Confirmation that the club's shares had been suspended came in a statement released to the London Stock Exchange at 7am this morning.

The statement read: “The Company (Southampton Leisure Holdings plc) is currently in discussions with a number of parties concerning the injection of additional finance into its business.

“Unless this funding is secured, the Company will be unable to continue as a viable business for the forthcoming 12 months and is therefore unable to publish half yearly report to 31 December 2008 by 31 March 2009, which it is required to do under the AIM Rules.

“Under the AIM Rules, a company that does not publish its half yearly report within 3 months of the period end will have its shares automatically suspended.

Daily Echo: See today's paper for more on this story

“The Directors expect that the Company will not be able to sign-off its half yearly report for the six months ended 31 December 2008 until the completion of a re-financing.

“As noted above, the Company is not in a position to publish its half yearly report to 31 December 2008 by 31 March 2009 and, as a consequence, its shares will be suspended from trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange plc, pending publication of its half yearly report for the six months ended 31 December 2008."