THE Daily Echo can today reveal the staggering financial facts behind Saints' relegation.

In 2004/05 the club earnt £340,000 every time they were involved in a live Sky TV match and £250,000 for a Sky Pay Per View game.

They also banked the £8.8m fee handed out to all 20 top flight clubs as part of the Sky deal.

It will be a different story in the Championship.

There, all 24 clubs receive a £700,000 central payment from the Football League from TV and sponsorship income.

Saints will also earn £60,000 for any televised live game at St Mary's and just £10,000 if any away match is shown live.

Figures just released show Saints took a £3.5m hit on their Premiership and television prize money in 2004/05.

They earnt £23.8m in all - of which £700,000 came from Cup tie prize monies.

As they finished bottom of the league, Saints collected the minimum amount (£450,000) for league position prize money.

Every league place was worth £450,000, meaning champions Chelsea collected 20 times that amount - a cool £9.5m.

Saints lost £900,000, therefore, last Sunday alone by starting the day third from bottom and ending it rock bottom.

On the corresponding day two years earlier, Michael Svensson's winner on the last day of the season at Manchester City lifted Saints three places and was therefore worth around £1.5m.