Players' Strike: The latest round of talks yesterday designed at averting a threatened players' strike in England ended in further stalemate.

Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor met with Premier League counterpart Richard Scudamore at the PFA's headquarters in Manchester, along with Manchester United director and solicitor Maurice Watkins.

The PFA are still demanding a five per cent stake of the £1.5 billion television deal the Premier League recently negotiated with Sky and ITV, with the latest offer of £50 million over three years having been rejected last week.

But the governing bodies remain at loggerheads and it would appear if a settlement is not agreed this week, then industrial action - with 99 per cent of the PFA's members having voted to strike - is likely to take place on the weekend of December 1st and 2nd.