League joy over £95m Sky TV deal

"They are now able to budget for the future with some certainty. In Sky we have a partner that we can completely trust."

The deal comes after ITV Digital reneged on its £178.5m payment for the final two years of its contract in May.

It means that Sky will televise 60 Nationwide matches across all divisions, including 50 from Division One. It also gives the channel owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch the end-of-season play-offs, and the contract for the Worthington Cup including the semi-final and final.

Live weekend league matches will be scheduled on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays with regular evening kick-off times.

The contract was signed at 7.20am today at a London hotel after two days of intensive negotiations between Harris, League chief executive David Burns, Sky chief executive Tony Ball, managing director of Sky Sports Vic Wakeling, and deputy managing director of Sky Sports Trevor East.

Wakeling said: "Sky are delighted to be involved with the Football League. We hope that the clubs can now plan for the future and we will soon schedule the first live matches, together with the League and the clubs, so that fans can plan their opening weeks of the season."

"We also look forward to the play-off finals, which produce some of the most exciting games of the season, and the Worthington Cup Final, which grants the first European place. Viewers will know where to find live football and can enjoy these games alongside exclusively live matches from the Premiership."

In another boost for the ailing Nationwide clubs, the BBC is thought to be close to agreeing a separate deal for terrestrial live and highlights rights for further matches in the next two weeks. That is likely to bring in at least another £5m per year.

Although the new deal is nowhere near the £105 million a year the League was receiving under its old contract with ITV Digital, Sky's agreement will secure the competition's future. When ITV Digital collapsed at the end of last season, it was predicted that the repercussions-could mean up to 30 Nationwide clubs would go out of business.

The move comes three weeks before the League is due to start its High Court battle with ITV Digital's former owners Carlton and Granada, with the League claiming £120.5m.

A whole host of clubs were facing the prospect of having no television income for the next two years when ITV Digital collapsed. The majority of the cash went to the First Division clubs who looked like being particularly badly hit. Many had already spent the promised cash from ITV.

Under the new deal clubs in Division One can expect to receive £360,000 each per year, Division Two clubs £200,000 and Division Three clubs £150,000.