IT was a football round up with a difference.

As revealed by the Daily Echo, more than 70 horses had become equestrian squatters on land owned by Southampton Football Club.

In a move to show the herd the red card the club set a deadline of May 2 for the owners to clear the horses from the land at Jackson's Farm in Bubb Lane, West End.

Hard on the heels of the Daily Echo front page story, the horses have been rounded up by their owners and removed from the fields surrounding the farm and the farmyard.

The club had in a public notice, published in the Daily Echo, warned that if the owners did not come forward within the next two weeks the ponies would be sold.

The fields in and around the derelict farm are now pony free. It is not known when the round up operation began.

But a local resident, who did not want to be named believed that it could have started overnight on Sunday or at first light on Monday. It is not known where the ponies have been moved to but it will come as a great relief to bosses at St Mary's.

The land, which is estimated to be worth £15 million, was bought and later bequeathed to Southampton FC by John Corbett, late father of current board member Mary Corbett after he paid about £17,000 for it in the 1960s. The land is now seen by some as Saints' nest egg.

When approached by the Daily Echo, Saints would not comment or say if they had plans for the land.

The club is facing a financially critical next few weeks knowing they must reach the Premiership to reap the multi-million pound cash rewards.

Since the pony story hit the front page, the Daily Echo switchboard has been jammed with calls from readers concerned about the future of the ponies and even offering them a home.

There was no one available for comment at Southampton Football Club.