THE St Kilda board of president-elect Greg Westaway will need to increase club revenue by at least $3 million a year to fund its commitment to provide coach Ross Lyon with one of the game's best-resourced football departments.

A day after succeeding Rod Butterss and his four loyal directors, who relinquished control at Moorabbin by resigning as one on Tuesday, Westaway said making available the money required to lift the St Kilda football department into the company of the four highest-spending concerns was a priority. "The message for the players from our point of view as a board is that we'll give them that little bit extra so that they can go the extra mile or extra yard when they need to," Westaway said.

"Facilities, support, injury management, well-being, training and things of that nature that we think we can upgrade. I'll have to have a look at exact numbers but we've been very poor in that area. I think we've been 11th in total footy spending and I'd like to get that up to fourth."

According to figures contained in the 2006 AFL club survey, the most recent available, this would require an injection of more than $2.2 million.

The survey puts St Kilda's total football outlay last year at $11.281 million, which placed the club 11th on the football expenditure ladder. West Coast, the premier of 2006 who paid out the fourth-highest amount in the year, spent $13.554 million.

During the three-week tussle for control of the club, Westaway criticised the Butterss-led board for what he described as an insufficient investment in football operations despite posting profits of $1 million or more a season for four consecutive years. The Westaway ticket called itself Footy First to make the point.

If the full 2007 profit of $1 million is ploughed into Lyon's department, a further $1.273 million would still be required to meet the top-four ambition. According to a number of club chief executives yesterday, it would take an increase in revenue of $3 million to realise the extra money and more if the entire profit is not made available. The Saints this year turned over just on $21 million.

Westaway, who is to meet players, coaches and staff for the first time at Moorabbin at noon tomorrow before making an address later that night at the best-and-fairest count, conceded that revenue needed to grow to meet his stated aim but said several lucrative sponsorship deals were being negotiated.

"The first thing we've got to do is improve income … and we're well down the track in securing some very good sponsorships," the 61-year-old head of the Gregory's Transport group said.

Westaway said that after meeting Lyon and the players ("to give them a degree of comfort") issues such as the redevelopment plans for Moorabbin and staffing would be canvassed.