AS IF one was needed, Saints fans now have an extra reason to hope the team gets automatic promotion this season.

This week, the Football League announced the prices of the play-off finals that are to be held at Old Trafford and Wembley.

To say they are attempting to make the matches affordable to everyone would be akin to saying Nick Clegg is quite popular.

For League One, adult prices start at £30 before going up to a whopping £60.

Think about it – that could quite conceivably be £60 to watch Milton Keynes Dons take on Oldham.

For the Championship sides which will meet in the national stadium, it goes up to a huge 98 notes for the best tickets.

Give the Football League their due, there was one thing they got right about these ticket prices – they announced them the day after UEFA revealed how much tickets will be at Wembley for this year’s Champions’ League Final.

The top price of £300 is quite something. The cheapest price announced so far is 150 quid.

Of course, shifting these tickets is a difficult business, so I’m sure anyone on their way to this match will understand the need for a £26 administration fee.

Out of touch, out of their minds and determined to take everything out of your pocket. That’s the problem with football these days.

And yet they wonder why stadiums don’t fill out every week any more?

For about ten years now, many people have predicted that as football continues to eat itself in this way, it is only a matter of time before the bubble bursts and reality has to hit home.

Well, if anything this week has just proved that as far as people like Greg Clarke and Michel Platini are concerned, the game can quite safely go about its merry way, fleecing the mugs like you and me for everything we’re worth.

And we’ll probably just carry on doing it.