Nicola Cortese was paid more than £1.96m for his last full season in charge of Saints.

The former executive chairman banked £1,965,511 for Saints’ first campaign back in the Premier League after promotion to the Championship. fromhat equates to almost £37,800 a week or £5,400 a day for the year that ran until 30 June, 2013.

The figures are revealed today in the full accounts for DMWSL 613 Ltd – Saints’ parent company - filed with Companies House. They list the highest paid director’s salary, and the accounts confirm that Cortese was the only director during the period in question.

Top flight football came with its rewards with Cortese receiving a pay rise of just over £500,000 on his package from the previous year.

The accounts also list a payment of £163,092 in contributions to money purchase pension schemes.

Cortese formally resigned from the board on January 15 this year.

The accounts also run through much of the headline information already reported in the Daily Echo.

Saints lost £7.7m in the reporting period with new director Hans Hofstetter saying the board had inherited a “difficult” financial situation.

On the plus side, promotion to the Premier League saw Saints’ turnover soar by 213 per cent in the blink of an eye, with broadcast income going up by over £40m.

However, the main concern appears to be the training ground project now running to £30m, while £27m remains outstanding in transfer fees to be paid out, with £22m committed in 2014/15.