Arsenal chairman issues pay warning

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood made it clear today that the players at Highbury will not be paid if they go on strike for live televised games.

Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale said yesterday that his club would take a tough stand against any players who voted for industrial action - and Hill-Wood stressed that Arsenal would follow suit.

"If they go on strike then they will not be paid," said Hill-Wood. "They will be in breach of contract and, quite honestly, I don't think they have a leg to stand on legally." Arsenal have been talking with their Professional Footballers' Association delegate, Martin Keown, and Hill-Wood hopes there will be a resolution.

Meanwhile, the PFA have stepped up their threat of strike action by holding secret meetings at every Premiership training ground and keeping management locked out.

West Ham manager Glenn Roeder was shocked to arrive at training recently to find his players in talks with PFA chiefs and learn he wasn't invited. The move comes after Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger refused to back strike action and it seems managers are now being left out of discussions .

Roeder said: "The full brigade from the PFA came down to the training ground to have a chat with our players. They had a good talk with them and I think they are getting around all the clubs. They did not tell the management. We weren't invited."

At Watford, chief executive Tim Shaw has warned players that their contracts prevent them from going on strike. "We want to make the players aware they would not be able to be involved because they are contracted to Watford," he said.

Players' chief Gordon Taylor insists he would not be intimidated by threats to dock footballers' pay. "If the clubs say they are going to not pay any player who does not play in a televised game, then it would just be for that day," said Taylor. "This is about television - the Premier League do not wish it to be about TV."