SAINTS footballers have dug into their own pockets to help the victims of the Indian Ocean earthquake.

Club captain Jason Dodd revealed that the squad had donated a proportion of their wages to the disaster relief fund. No figure has been put on how much the players have given.

The club has announced also that there will be a staff collection at St Mary's, and many individuals, both players and staff, have given independently.

Jason Dodd said: "When you hear about this sort of thing happening it does put it all in perspective.

"I don't think there is a single person who would not want to help when they saw something like that on the news and our thoughts are with the friends and families of all those involved."

Meanwhile, the club itself has joined forces with other Premiership teams to donate £1m to the Indian Ocean earthquake disaster relief fund.

All 20 clubs in the English top flight, including Saints and neighbours Pompey, have pledged £50,000 each

Premier League chief executive, Richard Scudamore, said: "I think everyone has been taken aback by the sheer enormity of events following the Indian Ocean earthquake.

"The Premier League and our clubs have strong connections throughout the region and there was a real feeling that we should do something as a collective to try and alleviate some of the pain and suffering that is so evident across those areas affected by the tsunami. Our thoughts go out to those who are suffering as a result of this catastrophe and hopefully this donation will help make a real difference as the disaster relief operation gets under way."

England's cricketers donated £15,000 towards the relief fund after the players met yesterday to discuss their response to the emergency. Their pledge will be boosted by a further £5,000 provided by the Professional Cricketers' Association.

Meanwhile, the England cricket fans currently in South Africa were hoping to raise up to £20,000 at an end-of-match party yesterday to aid victims of the tsunami.