LUTHER Blissett: Watford legend, ex-AC Milan and former England international. It's already an impressive looking CV.

But now add cult status and figurehead for a group of Italian anarchists.

It sounds like a shaggy-dog story but it's true.

Blissett, who seems set to join John Batchelor's red revolution at York City in the coming days, has been adopted as the name of a mysterious and loosely knit Italian action group.

Little is known about the individuals involved - other than that they all call themselves Luther Blissett.

The anarchists first came into the public eye in the 1990s, when four young Italians were stopped on a train without tickets.

When they were asked for their names they all replied Luther Blissett.

The activists were brought to court, still insisting this was their identity, and the case began to gain notoriety.

The movement has spiralled and the group has played a series of hoaxes and pranks on the Italian media.

Luther Blissett - the anarchist grouping - has even entered the world of literature, with books on, among other things, the Renaissance and a 16th century Pope.

It seems the 'honour' was bestowed on Blissett following his stint with AC Milan in the 1980s, when he became one of the first English footballers to make it into the Italian first division.

Updated: 11:57 Saturday, April 20, 2002