: “That was unbelievable.

“I remember thinking why the hell are Man City in this league. They had a phenomenal following.

“They packed out the away end and I think they were in the David Longhurst Stand as well. They took over everywhere, but it was one of those days when everything clicked into place for us.”

Recalling the victory over a club that his family had strong ties to, the previous conqueror of the visitors’ cross-city rivals Scott Jordan added: “It was a good, hard game and they were a strong side who shouldn’t have been in that division.

“My cousin Stephen Jordan went on to play for Manchester City and my dad supported them, so it was a big thing for him to see me playing against them. I remember the pitch not being the greatest at the time and there wasn’t much grass on it, so there wasn’t much football played but we always felt we could beat anybody at home and it was often the easier teams we slipped up against.”

Cresswell would depart for Sheffield Wednesday soon after Little’s exit, but still remembers the excitement of Dawson’s late strike.

“He cut inside with his left foot and scored on his debut,” the former England under-21 international smiled. “It was his only ever career goal but not a bad one - to get the winner against Manchester City!”

Click here to read all of our coverage from the famous win