The prospect of some of Britain's richest and most famous young men downing tools and taking to the picket lines moved a step closer yesterday when professional footballers voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action.

In a development which raises the previously unthinkable possibility of television schedules devoid of football, the players' union announced that its call for a boycott of televised games had received the backing of 99 per cent of the membership, which ranges from the David Beckhams and Michael Owens of the Premiership to the part-timers of the lower reaches of the Nationwide League.

At the heart of the dispute is the lifeblood which has transformed the English game into a cash-rich international cultural phenomenon: television money.

Despite a new television contract which will see the 20 Premiership clubs' annual income from Sky, ITV and other broadcasters rise from £148 million sterling to £548 million sterling a year over the next three years, the league authorities have refused to proportionally raise the amount they give to the Professional Footballers' Association in lieu of appearance money for individual players under an agreement which dates back to the advent of televised football in 1955.

The PFA claims it is entitled to 5 per cent of the money - about £27 million - to fund its welfare and education projects; the leagues counter by claiming that, while they recognise the value of the PFA's work, the union does not need this much money. It is offering about £10 million, a rise of about £2.5 million on last year.

It is not the first time in recent years that the players have backed industrial action. But the overwhelming nature of the result and the increasingly bitter tone of the public rhetoric from both sides means that it is not since a players' strike threat aimed at ending the maximum wage in 1961 that the atmosphere between players and the authorities has been so poisonous.

Gordon Taylor, PFA chief executive said: "There's never been such an amount of money from television as now. We believe it's important to have a fair share - not a bigger share but the same share. That's our mandate from our members. Anything less than that will have to go back to our members. Why should we accept a smaller share?"

The Premiership is now likely to step up its efforts to reach a settlement. The clubs contacted the PFA on Thursday before the ballot result had been announced to ask it for another meeting early next week. The club chairmen are painfully aware that if the strike goes ahead and broadcasters do not get to show games they have paid for, it will give the television companies a chance to renegotiate the contracts which many feel they paid too much for.

"Strike action is always a last resort," Taylor said yesterday. "We can do a deal today if they respond to our request. We don't believe we are being difficult. We are being fair and our members have indicated that."

In a joint statement last night, Richard Scudamore, chief executive of the Premiership, and David Burns, chief executive of the Nationwide League, said the clubs remained confident that strike action could be averted. "We have always assumed, ever since these negotiations began, that the PFA could count on the full support of its members, therefore today's announcement comes as no surprise. We remain committed to reaching a negotiated settlement for the good of the game."

The two main football broadcasters, Sky and ITV, declined to comment on the ballot result. But insiders say that both are pressuring the clubs to settle the dispute.

The result adds to a growing sense that the football bubble could soon burst. Broadcasters such as Sky - which used football as the battering ram to get its set-top boxes into the Britain's living rooms - report ever-falling ratings, fuelling claims of football fatigue.

Any strike could not begin for two weeks because the players were asked in the ballot whether they were prepared to "take part in strike action consisting of a refusal to play in any matches after November 23rd at which cameras are present and in use". The clubs will have to be given a week's notice.

One of the first matches affected could be the Arsenal and Manchester United clash on November 25th, due to be shown live on Sky.

"There are a number of options to consider," Taylor said. "It could be blanket coverage - our members have given us that option. It could be groups of games, it could be individual games." He hoped England matches would not be affected.

The clubs have warned of action in the High Court to have the strike declared illegal, claiming the dispute is with the leagues but it is the individual clubs who will suffer. But officials were stressing yesterday that legal action was a last resort .

Taylor insisted matches could go ahead, provided they were not broadcast on television. "There's no reason why games shouldn't take place," he said.