Football: League's threat of big split

FIRST Division clubs have put together a secret plan to quit the Football League at the end of the month.

We can reveal that 18 of the 24 First Division clubs have backed a devastating blueprint to cut the Second and Third Division teams adrift.

That move will threaten their very existence and send the game into crisis. The split will be announced after a meeting of First Division chairmen on November 21 unless radical restructuring of the league takes place with First Division clubs gaining more power.

The League has been in turmoil since the resignation of chairman Keith Harris and chief executive David Burns following the ITV Digitial fiasco.

The First Division clubs' attempts to change the structure have been blocked by Second and Third Division colleagues - creating a rift that now appears beyond repair.

Second and Third Division clubs attempted to block the split during an emergency meeting on Friday when they agreed to consider the First Division proposals for change.

But the majority of First Division chairmen believe this was simply a stalling tactic to stop them resigning from the League by December 31.

If that deadline is missed the First Division clubs have to wait another year before staging another breakaway attempt.

One First Division chairman said: "We have had to drag people to the table to avert serious action but our position hasn't changed and we feel we have no choice but to tender our resignation on November 21.

"If we miss the December 31 deadline some of us could be out of business before the next opportunity."

Last night the Football League's spokesman John Nagle said: "There is already in place a democratic structure allowing clubs to express views. And it would be better for all concerned to keep such views private."

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