YORK City Knights boss Dave Woods has sensationally been sacked.

Woods took the Knights to promotion from Championship One last year after half a season in the hot-seat and kept them up this year, albeit by default after they were reprieved from relegation as Crusaders failed in their application to join the Championship after withdrawing from Super League.

The Aussie also took both Castleford and Gateshead to promotion in his previous job in English rugby league.

A statement on the Knights website says: “As a result of the amount of travel time and cost incurred for Dave to travel between his home in Gateshead and his work at the Knights, coupled with family health problems, the club felt that it had no choice but to make this difficult decision.

“The cost of this travel has put greater strain on Dave, as the club cannot afford to cover this on top of his regular pay, and we are also aware that Dave would like a fulltime position in the game, which the Knights are unable to give him.

“We believe that doing this now gives Dave the opportunity to source employment elsewhere and spend more time with his family, which he has said on numerous occasions has been difficult for him to adjust to.”

For the full story and reaction - see The Press tomorrow.