LUCKLESS midfielder Richard Cooper may miss a chunk of York City's pre-season programme.

The 22-year-old defender or midfielder is struggling with a knee injury he suffered in training last week.

He returned to Bootham Crescent for yesterday's photocall in some discomfort.

Manager Terry Dolan said physiotherapist Jeff Miller would be working with Cooper once the swelling had gone down and only then will he be able to assess the severity of the injury.

Cooper will definitely miss Friday night's opener against Bracknell Town at Bootham Crescent (kick-off 7.45pm).

It all adds up to a frustrating few months for the gritty midfield man.

He broke a leg last season in the 2-1 home victory against Hull City on January 29 and missed the next 18 matches before returning as a playing substitute in the last match of the campaign at Scunthorpe.

City were scheduled to play against Joseph Rowntree School this afternoon to mark the school's diamond jubilee.

Meanwhile, the sporting empire being built by City chairman John Batchelor was pulled together for the first time for the unveiling of the new Minstermen football strip.

From just being a football club on the verge of extinction at the turn of the year, York City is quickly becoming a whole new sporting package.

The unveiling of the new kit and the football club's annual team picture yesterday, saw Batchelor bring in the British Touring Car Championship and motorcycle racing units, plus the ladies football side to the 'Team YorkCity' brand.

And Batchelor was delighted to see all the parts come together.

"This is great," he told the Evening Press. "To see it all finally in one place after months of planning, to see the beginnings of it all is fantastic.

"I wanted to see everything in one shot, to show where we are up to at the moment."

Batchelor believes that this is just the start of the York City empire, with further plans to bring in different sports to make the club hugely successful.

"'YorkCity' is a new sporting venture and there are many more things we can do, but because I think all the different elements can be successful this will make it a very strong brand," he said.

"We don't know about the motorcycle team as we have only just announced it today, but the motor racing team is third in the championship and I think we can win it, while the football club had its best finish for years and is going to go up this year.

"I'm supremely confident, we are very ambitious and I'm aware that I don't want to spread myself too thin, so this is as far as things are going this year unless other opportunities arise."

About 75 sponsors, vice-presidents and a cross-section of fans were given a short presentation about the club's new branding at the Supporters' Club at Bootham Crescent last night.

City's new shirt, meanwhile, will be on sale at the club shop when it re-opens on Thursday.

The club has changed its telephone numbers. It has adopted 0870 numbers to generate income for the club as they charge callers at the national rate. The club's new number is 0870 777 1922 and the fax line is 0870 774 1993.

- Former York City player Rob Matthews has been released by Third Division rivals Hull City.

Updated: 12:14 Tuesday, July 16, 2002