BRITAIN'S first black archbishop last night wasted no time in living up to his controversial reputation.

Dr John Sentamu was appointed Archbishop of York yesterday - and immediately criticised the takeover of Manchester United by US tycoon Malcolm Glazer.

The 56-year-old Ugandan-born cleric, the Bishop of Birmingham, made his football allegiances clear during a statement in the Chapter House of York Minster.

Bishop Sentumu said: "I have been supporting Manchester United since I was 17 and I think I've got every intention to continue, although I'm absolutely horrified that a tycoon is trying to take our club away from us.

"It may be that if that happens and I'm not satisfied then I may have to adopt the team in York."

Bishop Sentamu fled Uganda for England in 1974 after becoming an outspoken critic of Idi Amin's regime.

In Birmingham, he has been a prominent campaigner on gun crime and also worked closely with MG Rover employees after the car company collapsed. He was advisor to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry from 1997 to 1999 and chaired the Damilola Taylor review in 2002.

Yesterday, his appointment was welcomed by senior Anglican figures, including the former Archbishop of York, Dr David Hope.