YORK City coach Luther Blissett has become the first casualty of the decision to take the club into administration, the Evening Press can reveal.

Administrators now running the football club confirmed Blissett has been made redundant as part of cost-cutting measures designed to safeguard City's future.

David Willis, of Jacksons Jolliffe Cork, said: "Luther was selected for redundancy for a number of reasons.

"One of the reasons is that the training staff here have been doing their jobs without Luther for between six and eight weeks and before we were appointed administrators.

"We have had to look at reducing costs wherever we can and Luther had not been actively involved in the club for a number of weeks.

"It was deemed he was not essential to what we were doing as administrators and so he was selected on that basis."

Having been made redundant, Willis explained Blissett, picture right, now became a creditor of the club.

Part of Blissett's claim would be met by the Department for Trade and Industry while the remainder would be paid if and when the club is sold and there are assets to pay creditors.

Willis said there had been no other redundancies made at Bootham Crescent.

The news brings to an end Blissett's six-month and often bumpy stay at Bootham Crescent.

The former Watford, AC Milan and England striker was brought to the club by chairman John Batchelor to work alongside manager Terry Dolan and first-team coach Adie Shaw.

At first, the partnership seemed to be working well with Dolan crowned manager of the month for August and with City enjoying their best start to a campaign in years,

However, in November and amid rumours of unrest it was announced by Batchelor that Blissett had relinquished his coaching duties to go scouting in Scandinavia.

Although the move was said to be only temporary, Blissett had still not returned to his coaching role by Christmas.

He later expressed his determination to 'see the job through at City' but admitted the story of him being in Scandinavia searching for new players had been just a smoke-screen.

Updated: 12:44 Thursday, January 09, 2003