Flood-hit non-League club Tadcaster Albion are planning to ask York City to play a prestigious friendly to help boost their cash-strapped coffers.

Albion's Ings Park ground was so devastated by the November floods that they have not played a home game since the disaster and have had to renovate the clubhouse and changing rooms at a cost of around £75,000.

Although no approach has yet been made to the Minstermen, plans are afoot to ask the Division Three club to help mark the official opening of the new facilities and at the same time attract a large crowd.

First-team manager and club vice-chairman Wayne Day said he was to ratify the proposal with the club committee before sending off a request to Bootham Crescent.

Said Day: "The plan is to ask a club that have witnessed the floods and would be sympathetic to our cause and bring a team. Obviously York suffered from flooding so it must have affected the City players getting to training and they must have seen the floods."

It is not yet known when the work at Ings Park will be completed, nor when the club will at last be able to play home Northern Counties East League division one fixtures.

They will face a backlog of games and so might have to postpone the official opening of the facilities until the close-season.

"Once we start playing home fixtures we're not going to have free dates to have such a game, and it would be more practical for a League club too to play a pre-season friendly," said Day.

The club have also applied for financial aid from the Football Association, who have set up an emergency fund for clubs who suffered in last year's floods.

However, the maximum amount each club can receive is £1,000, a fraction of the cost incurred by Albion.

"We'd have to match the grant like for like though that won't be a problem as the latest estimates of the cost are around £75,000," said Day.

"When you look at the size of an organisation like the FA, this amount looks a bit measly. Instead of considering the damage at each club, they have set a flat maximum. These days, £1,000 hardly goes anywhere, but it's better than nothing.

"At least the damage that's been done here is covered by insurance, so if there's another job that's not covered then this £1,000 can go towards that."

He added: "The clubhouse is beginning to look really smart. We've had to completely renovate it and it's given it a totally different character."

Updated: 11:54 Thursday, January 18, 2001