Leicester City suffered a loss of £6.2m last year after relegation to League One led to a massive drop in income.

Match receipts, broadcasting fees and other revenue plunged as the club found itself in the third tier of English football for the first time in its history.

The figures, which have just been released and cover the 12 months to May 31, 2009, will be a further blow for fans still nursing wounds from the dashing of the Premier League dream last week.

But owner Milan Mandaric, who recently predicted a loss of between £5m and £6m for the period, has pledged to stand by the club "whatever its financial needs are".

The £6.2m loss is not as severe as the record £14.2m deficit reported for the 2007-08 season – but it is still one of the highest losses the club has reported.

Total revenue in 2008-09 dropped to £10.9m from £14.1m the year before.

Match receipts fell to £4.5m, from £5.7m, as average match attendance fell from 23,509 to 20,253. Income from merchandise, conference facilities, advertising and sponsorship also took a major hit.

The club made savings of more than £4m, mostly by reducing "staff costs" by £3.3m to £11.2m.

But it did not push for further savings from the players' budget in that time because it wanted to bolster the quality of the team for the bid to return to the Championship – a strategy which paid off.

The cost of running and servicing the debt of the Premier League-standard Walkers Stadium was a major burden.

Mandaric was not available to speak to the Mercury yesterday. However, in a statement he said: "Reporting these losses, I am mindful of the demanding nature of football finances and I am fully committed to standing by this club, whatever its financial needs are."

Nobody from City was available to speak about the club's current financial position, or how the budget for players next season would be affected.

Cliff Ginnetta, chairman of City Supporters' Club, said the losses were "staggering".

He said: "You do wonder how long Milan can keep it up. I'm sure he's looking for partners or investors in the club so we can keep investing in new players and keep the good ones we've got.

"But he's not got bottomless pockets and any one man can sustain losses for only so long. This just shows it's vitally important that the club gets to the Premier League next year."

The club's debt at May 31 last year stood at almost £26m, up from £21.7m the year before. The loss of £14.2m in 2007-08 was blamed on "significant" spending on players as City's bid to gain promotion to the Premier League turned into relegation from the Championship.

A £5.43m loss was reported for the 2006-07 season, and the previous record deficit was during the 1998-99 campaign when the club lost £6.2m.

Scunthorpe United, who were relegated with City, have reported a loss of £1m for last year after making a profit of £2.1m in the previous 12 months.

The third relegated club, Colchester United, have yet to file financial results for last year.