Watford chief executive Julian Winter said it was an “absolute necessity” to make nine of their employees redundant as the club continues to try and come to terms with life outside the Premiership.

This summer sees the end of the Hornets’ Premiership parachute payments, which means the club will effectively lose more than £10m in income next season.

Winter and his new chairman Jimmy Russo have previously stated the need to dramatically cut costs if the club is to balance the books, and after more than a month of consultation nine employees have been handed redundancies.

Three of those who will lose their jobs are part of the club’s operating board – finance director Alastair Ferguson, projects director Paddy Flavin and head of communications Scott Field.

The other six have been spread out across different areas, including ticketing, retail and administration, although the footballing side of the club has not been affected.

Winter said: “Whilst in the position we have been in with the Premiership money, which is nice, ideally we would have started this transition a year ago.

“So it has come to a head with new people coming into the business and grasping the nettle and a realisation of the size of the problem.

“Everyone understands that the business has to get itself lined up for next year and that is the whole intention.”

Relegation certainties Charlton Athletic, who also stop receiving parachute payments this summer, have this week warned staff that as many as 25 employees could be made redundant.

Winter believes it is not just clubs at the bottom of the Championship who will be affected and thinks football in general will have to “look at itself quite seriously”.

Both Field and Flavin say they totally agree with the club’s decision to make them redundant and have known this was a possibility for the past three months.

Flavin joined Watford in 1999 and, having been operations director, has since become projects director, which meant he had responsibility for all new or existing projects in relation to the stadium, for example the Red Lion pub.

The father of two said that once it was obvious promotion to the Premiership could not be secured, “the cloth had to be cut accordingly” and conceded the club no longer needed a projects director due to a lack of funds.

Flavin said: “From a personal note, I am 58 this month and I decided not to apply for any of the contracted roles that are available because there are other people who must stay here and should be given the opportunities to stay and the right thing has to happen.

“So it is a little bit like falling on your own sword but that is the way it should be and I have no problems with it at all.”

Field joined the Hornets in April 2006 from West Bromwich Albion and was responsible for the day-to-day running of the media and marketing departments.

The 31-year-old, who will continue to live in Leighton Buzzard, said it was not a case of “the night of the long knives”.

He said: “Obviously it comes with a great amount of sadness on both of our parts that we have to leave a great football club and a great set of people.

“It isn’t a great surprise and we move on and the important thing in all this is that the club goes on.”

Flavin also stressed: “I can tell you unashamedly that we are going on statutory redundancies, absolutely the minimum and it is quite right that this should have happened.

“So none of us are going with compromise agreements, there are no brown envelopes anywhere.

“The correct way of doing business has been done and I have no problems with that at all.”

Winter said there is a cost-efficiency programme throughout the club and that all staff are being challenged to cut costs ahead of the new financial year.