Chairmen take to the streets in ITV protest

In normal circumstances the sight of a placard is enough to send them scurrying for cover in fear of being hounded out of office, but yesterday it was the turn of football's chairmen to protest as they took to the streets in their fight with ITV.

In normal circumstances the sight of a placard is enough to send them scurrying for cover in fear of being hounded out of office, but yesterday it was the turn of football's chairmen to protest as they took to the streets in their fight with ITV.

They gathered first at the studios of Carlton and then at Granada to vent their anger at the collapse of their deal with ITV Digital and the failure of those two companies to pay them £178.5m owed. While not quite bringing the streets of London to a halt, the sight of assorted grey suits and one or two well-known faces lining up behind barricades did slow taxis and force passers-by to stop and stare.

More than 50 clubs took up the call to arms, but to label it a united front would be stretching the truth. Indeed, as David Burns, the League's chief executive, was finalising his protest strategy, one or two club chairmen were working at trying to unseat him in a bitter response to the four-year £95m agreement struck with Sky Sports last week to broadcast Nationwide matches from next season. Simon Jordan, the Crystal Palace chairman, called at a preceding meeting of First Division clubs for a no-confidence vote in Burns but no one was prepared to take it that far. He and Theo Paphitis, the Millwall chairman who shared his dissatisfaction, also boycotted the demonstration, Jordan labelling it "undignified" – if not that undignified since the Crystal Palace club secretary was sent in his place.

So, minus Jordan and Paphitis, two busloads containing a fair representation of England's football heartland dropped off the protest army outside Granada headquarters. A police van and its occupants followed proceedings closely but, it must be said, somewhat less than nervously.

A letter was delivered to the Carlton chairman, Michael Green, but the League does not expect a speedy response. A High Court action set for 26 July seems sure to go ahead, but yesterday was still a worthwhile exercise and the demonstrations will continue. "We want to raise awareness for our fight," said Delia Smith, the celebrity cook and Norwich City's majority shareholder.

"I would like to ask them [Green and Charles Allen, Granada chairman] how, in the light of profit margins and multi-billions, they are able to close their eyes at night knowing the damage that their actions are causing to the very fabric of the Football League. We are experiencing real pain at our club trying to make good a shortfall of £4m over the next two years."

Smaller clubs have begun to trim staff numbers. Cambridge United's Gary Harwood said their squad had shrunk from 34 players to 24 while Colchester's Peter Heard revealed that his club will be £300,000 down this season even with Sky's money.

Burns, meanwhile, appeared unconcerned either by threats to his position or of a breakaway of some First Division clubs. After a tough few months and an afternoon with a placard, the League hierarchy no longer shirks a fight.