Soccer: More talks today on strike row

The warring parties in the dispute which threatens to split football were due to meet today to attempt to find a solution before the matter ends up in court.

The Premier League and Football League have launched legal action in a bid to prevent a players’ strike taking place from December 1.

But a meeting with the Professional Footballers’ Association was arranged for today with both sides anxious to avoid a court hearing.

Meanwhile, Chelsea’s outspoken chairman Ken Bates has raised the stakes by criticising PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor personally.

Bates said: ‘‘There should be another ballot, more and more players are saying ’we didn’t realise what we are getting ourselves in to’.

‘‘Taylor is becoming more like Arthur Scargill every day and if he’s not careful he’ll finish up like him.

‘‘If we have a midweek game and a weekend game and the players miss both, we can fine them four weeks’ wages.’’

PFA chief Taylor insisted he had been expecting the legal action to start, but added that a further meeting would take place with the league.

Taylor said: ‘‘The moment I start taking anything Ken says seriously I really will have a problem.

‘‘I don’t want things to degenerate and I have tried to conduct this dispute in as professional a manner as possible.

‘‘All I will say is that we have had stalwart support from the Chelsea players and former Chelsea players.’’

‘‘We were not surprised at all by the legal proceedings - we have been prepared for that since the beginning and we are very confident of our legal position. We have had a barrister in place for a long, long time.

‘‘We are still hoping to resolve this, of course, but we want an offer that respects our position.’’

Taylor rejected the claim that players could be fined for taking industrial action, and matches on the weekend of December 1 have been targeted for strike action if the footballing bodies do not improve their offer of £50m over three years (£16.7m per annum), but everything now rests in the hands of the courts.

He added that he was unconcerned at becoming a personal target, and pointed to the fact the PFA have reduced their demands of £36m a year to £27m over 10 years.

‘‘They are talking about fining and sacking players, but the law of the land will not allow them to do that,’’ said Taylor.

‘‘It has been personal since it started. I’ve even been likened to Arthur Scargill, which is quite funny really because many of our younger members hadn’t a clue who he is.

‘‘But it was for Gordon Taylor that 99% of the players signed crosses on their ballot forms for.’’

The leagues served notice on the PFA last night that they are seeking an injunction to prevent the industrial action.

A hearing at the High Court will now take place early next week when a judge will rule whether the strike, due to start on December 1, is legal.