Football: Football League to vote on plan for 12-club `Super League'

The Football League will consider plans for its own 12-club "Super League" for Nationwide teams. That is one of the four radical proposals that will be presented to the 72 member clubs at a meeting in London tomorrow. If it is accepted, serious moves to alter the League's structure could be under way by February.

Two separate working parties have been preparing proposals to present to the clubs. The first deals with an overhaul of the existing rule book to simplify the current regulations. The second is sure to create more controversy with its ideas for a radical shake-up of the current structure of three divisions of 24 clubs.

The League's working party proposes four alternatives:

1) Three divisions of 20, 26 and 26 clubs respectively with increased promotion and relegation between the divisions.

2) Four divisions of either 18 or 20 clubs with increased promotion and relegation.

3) Six divisions of 12 clubs with increased promotion and relegation.

4) The creation of a Football League Super League of 12 clubs with two divisions of 24 and another division of 12.

Tottenham will resist any bid by the Norwegian champions, Rosenborg, to take their pounds 2.6m striker Steffen Iversen back on loan. Rosenborg's new coach, Trond Solleid, told a news agency in Oslo that Iversen "is having a bad time at Tottenham". Solleid claimed: "It must be in the interests of all parties for him [Iversen] to be loaned to us."

But Daniel Sugar, Tottenham's operations manager and son of the chairman, Alan Sugar, said: "This is nonsense. We haven't even heard about this and we don't want to."

Iversen has been dogged by injury problems at White Hart Lane. He played only 16 games last season before a knee operation. He had more surgery in the summer and has started only seven games this term.

Two months ago Spurs reluctantly released him for international duty by order of Fifa's six-day ruling when he was still recovering from knee and foot injuries. They were appalled to discover he had broken down in training with the Norwegian squad.

So far Tottenham have been unable to extract compensation from the Norwegian FA for the lay-off which Iversen subsequently had to have.