Ex-Rangers chief exec Martin Bain was paid £1.9m by Sunderland

Martin Bain was the highest paid chief executive in the Championship last season. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Sacking former chief ?executive Martin Bain cost Sunderland more than ?£1 million in compensation last year, despite the Scot presiding over two successive relegations, the League One side’s financial accounts have revealed.

Appointed in May 2016 on an annual salary of £1.24m, the ex-Rangers and Maccabi Tel Aviv chief was the highest paid chief executive in the Championship last season but could not stop the Black Cats going down again or haemorrhaging money. In total, Bain, pictured, received almost £1.9m in pay and compensation last season.

Relegation from the Premier League to the Championship saw Sunderland’s turnover halve from £123.5m to £63.7m, despite receiving £35m in parachute payments.

Given this crash in revenue, it is perhaps to Bain’s credit that he managed to keep the club’s losses to only £500,000 a week, something he achieved by slashing operating costs from £151m to £82m and selling Jordan Pickford to Everton.