TOP football clubs should be forced to field a quota of English-born players to make the Premiership interesting again, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said today.

The minister said it was a turn-off for all football fans that the game was becoming "more and more predictable", with the same few super-rich clubs grabbing the top prizes.

The answer was to stop those clubs snapping up almost an entire team of foreign stars, which would also boost the chances of England winning the World Cup, he suggested.

Mr Burnham would not be drawn on what the quota should be, but Fifa president Sepp Blatter has called for a so-called 6+5 system.

That would force the likes of Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough to field a minimum of six homegrown players and a maximum of five foreigners.

The Culture Secretary, a passionate Everton fan, is believed to be willing to campaign for a change in European law if necessary, to allow a cap on foreign stars to be imposed.

In an interview with The Northern Echo, Mr Burnham also urged MPs and councillors to fly the world in search of Olympic squads who could be tempted to set up training camps locally ahead of the 2012 Games.

The 200-strong Ukraine team could end up in Leigh, in Greater Manchester - Mr Burnham's constituency - after he flew to Kiev to press the case for its sports village.

On football, the minister said: "The game is becoming more and more predictable every year, which is in no-one's interest.

"The financial resources of different clubs dictate what they can pay for players.

"I support a quota because it would makes clubs focus on English talent so they can't buy the 11 best players in the world. They would have to find a places for homegrown players, so it is an equalising measure.

"It also reinforces a sense of local identity, which is really important. At it's peril, English football takes its eye of that ball. Most, if not all, football supporters like to see local players."

However, Mr Burnham stopped short of a salary cap - a suggestion made by the Football Association chairman - insisting: "I avoid commenting on footballers' pay packets, because I don't think it's my job to do that."

The government has come under fire for exaggerating the chances of Olympic squads boosting the overseas profiles of towns and cities far from London by setting up training camps.

But Mr Burnham, urging MPs and councillors to follow his example, said: "Countries are there to be persuaded, but you need to go out and persuade them - it's not going to fall into your lap.

"I travelled to Ukraine as a backbench MP to make the case for Leigh. If other people want countries to come and use their facilities. they need to get out there and make the case."

The North-East had a particularly strong chance of persuading a team to "put down six year roots" for both London 2012 and the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, he added.