LONDON club Millwall have sacked their manager Jimmy Nicholl and chief executive Graham Hortop and transfer-listed 12 players in a drastic GBP1.5 million cost-cutting exercise.
They also asked all remaining staff and players to take a 10 per cent cut in wages.
Nicholl, a former Northern Ireland international who had been manager since February 1996 was replaced by John Docherty, back at the club he took into the top flight in 1988.
Millwall have been relegated twice since then and have accumulated debts of around GBP10 million. Trading in their shares was suspended on the London stock exchange last month and the club was handed over to administrators.
'These cuts were always seen as an integral part of the way forward,' the administrators said. 'It's a very painful but necessary process . . . It was our view that changes needed to be made in both areas to stimulate success both on and off the field.' Millwall's Second Division rivals Bournemouth are also in financial throes, winning their first battle to stay afloat with a High Court adjournment against a winding-up order.
The cash-strapped club now has two weeks to attract new investment and present a case for survival to the English Football League.