STUART Wise has revealed that he turned down the chance to return to York City this season because he felt unliked.

The Minstermen released 11 players at the end of last season but Wise was told by player-manager Chris Brass that he could earn a new deal if he lost weight and improved his fitness levels over the summer.

Middlesbrough-born Wise argues, however, that he had already proven his fitness by playing 12 of City's last 13 games of the season, as well as winning the Preston and Duckworth Player of the Month award for April.

The 20-year-old defender alleges that he was given the impression that he would be offered a new contract at the end of the season by board members and manager Brass but also claims that City's assistant manager Lee Nogan told him that, if it had been his decision, he would not have given the former Bootham Crescent trainee a new deal.

An upset Wise also disputes comments from Brass that he needed "time to sort his head out" after he failed to report for pre-season training and revealed that he is now hoping to play part-time football for Whitby Town while enrolling on a five-month machinery course.

Wise said: "I read in the paper that Chris Brass had said my head was not right but I want to tell the fans that my decision was nothing to do with that. I was disappointed that he said that. My head wasn't wrong and I'm in the right frame of mind.

"Towards the end of last season Sophie McGill, Steve Beck, Chris Brass and everyone like that was saying how much of an influence I would be for the youngsters next season, how important I could be for York and how I had been a good player for the club. That gave me the idea that I was getting a contract.

"Then, on the last day of the season, I was hauled into the manager's office and told if I came back fit I would get a contract but it sounded as though he wanted me to train over the summer and come back and prove myself again. I felt devastated because I felt I had already proven myself in the games and thought I deserved a contract.

"I then got told by Lee Nogan that he would not have signed me on and I decided then that I could not go back to a place where I was not really liked. I would have wanted to go back to York but felt I couldn't.

"If he had offered me a contract on the last day of the season on the same wage as last season, I would have snapped his hand off because I loved playing for York."

Wise conceded that his fitness levels could be improved by losing weight but insisted that he had no problems completing 90 minutes in Third Division matches last season.

He said: "The manager might have had a point but I got man-of-the-match awards at the end of the season and was the Player of the Month, which was decided by Chris Brass, in April. I was fit enough to get that and complete every game so it was a bit disappointing to hear that from him.

"I have been at the club for six years but, after the board and the manager were saying good things about me, I could not believe that they then turned round and almost dismissed me."

Wise now intends to link up with his friend's father Harry Dunn at Whitby Town.

Former Scarborough stalwart Dunn is Whitby manager and Wise hopes to combine studies for a machinery qualification in King's Lynn with playing for the UniBond League seaside club.

He said: "I didn't want to go to another club on trial this summer and I can't go anywhere any way because York have kept my registration. They have been a bit awkward about that.

"I am going to get a job and play part-time. I've enrolled on a five-month machinery course which starts at King's Lynn in September.

"I will go down there and have got a job sorted with Addisons in Middlesbrough, who are a machinery firm. I am hoping to train with Whitby and come back up at weekends to play for them.

"I just want to start enjoying my football again and there will be no real pressure at Whitby."

Brass said last night: "We told Stuart he had problems with his weight and body fat levels at the start of the season but both went up. He was getting through games but his fitness levels were not what you would have expected.

"He would not have come back on trial but I wanted him to prove he had the hunger and desire to be a professional footballer."

Updated: 10:33 Saturday, July 24, 2004