LEON BEST was today set to make his first Saints start - but however big an impact he makes it won't be as important as his move to St Mary's was for his former club.

Notts County still remember the day the 18-year-old's move to Saints kept the league's oldest club in existence.

Striker Best moved from Meadow Lane to St Mary's for an initial fee of £50,000 in March 2003, a figure that is set to soar if the Nottingham-born front man establishes himself as a Premiership player.

But that £50,000 alone stopped Notts from going to the wall.

The oldest club in England were in administration when Best ventured south from the east Midlands - and Notts County secretary Tony Cuthbert has revealed that the League Two club, formed in 1862, will always be grateful to him for that.

Cuthbert said: "Leon's deal was done when we were in administration so the administrator had to get involved.

"It was a tough time for us, coming soon after the collapse of ITV Digital but Leon going effectively stopped us from going under.

"It wasn't a massive amount initially but it gave us an extra two weeks and helped us stay in business.

"The administrator wasn't a football person but he took the advice of the people here and it helped the football club to go forward.

"In some ways we were disappointed we didn't get more but no-one was going to pay £1 m for a 15 or 16 year-old then unless they were a Wayne Rooney and the negotiations with Rupert Lowe were very reasonable.

"Southampton recognised the potential longer term benefits to ourselves and didn't just nick him.

"The negotiations went very well from day one, there was not a demand from either of us and the future income we receive as Leon progresses will still be beneficial to us."

Details of the instalment payments remain undisclosed but Notts, currently sixth from bottom of the Football League, are believed to have secured a 20 per cent sell on clause.

They are due their next cheque from Saints when Best, who joined the Meadow Lane outfit as a ten-year-old, has made ten first team appearances.

Cuthbert added: "I first saw Leon as a 14-year-old playing three years above his age group in an under-18s cup game and it was obvious even then that he would become a very good player.

"Everyone here is delighted with Leon's progress but at the same time disappointed to have lost him.

"We've received reports of his progress and it was nice to see him get on as a substitute a few weeks ago.

"He's certainly grown! Everyone at the club was surprised to see how much he'd shot up and part of us still wishes he was on our books, because maybe then we wouldn't be in the position we're in.

"It's frustrating for our fans because many of them had not seen him play but had read about his potential in the club programme and on various websites.

"As a club we were always confident that Leon would go as far as he wanted to go and we're not surprised that he's now at the stage he's at.

"A lot of credit must also go to Southampton for the work they've done with him, but we'll also be very excited when we see him make his full debut in the Premiership."