Coventry City chairman Bryan Richardson has failed in an attempt to win more cash for small Premier League clubs.

His suggestion of a new formula for redistributing the income among the clubs was rejected at a stormy meeting of the 20 chairmen in London last night.

There are fears that the bigger clubs, led by Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, could break away and form a part of a European league.

Richardson's proposal would have seen £200m distributed among the clubs under a formula, with the rest, currently £1.1 billion, being spread around equally.

He argued that the smaller clubs needed this to be able to remain competitive.

Once Champions League cash is taken into account, Richardson said the gulf between the big and small clubs is getting wider, and could accelerate once more TV money comes into the game next season.

He said following the meeting that a switch of support from a couple of clubs caused his motion to be defeated.