BRIEF-Soccer-Hope for Southampton as consortium steps in
LONDON, May 29 (Reuters) - The future of former FA Cup winners Southampton looked a little brighter on Friday when administrators said they had found a potential buyer in a consortium backed by former player Matthew Le Tissier.
The joint administrators of Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc, the holding company of the struggling south coast club, said they had entered into a 21-day exclusivity agreement with the Pinnacle Consortium.
"In order to enter into the exclusivity agreement, the Consortium has paid a non-refundable, undisclosed fee, and as a result the club is now in a position to pay its staff wages in full for the month of May," a statement said.
Southampton's holding company went into administration in April, resulting in a 10-point penalty imposed under Football League rules which will kick in next season. The 1976 Cup winners have dropped into the third tier of English football for the time since 1960.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Alan Baldwin; to query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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