Football League clubs have agreed to consider a revolutionary proposal for penalty shoot-outs to decide all drawn matches as part of a wider review aimed at making the game more entertaining.

A meeting of the 72 league chairmen agreed to a working party being set up to consider the proposal among other ways of making their competitions more attractive.

The proposal was put forward by Football League chairman Lord Brian Mawhinney, and would see all drawn matches in professional league games outside the Premiership go to a shoot-out.

Mawhinney said: ''I suggested that for drawn matches each team gets a point and then maybe the team that wins a penalty shoot-out gets an extra point.

''Managers may hate shoot-outs but fans love them. The chairmen decided to use this proposal to have a broader look at a range of ideas that might refresh our product.

''Some people were strongly against it, some people were in favour of it but on both sides people said 'let's be constructive and have a broad examination of what we have on offer'.''

The league's working party will now seek other ideas from clubs and fans but will be limited by the rules of the game - for example they would not be permitted to abandon the offside rule.

Mawhinney said it was important to constantly seek to improve the entertainment on offer.

He added: ''We cannot afford to be complacent - people are always talking to me about how we can get more goals and more excitement in football.

''I understand that it is not instinctively where clubs would go but if you don't change in a changing world then you can fall behind.''

The meeting also discussed where the end of season play-offs would be staged and Mawhinney said he was increasingly hopeful that they would be at the new Wembley stadium.

''It's outside of our control but I'm more hopeful than I was some weeks ago,'' he said. ''If the ramp-up events go well and they get the safety certificate then we should be able to have the play-offs at Wembley.''

Blackburn boss Mark Hughes has warned Football League chiefs they risk ''ridicule'' if they decide to adopt the practice of settling drawn games via shoot-outs.

Hughes said: ''I think it is something thought up by somebody who has never played the game or understands the thinking behind it.

''I just hope it is a non-starter. I think they open themselves up to a little bit of ridicule if they go down that route.

''It is not razzmatazz - it is about getting points on the board, and a score draw or a draw away from home is at times, given the circumstances, a fantastic result.

''Okay, they are trying to improve their product, but I think think they should just appreciate what they have got.

''The Football League is a great competition at the moment and why they feel they have got to trick it up is beyond me.''

Jimmy Hill, who oversaw the introduction of three points for a win in 1981, has attacked the proposed scrapping of draws as an ''idea from the devil''.

The plans have been met with widespread derision and anger by many league managers and Hill is equally furious.

''This idea has come from the devil and not from God,'' he said.

''Football in its present form is proving such an attraction that it doesn't need to be changed.

''It's extraordinarily popular and for someone to even think of changing the basics needs to be taken away and have their head examined.

''Have any of these people involved in the running of the game actually played football at a professional level?

''The professional game is now run by people who've never played it, so it doesn't really surprise me when they come up with these ridiculous ideas.''