Come in No.39: Premier League summit puts extra game back on the agenda

In the aftermath of the first all-English Champions League Final, played in Moscow between Manchester United and Chelsea, chief executive Richard Scudamore will revive proposals for a 39th round of matches around the world.

Pressing ahead: Richard Scudamore

He will be backed by leading clubs, with Everton chief executive Keith Wyness warning that English football cannot afford to stand still.

"We can't rest where we are as a league," said Wyness. "The landscape for sport is going to change dramatically in the next 10 or 15 years and we have got to stay up there.

"I understand the opposition and the arguments that have been made. But I think it's something that really needs to be looked at."

The prospect of the '39th game' appeared to have been killed off earlier this year after widespread criticism from FIFA, UEFA, the English FA and fans' groups.

It was also opposed by the football associations of Asia, America and Australia, all pencilled in as possible venues for the international round.

But Wyness believes football will face increasingly fierce competition from sports prepared to re-package themselves to win new supporters worldwide.

He said: "You see other sports trying new things, and don't forget you have got the Indian Premier League and Twenty20 cricket coming up on the rails. They are trying to get cricket started off in America and China now, too."

The 39th game will be debated at next week's annual meeting in Leicestershire, with a final decision due early next year, and Wyness added: "It is certainly not dead, it needs to be explored fully because there is some very strong potential in it."

Manchester City chief executive Alistair Mackintosh said: "Our position at the outset was that the possibility of playing and adding a Premier League game overseas was worth investigating.

"Our position has not changed and we are looking forward to re-opening discussions with our fellow Premier League clubs."

Along with Arsene Wenger's Arsenal, Everton have been one of the biggest supporters of the 39th game. They were among 17 out of the 20 Premier League clubs who voted in favour of continuing to explore the possibility of an international round at the last meeting, although it is believed Chelsea will want to see signs of progress when the revised plans are discussed next week.

Significantly, Manchester United and Liverpool both voted against the proposal, as did Wigan Athletic.

Scudamore is refusing to give up on the move and he will ask for more time to sell the idea to FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his UEFA counterpart Michel Platini, hoping they will drop their opposition. He wants the clubs to give him until January to come up with a revised plan that will prove acceptable.

But Mark Longden, spokesman for the Football Supporters' Federation, said: "We are not in favour of any domestic game being played outside the UK. All the fans from every club I've spoken to are against it.

"It's clearly there to generate revenue, with no consideration for the people who are paying money for the previous 38 games.

"Luckily for us, there are other interested parties such as FIFA, UEFA and the FA who are all against it, and the Premier League have to get past them."

He said the group would use its seat on the FA council to oppose the idea if it was revived by the Premier League.

Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson said: "We were given a mandate by the clubs to explore the options regarding the challenges and opportunities of globalising sport in regard to the Premier League, and we're continuing to do that."