Strong opposition for Premier League's overseas proposal

Last month, the English Premier League floated the idea of playing an extra round of matches overseas.

At a meeting in London, the chairmen of the 20 top-flight clubs agreed to study the proposal of extending the league season to 39 games.

The extra 10 matches will be played at venues around the world, with cities bidding for hosting rights.

Yet, this proposal to hold games outside England has been met with strong opposition from every corner of the game, including the Football Association.

The current substitution policy of choosing three players from five will be altered as clubs will be able to name seven subs for league matches next season.

There has also been a significant development for English clubs in the G-14. This group, representing the world's wealthiest clubs, has been disbanded after an agreement was reached with Fifa over compensation for players injured while on international duty.

Other soccer items of interest for February read:

• Dundee United reach the final of the League Cup, defeating Aberdeen 4-1 at Easter Road. They will meet Rangers in the final on March 16.

• At Southampton, in an Under-21 European Championship qualifier, England trounce the Republic of Ireland 3-0 (O'Hollaron own goal, Milner, Walcott) to remain top of their group.

Good start for Capello

• England defeat Switzerland 2-1 (Jenas, Wright-Phillips) at Wembley in Fabio Capello's debut as coach. Other friendly outcomes: Northern Ireland-Bulgaria 0-1, Republic of Ireland-Brazil 0-1, Wales-Norway 3-0 (Fletcher, Koumas 2).

• Struggling League One side Bournemouth, crippled with debts of around £4 million, have gone into administration. Subsequently, they have been given a penalty of 10 points and are now bottom of the table.

• Manchester United's Alex Ferguson and Cristiano Ronaldo are named Manager and Player of the Month for January.

• Dundee beat Motherwell at home 2-1 and St Mirren triumph at Dundee United 1-0 to register Scottish Cup shocks in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

• Championship club Coventry City sack manager Iain Dowie.

• In Uefa Cup third round first legs, Bolton Wanderers defeat Atletico Madrid 1-0 at the Reebok Stadium. Other results: Rangers-Panathinaikos 0-0, SK Brann-Everton 0-2, Aberdeen-Bayern Munich 2-2, Slavia Prague-Tottenham 1-2.

• FA Cup fifth round shocks leave Liverpool reeling at home to Barnsley 1-2 and Bristol Rovers topple Southampton 1-0.

• Brian Harris, who won the championship with Everton in 1963 and the FA Cup three years later, dies aged 72.

• Southampton appoint Nigel Pearson as manager as Coventry hand reins to Chris Coleman.

• In the first legs of the first KO phase matches of the Champions League, Liverpool beat Inter 2-0 at Anfield. Other outcomes: Olympiakos-Chelsea 0-0, Arsenal-Milan 0-0, Celtic-Barcelona 2-3, Olympique Lyon-Manchester United 1-1.

• Scottish Premier side Gretna sack manager David Irons.

• Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs makes his 100th Champions League/European Cup appearance to become only the eighth player to reach this milestone.

• Following Liverpool's 2-0 home win over Inter, the Reds claim their 100th European game victory at Anfield.

• A trio of English clubs progress to the fourth round of the Uefa Cup: Bolton (vs Atletico Madrid) 1-0 on aggregate; Everton (vs SK Brann) 8-1; and Tottenham (vs Slavia Prague) 3-2. Scottish sides Rangers go through on the away goals rule against Panathinaikos (1-1), but Aberdeen meet their waterloo at Munich against Bayern (3-7).

• Tottenham Hotspur lift the League Cup at Wembley, beating neighbours Chelsea 2-1 after extra time.

Leading marksmen

Premier League
21 Ronaldo (Man. United)
19 Adebayor (Arsenal)
15 Torres (Liverpool)
13 Mwaruwari (Man. City)

The Championship
16 Phillips (West Brom)
14 Ebanks-Blake (Wolves); Fuller (Stoke); Morris (C. Palace); John (Southampton)
13 Paterson (Scunthorpe); Beattie (Sheffield United)

Scottish Premier
19 McDonald (Celtic)
12 Boyd (Rangers); Robson (Celtic); Fletcher (Hibernian)
11 Hunt (Dundee United); Clarkson (Motherwell)