Marwood hits out at selfish chairmen

Brian Marwood, the Professional Footballers' Association commercial executive, hit out yesterday at the Football League chairmen he believes are putting Nationwide League players on the road to strike action.

Marwood, a former England international and Arsenal winger, insisted that the players will exercise the right to take industrial action if the growing dispute over Sky Television funds is not resolved to their satisfaction. He accused club chairmen of failing to grasp the importance of the PFA's work.

"I think any situation can be resolved, but the problem is that a lot of football chairmen come into the game on a short-term basis," Marwood said. "They put their investment into football and are looking for a quick return. They think of their clubs first, but our brief is for the whole of football from grassroots level upwards."

Arsene Wenger, the former Monaco coach, will decide by the end of this month whether to accept an offer to be the Football Association's technical director.