IT HAS been compared to the Last Supper.

A group of his former players wanted to take Stuart McCall out as a thank-you the day after he had been sacked by City.

The well-publicised picture taken by a member of the bar staff in a Harrogate pub shows McCall surrounded by seven of the squad that he had taken to Wembley seven months earlier.

An unusual occurrence in the cut-throat world of football to see an axed manager treated to a slap-up tea by his former charges. But an obvious indication of the close link between boss and players that remained to the very end and beyond.

Now none of them remain at Valley Parade. Matt Kilgallon’s departure last week for Hamilton completed the set.

It’s a bit disingenuous to claim that each of those players effectively put their head on the block after being seen to be siding so publicly with a former manager.

Tony McMahon had already seen a January move to Scunthorpe blocked by the club, Rouven Sattelmaier effectively told he would not feature again by that point after costly blunders during Colin Doyle’s absence and Billy Clarke, of course, had joined Charlton the previous summer.

But Clarke mischievously flagging up that dinner again on Twitter in the light of Kilgallon’s exit just adds to the general suspicion that days were numbered from that point.

Kilgallon would go on to sweep the board at the club’s awards night, a rare bright spot in the misery that descended on City’s season from the turn of the year.

Few could have imagined his appearance on the final day at Scunthorpe would be his last competitive one for the club.

When the defender trotted off the Valley Parade pitch just after the hour point against Sheffield United in pre-season, he was also signing off his two-year stint in claret and amber.

Not that Kilgallon suspected it at the time either.

Having started the most games in the squad last season, along with fellow centre half Nathaniel Knight-Percival, the 34-year-old confidently assumed he was still very much in the plans despite all the chop and change of the summer.

But the bombshell came on the eve of the curtain-raiser at Shrewsbury when it was made clear that he would not be in the squad.

That big call, contrary to popular belief, came from Michael Collins and not above.

The new head coach wanted to stamp his own mark on things. Leaving out Kilgallon was a significant statement of his intent.

Collins told the player that he was looking to take a different approach – a consistent performer who was two years his senior did not feature in that.

Kilgallon swallowed his disappointment and accepted the decision; a new boss telling previously regular players they are suddenly no longer in the plans is a rockier part of the football landscape.

But it’s the timing of the news that would have really stung, coming the day before the season was due to kick off after no previous indications.

Kilgallon spent the first month on the outside looking in but there was no ruffling the dressing room. He trained, he kept fit and he waited for an opportunity to play again somewhere.

The offer from Hamilton appealed straight away – a new challenge to prove himself in a different league and country rather than taking the easier way out of dropping down the levels or going out on loan.

Hamilton have a reputation for producing youngsters and selling them on. But it needs good old heads like Kilgallon around them.

It will also open up opportunities of possibly becoming a coach when he eventually hangs up the boots.

Preston manager Alex Neil and Swansea number two Billy Reid both cut their coaching teeth with the Accies. Present boss Martin Canning is only two years older than Kilgallon after making the step-up from a Hamilton player.

That all came into the thinking with the move for a player who remained respectful to City to the end.

Kilgallon was keen to say goodbye properly to the fans who voted him their top man last year and had backed him all the way from an injury-hit start through his time at Valley Parade. Yesterday’s open letter to supporters issued via the T&A online was a classy touch.

“I wanted to take this opportunity to speak directly with the fans and to say simply thank you.

“Bradford City is a massive club and has some of the most passionate fans that I have ever played for.

“It is my local club, yet you could be anywhere in the world and they would pop up, keen to make their pride and loyalty known to you. I loved that.

“My family came to every home game and at a time when my son was just becoming old enough to fall in love with a club.

“I will always be grateful for the memories he now has, of his dad playing for his team. He is a die-hard Bantam.

“Playing at Valley Parade will remain amongst some of the proudest memories in my career.

“If it’s possible to leave a club on a high, then I think seven Player of the Year awards will do and the fans and the players gave me those.

“A club will always be its fans and for that reason, Bantams I thank you and wish you only the very best. You deserve it.”

And somewhat ironically, Collins' departure from Valley Parade was announced on the same day.