THE York City Supporters’ Trust have apologised and paused their ‘Boost The Budget’ initiative in the wake of the shock sacking of manager John Askey.

York sacked Askey on Wednesday, despite the manager leading the club to promotion through the Vanarama National League North and to mid-table safety from relegation in the National League within the space of just 12 months.

City's decision appears to have stemmed from a clash of personalities between Askey and chairman Glen Henderson, who has been accused of meddling in first-team matters by the ex-boss.

The news has been met with outrage by York fans, many of whom have called for the resignations of Henderson as well as chief executive Alastair Smith and marketing director Mike Brown, also the Trust's chairman.

Questions have been asked of the Trust, who own 49 per cent of the club to Henderson's 51 per cent, given that their 'Boost The Budget' campaign was advertised as "Boosting John Askey's budget".

Reflecting on this week, a Trust statement, written independently of Trust members Brown and Smith read: "The last three days have been difficult days in the recent history of York City and the Supporters’ Trust; for that we are sorry.

"Mistakes have been made, they will be learned from and, to our best efforts, they will never be repeated.

"Your Supporters' Trust board were shocked and dismayed to learn of Askey's departure.

"Askey united our fanbase and gave pride back to supporters. For that we will be eternally grateful."

The Trust board met with representatives from the York board on Thursday to discuss the handling of Askey's departure and say they "recognise that the relationship between both parties had reached breaking point" and that the situation was "irretrievable".

The fans group has said they had no legal scope to be consulted on the decision.

However, they have presented "considerable feedback" to the club board on the "events that led to a breakdown in relationships, the lack of earlier interventions and the overall handling of the dismissal."

The Trust board have requested "significantly more detailed updates from its representatives on the club board" moving forward and say that "lessons will be learnt".