SAINTS have been warned not to blow their huge new TV windfall on players’ wages.

The Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance 2013 reports half the clubs in the Premier League are still making losses despite record overall revenues.

But the extra TV cash, plus new spending controls, could have significant beneficial effects for Saints and their top-flight rivals if it is managed properly.

From August, clubs in the Premier League will receive an extra £25m on average each year from the new TV contracts, and for most clubs that could wipe out their losses.

Relegated clubs will also receive up to £60m in parachute payments.

The Deloitte report predicts player wage costs will rise considerably with the new TV money coming in.

It was already a massive £1.8bn in 2011/12, the season in which Saints won promotion to the Premier League.

Deloitte believe clubs should keep that rise to respectable levels and allow more money to be spent on stadia, youth development and reducing losses.

“Achieving a more sustainable balance between their costs and revenues and thereby generating more profits provides opportunities or, some might say, a culture shock for clubs,” says the report.

“Increased profitability will allow greater longer-term investment in stadia and training infrastructure, youth development and community programmes.

“It also provides funds for the acquisition of talent, as clubs in the top flight can use the self-generated funds to transfer in and retain top playing talent to strive to improve the quality of football on show.”

Premier League clubs' revenue reached a record £2.36bn in 2011/12, but most of that went on wages - up four per cent - to remain 70 per cent of total turnover.

In the Championship, the picture is even more alarming, with only five of the 24 clubs finishing in the black and overall 90 per cent of all revenue going on wages.

In the season reported, Saints’ Championship wage bill represented 102 per cent of turnover.

But their interim figures for the first half of last season back in the top flight reported that executive chairman Nicola Cortese had reduced that figure to 59 per cent.

Alan Switzer, director in the sports business group at Deloitte, said: “It's fair to say some Championship clubs are rolling the dice and gambling on getting into the Premier League.”

The top five clubs by revenue in 2011/12 were Manchester United (£320m), Chelsea (£261m), Arsenal (£235m), Manchester City (£231m), and Liverpool (£189m).

Manchester City also made the greatest annual loss, £97.9m, down from the £197.5m of the previous 12 months.

In comparison with the rest of Europe, the Premier League clubs continue to have the highest revenue, £2.4 billion compared to Germany's £1.5 billion and Spain's £1.4 billion.

Debt levels at top-flight clubs remained much the same at £2.4bn, but 59 per cent of this is in the form of non-interest bearing ‘soft loans’ mainly involving three clubs – Chelsea (£895m), Newcastle (£267m) and QPR (£93m).