Bermuda Hogges will be forced to scrap franchise player contracts and cull their squad in order to survive another season in professional football.

As part of a major cost-cutting exercise, the Hogges plan to reduce their roster from 26 players to 20, while franchise duo Stevie Astwood and Damon Ming will be stripped of their privileged status.

For two successive seasons the United Soccer Leagues (USL) outfit have run at a loss with club president Shaun Goater recently warning they could disband unless they tightened their purse strings.

Although Goater allayed those concerns yesterday by confirming the Hogges would return for a third campaign, he admitted next season could be one of financial consolidation, stressing: "We must trim the fat."

Goater said: "We won't be having franchise players next season. We have to cut our cloth accordingly and it's purely a financial decision. I still think in theory the system can work but unfortunately for a number of reasons we were unable to keep the two players active during the off-season.

"The other players were satisfying their hunger and desire to play football in the domestic league and I suppose Stevie (Astwood) and Damon (Ming) became disheartened. I guess the franchise concept then lost some of its prestige but it's definitely something we will introduce again."

Both Astwood and Ming are set to return to Premier Division action next month at PHC and Dandy Town respectively.

In a further effort to increase their economic efficiency, the Hogges aim to become a more compact unit by signing just 20 players to semi-professional contracts. Goater pointed out that while at former club Southend, who play in England's Football League One, boss Steve Tilson used just 20 players during a 50-game season and said the Hogges could not justify having such a deep squad.

"We now realise there was no need for a squad of 26 players," he said. "When I was at Southend we played 50 matches with a squad of 20, so I don't see why we need 26 guys for only 20 games.

"With a smaller squad we will be a more compact unit and each player will have to play their part.

"I think it will also increase competition because each game two players will miss out. I've been there myself and you don't want to be one of those two players – it's a harsh reality of football."

Over the coming weeks the team's hierarchy will stage talks with their primary sponsors to learn whether they will stick with them with Goater fearing the Hogges could be victims caught in the crossfire of the credit crunch.

In these troubled economic times, Goater accepts their backers may pull the plug but said he was still hopeful deals could be brokered.

"The main issue we need to address right now is our sponsorship for next season. The current financial crisis has hit some major insurance companies and we need to meet with our primary sponsors ACE, RenaissanceRe, Aspen RE and Bermuda Tourism to see what their situation is regarding sponsorship.

"It could be bleak for us and we may have to take a different approach to make sure we're OK. We're still optimistic about our future and we have an Annual General Meeting with the USL in Florida next month when we will sort out our schedule and look to make our travel and hotel costs more affordable.

"Financially speaking next season will be one of consolidation for us and we must trim the fat."

As the Hogges struggled to pick up points during the final straight of last season's fixtures, esteemed coach Andrew Bascome was drafted in as a 'troubleshooter' at the behest of his former protégé Goater.

And the former Manchester City icon is now keen for the Boulevard supremo, who is also in the running for the vacant national team coach's role, to increase his input.

"The bottom line is if Bermuda Football Association don't utilise Andrew (Bascome) then the Hogges will," said Goater. "I know from first hand experience what Andrew brings to the table and the only doubt would be whether he could commit himself to every training session as he lives in St. David's and we train in Dockyard.

"Hopefully, we can come to an arrangement where he can be involved at a couple of sessions each week."