SOUTHAMPTON fans were today anxiously waiting to see what effect next month's PFA strike will have on the club and football in general.

The Professional Footballers' Association have issued strike notices to all Premiership and Football League clubs warning that industrial action will take place the weekend after next.

And that could hit Saints' televised game at Everton on Sunday, December 2.

Talks on the dispute with the Premier League over television money broke down yesterday despite both sides offering compromise solutions.

Winchester fan, Rod Armitage, admitted his opinion on the rights and wrongs of any strike would be swayed by its impact on struggling Saints.

He said: "I have sympathy with the union and with the players if they are striking for the right reasons and that is helping lower division teams.

"But my support will be totally guided by what effect it will have on Saints.

"It is critical we get a result this weekend against Charlton. If we were to win and get on a run, then I would not want there to be a strike.

"But if the team was continuing to struggle, and had players out with injuries, then perhaps a strike would be a helpful!"

However, Netley Common's Richard Ember is fiercely opposed to any strike.

"Twenty years ago this would be described as secondary picketing under the Thatcher era - this is third party industrial action," he said.

"I sympathise with Rupert Lowe's view on this one. Here we have the employees asking the employers to contribute direct to their union. It's ridiculous.

"The union should be skimming more off the players' wages instead of the straight £70 dues they receive. For example, if it was one per cent of a Premiership player's wage, that would be quite a substantial sum."

Ember described the proposed strike action as "highly irresponsible"

Basingstoke's Andy Saunders, from the London branch of the Southampton Supporters Club, admitted there might be some support from fans for the first couple of weeks.

But if the strike action continued, that support would drop off.

"The union have quite clearly got a strong mandate here, and there will be some support from the fans," he said.

"I am of the belief that this issue will be resolved before the end of the month."

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore claims the planned players' strike is "unthinkable". But Scudamore insists the Premier League will pull out all the stops to ensure there is no strike action.

"We have to do everything we can to stop the it. We will have talks and obviously we will then reconsider our position to stop the strike," he said.

The Premier League will now seek a legal injunction to prevent the strike - which would only effect televised matches - and the matter is destined to end in the High Court.

The PFA are seeking five per cent, or £36million a year, from the TV deals agreed by the Premier League, Football League and Football Association.

The Premier League's final offer was for £20 million a year, with the PFA having total discretion in the spending of £7million of the money. The union lowered their demands to £27 million a year on the condition they could negotiate a longer-term agreement.

Neither was acceptable to the other side and the Premier League are seething that the strike notices were apparently dispatched while negotiations were still proceeding.