money will be made available to strengthen York Wasps' squad after another humiliating defeat yesterday.

The Wasps went down to a club record 98-0 defeat at mid-table side Rochdale Hornets to leave coach Lee Crooks again considering his position.

Crooks said he would have to think carefully about his future if the Wasps were not able to bring in some experienced, quality players to stop the rot.

It was the sixth successive game in which York have conceded 70 points or more and the second time this season they have been on the end of a record defeat.

They again had just 16 players available, prompting kit man Steve Harris to sit on the bench for the third time this term.

With another two triallist debutants in the side - the Wasps have now used 52 players during the current campaign - they had just three professionals on show, the rest being a mixture of amateurs, students and Army recruits.

Chairman John Stabler today declared the current situation could not be allowed to continue and revealed plans to bring in some quality players.

"We can't go on like this. It's not fair to the players we're putting out, it's not fair to our supporters and it's not fair to the paying public of the opposing teams who pay to watch a contest, not a walkover," said Stabler.

"A small amount of money has got to be paid to professional players as a playing fee. Obviously amateurs and triallists will still get a share of the pot but any professionals we bring in and the professionals we already have will get a small match payment

"We've got to do something because we're getting to the stage where we might struggle to complete the fixture list."

Currently players only receive 50 per cent of the net gate receipts which, due to the ever decreasing attendances at Huntington Stadium, has meant they have sometimes been paid just £10 for a match.

That has resulted in most of their players leaving for pastures new.

Speaking to the Evening Press today, Crooks said: "I'm getting consistently frustrated over the lack of quality players we can attract to the club. We need to bring better players in, not in three or four weeks but this week. If we don't then ultimately everything is going to cave in.

"There was nothing we could do yesterday. Technically we were not up to the task.

Looking ahead to the future, Crooks believes an injection of money is the only way to arrest the current slide. "If John Stabler will not put money in then this club will stay as it is and if that's the case then I would have to seriously consider my position."

Updated: 12:36 Monday, April 09, 2001