London football fans today backed FIFA chief Sepp Blatter's controversial plan to limit the number of foreign players in club sides.

In an exclusive poll for Standard Sport, 54 per cent of the capital's supporters said they were in favour of FIFA's proposal for a quota of five imports per team.

The issue has divided football with the Premier League fiercely opposed and the European Commission claiming it is illegal. But the principle was endorsed by an overwhelming majority of countries at FIFA's Congress last week in a move which has struck a chord with London fans.

Standard Sport's survey was commissioned as part of the 2008 London Football Report, which canvassed the views of nearly 3,000 fans of the capital's clubs.

When broken down by allegiance on the quotas issue, there is a clear divide between fans of London's two clubs in the Premier League's 'Big Four' and the rest.

The only supporters to show a majority against the plan were those of Arsenal (76 per cent) and Chelsea (56 per cent).

Theo Walcott was the only Englishman to regularly appear in Arsenal's first-team squad last season while Chelsea have signed mainly foreign players in recent years.

Millwall's supporters were the most in favour with 86 per cent backing Blatter's idea while Tottenham and West Ham showed 64 per cent and 69 per cent support respectively.

Overall, 31 per cent of those surveyed were against the idea with 15 per cent undecided.