The former chairman of Southampton football club’s parent company, which was on Thursday placed into administration, has launched a scathing attack on Barclays, saying its decision to reduce its loan facility amounted to “sentencing the club to financial death”.

Rupert Lowe, who quit when insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor was put in charge of Southampton Leisure Holdings, said his ability to steer the relegation-threatened club to financial health was undermined when the bank decided in November to cut its overdraft facility from £5m to £4m.