People will be studying the Premiership in the future as an example of how something that was born out of socialism gradually sold out to capitalism and greed - and i'm predicting - will eventually be its downfall - i'm a Liverpool fan and worry that my club might become the canary in the coal mine.

mark, reading, uk

Don't blame this on us overseas fans, that's incredibly unfair. You're assuming that we're the ones asking for this lunacy. A lot of us think this is an insane idea, just as much as you do. I live in NYC, I support Arsenal and if I want to watch a PL game, I'll save up for it and go to England (just as I have done in the past).

harper, New York, US

Sorry guys but my team hasnt been a "local" team for years. The Chairman is a Russian with a business in France most of our best players are from the African nations. Every player bar two have been bought in from other clubs in the last two years.
Nothing local about that and if the foreign owners decide they want to increase their investment who are we, who welcomed them with open arms when they can in to save our clubs from going bankrupt, to deny them that right.
We cheerfully pay through the nose to watch players who have no connection with our teams, clubs or cities, other than as employees,perform each week and they also have the right to move around to get the best deal.
It really is only theatre now so let the impresarios who foot the bill have the freedom to maximise their profits.

J Best, Waterlooville, Hants

it's just one game out of a season of 37 (or, by then, 38) - if one game in january counts so much, as opposed to a game in october, then why aren't fans complaining that their clubs don't take games seriously enough in the season's early months?

Dave Middleton, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Why don't these so called fans support teams in their own league? What a novel idea!

If they actually went and supported their own sides wherever they live and put in as much money as they waste on a team/club/brand they have no affinity for 8000 miles away, then perhaps their own sides will grow and bring in the players they are so longing to see. Perhaps they will create their own heroes rather than those forced upon them.

This also extends to those who live in Dorset/Surrey/South Wales who decide to want to support Liverpool/Man Utd/Chelsea etc. Your local sides are dying because you choose to watch 'your' (in the loosest sense of the word) side in the pub or at home on sky.

Shame on you. A football team is supposed to represent the community from whence it sprang, which you are certainly not a part of. The true local supporters don't like you, you are daytrippers, you ruin the atmosphere. Even if your dad's sister-in-laws third cousin had a cat that once lived there.

Richard, Bristol,

Great idea. Now we can pay the players £200,000 a week instead of the paltry £120,000 they currently earn. The Premiership should reduce to four teams and get on with the business of earning money and leave the football to those of us who have supported it and made it what it is in the last hundred and something years.

T Hockley, Bristol,

Do these peole have no shame. To talk about flying the world so soon after the remembrance of the Busby babes is just...another illustration of....

tony, leeds,

I did just start writing a very long response to this, but my head nearly exploded in trying to get everything that is wrong with this idea down in writing. So instead I pressed delete and will just say...... This stinks.

Arnie, Northampton, UK

Reminds me of New Labour / Old Labour….Old Football, the one we really love, died a little yesterday…This new world will happen but does anyone in this country have any appetitive for it?

Dan, Barnes,

Another soul-selling deal between F.A.ust and the devil !!

Peter, Liverpool,

It's a great idea and will make tons of money so the clubs and talent on show will get even better.

Bring it on.

Martin, London, England

"Give everyone a chance to see their heroes" says Martin Harrison of Saddleworth. Presumably you're only talking about the top 4 here. Have you noticed the other teams in the Premier League? Reckon there are many Sunderland fans worldwide?

Will Duffay, London,

The only way this could work is to separate it completely from the PL in terms of points.

I am sure a one off two week tournament each year between the top eight teams with prize money on the order of £50million would be sufficient incentive to interest the clubs, and be easily paid for from TV revenues.

Most of the top clubs already "compete" in pre season friendly tournaments overseas and this would provide a proper competitive edge to these sorts of fixtures.

Nick, Reading,

Expats alert..if you want to watch premiership football then how about you get on a plane!!! Middlesborough v Wigan in Miami I can just see the NFL quaking in their boots. What next shootouts or how about playoffs decided by Dancing on Ice..at least we will enjoy Ronaldo falling over!

ian, Wokingham, england

It's already a foreign league, so why not play all the games overseas and let the Championship become the top English league

james, burnley,

They could always play one in leeds, for old times sake!

james, burnley,

how environmentally friendly!

james, burnley,

I think its a great idea. Lets share one of our greatest traditions with others not fortunate to live in this country. Give everyone a chance to see their heroes. Can only be good for the game. Ignore the complaints of the dinosaurs.

Martin Harrison, Saddleworth, England

"It is a business pure and simple with no ifs or buts."
Alex, New York

Absolutely wrong, utterly and completely. English football is where it is because of the fans, its controlled by idiots and is hugely successful dispite them.
A few months ago Man Utd criticised their 'fans' for not being vocal enough, the reason for this is because they've priced out real fans and replaced them with fee paying customers who are only there to be entertained.
Without true supporters the first hiccup for english football could see a big reality check, and don't forget, we have a recession coming.

Steve, London,

And while the Premier League looks to bring in even more dosh the little clubs go to the wall... oh look Bournemouth just went into administration.. oh well, we're alright jack, we are planning to go around the world..

Gareth Thomas, Banwell,

It will give a whole new meaning to the phrase " I'm just popping over to the Emirates to watch the Gunners"!

Ian Butcher, Kimpton,

I bet the clubs in La Liga and Serie A are green with envy aren't they ? Not. More likely red with laughter at the egotism of the EPL and its preposterous claims to be big. I think the word they mean is rich and looking to get richer regardless of any ill effect on the national game.

Stephen Rowley, London, England

Please could all games be played overseas and then we would not have to be bambarded with wall to wall media coverage of a stupid game that "Engererererland" is not good at played by overpaid and underworked .........boys!

Tony, Biarritz,

Okay, let's give up on the Premier League. It represents only a small minority of football clubs anyway. Let's cast Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool etc adrift, stop following them, let them go global and see if they can survive, and we can all go back to watching proper English football. The Championship is the new Premier League. Hey! Let's call it the 1st Division while we're about it.

Will Duffay, London,

Great idea ... roll it out !

andy James, lyon, france

Once again its the boardroom not the true fans who think they know the way forward, it's a bloody farce, how much does Scudamore stand to gain? If this is moving forward ALL FANS from ALL CLUBS should boycott a weekends fixtures in the premiership, yes it hits the club but its our game not Scudamore's and his gronies, give this some serious thought, imagine the impact??? GIVE US BACK OUR GAME!

Chuck Woolgar, Essex, England

Sorry guys, but the fans views will not be taken into account. Why should they? Football belongs to the business world and not to the fans. Every big club needs increasing revenue to attract the best players. The fans are the first to whinge with cries of "why don't they spend some money on a few decent players?" if their club starts sliding towards the bottom.Money from where? Tickets already cost a fortune and much of the gate money comes from hospitality. My own beloved Sunderland will not survive - regardless of the quality of their manager and their wonderful fan base if they cannot generate enough cash to buy good players. But good players cost big money and must be paid large salaries, where will the cash come from? But that's where we came in....

Harry Gaffney, Riga, Latvia

Wednesday - Liverpool vs Derby at Anfield.... Saturday Liverpool vs Sunderland at Singapore............ Wont work. Even though players are overpaid, how can you expect a team to be mentally ready for a game when they know they know they have to travel on the other side of the world.
Premiership should stay in England where it belongs, problems such as fa cups, carling cup, replays, this would be a disaster for english football....
And we dont want antoher Munich Disaster.

jugjeevan lal singh, nawanshare,

Im surprised by how shocked you all are. Soccer isnt about fans or the game itself. It is a business pure and simple with no ifs or buts. They are simply trying to expand into the available market. The fans have been nothing in this sport for a long long time. It really shouldnt be a surprise.

Alex, New York, USA

This idea should be opposed but not on the basis of the 'over-commercialisation' of football - that ship sailed some time ago. The fans may just be waking up to the fact that the Premier league don't give a tinkers about them but the alarm bells have been ringing for a decade or so.

The simple reason that this should fail is that the league should be based on each club playing each other twice. How could a title race or relegation battle be decided by having played Arsenal, Man Utd or Chelski three times in a season?

Mike, London, UK

With the random allocation of teams to different cities along with 'big 5 teams' playing in neutral territory, I do not see this bid catering for the international EPL supporters out there.

The EPL is big and popular enough than having to see an international 39th game being introduced. I see foresee this idea being a farce and don't see this going through. (Not that worried).

When are players supposed to rest during an already hectic football schedule, especially those teams with European, EPL, FA and Carling Cup commitments?

Philip, Hong Kong, China

I live in Singapore and even though, I would give everything to see Liverpool in the flesh for the first time, this is an absolutely terrible idea. It robs the Premier League of everything I imagine it once stood for.

In my mind, I've always made plans to see my team, my club in action on their native soil, England. Nowhere else. It just seems like an absolute farce to me...something that no club would take seriously, and that is certainly not what I want to witness when I watch a match.

Norah, Singapore, Singapore

If the Premier League wishes to keep its position as the No 1 league for a global audience this is a great way forward and for supporters of smaller clubs this represents a way of seeing their clubs abroad as well as an opportunity for smallere clubs to get an overseas fan base.

Liverpool v Wigan in Stockholm would be great for supporters of both teams, Man U v Portsmouth in Rio would be worth saving up for!

A definite winner, great idea.

Michael, London,

So no game in football loving Africa then? But its not about the money is it Mr Scudamore?

Oh and Zhenya - I've played football here with locals - you make the English look like short-passing artisans!

Dave Williams, Beijing, China

Speaking as a huge Tottneham fan (and football fan in general) living in Australia, I think it's an absolutely brilliant idea. Have you any idea how many British ex-pats are living in far flung destinations that would love to have the opportunity to see live Premiership football? Not to mention the legions of Australian and Asian supporters. I would advocate at least giving it a trial run.

Carolyn, Perth, Australia

What an absolutely outstanding idea!!! I don't know what is more exciting - the EPL coming to Australia, the Socceroos (what a stupid name) beating Qatar 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier or Sydney's run at the A-League premiership.

Where do I and tens of thousands of others who have converted to the round ball game buy our tickets for the Australian games??

Nick

Nick Pedley, Canberra, Australia

"they have to accept that globalisation has made their game - and their teams"

That's nonsense, many clubs have been around for well over a hundred years, globalisation didn't make them, but it could break them in the long run. If you have a beautiful tree with strong roots which everyone wants to see, they must observe it where it lives; if you rip it out of it's place and take it round the world it will wither and die.

The fans have had enough of high prices, KO's at all hours and this may be the last straw. It's time for us all to withdraw our support to pass the message.

john, Manchester, Lancs

What a rubbish, money-grabbing idea! So the big 5 will be seeded, and then play an "neutral" grounds? I'm sure Sydney and SIngapore, for example, would be filled with fans to watch Wigan or Derby or Birmingham....no way it would just be "big 5" fans there to cheer!! Besides all the other issues this is just gifting another 3 points to the top 5 and further cementing the 2 tier nature of the Premiership. I say boycott!

Mike, BKK, Thailand

This is a completely nonsensical idea, for several reasons.
For example, with the randomly allocated game, if Manchester United were to draw my team, Derby County, and they ran 6 goals in, that could drastically effect the outcome of the title race, especially if Arsenal played Tottenham and lost.
Imagine the implications for a relegation battle, and the fourth champions league slot.
Arguably, this would make the clubs more money. However, would this just further inflate the price of over paid and over priced players? Most recently, Hutton, a full back, transferred for nearly 10 million.
It would disenfranchise fans further, and ultimately it would be a brand destroying idea as the english game would become a mockery. Premier League clubs would be able to afford the most expensive players, but the outcome of its title could be decided by the random draw.
This is truly an idea motivated by greed, and for that, Scudamore in particular should scrap this idea immediately.

Pete Couchman, sydney, australia

For the sake of future of Chinese football , no English football , we've had many volleyball matches per week ,

Zhenya, Beijing, China

The premier league is mirroring the U.K - once best in the world but about to get complacent and blow everything. If it aint broke.....

Neil Hughes, Birmingham, U.K

Difficult to see how this will work in terms of points. The EPL is balanced at present, an extra game with random unseeded opposition will unbalance it, but awarding no points will render it meaningless. Will the Clubs agree?

But for fans in foreign countries, well they will love it... and commercially-speaking those fans are the low-hanging fruit.

Martin, Singapore,

I live in Canada and have followed the EPL since the 80s; I shall be first in line to buy tickets . . . while I understand the reaction of the English fans, they have to accept that globalisation has made their game - and their teams - a global league and global teams. We love our teams (I shall forever be a proud Gooner) as much as you do . ..

P Sharma, North Vancouver, BC, Canada