By Tony Leighton

The Coca-Cola Football League is set to further enhance its stature as the most watched and one of the most competitive sporting competitions in Europe, says League chairman Lord Brian Mawhinney ahead of this week's big kick-off to the 2007-08 campaign.

Crowds at League games last season reached their highest levels since the late 1950's, with The Championship - whose attendances were higher than Italy's Serie A - the most competitive on the continent with just 13 points covering the top six clubs.

Lord Mawhinney, looking ahead to the new season, said: "The competitiveness of our League helps to explain why we are continuing to get tremendous crowds at matches season after season.

"Last year was the third in a row where we had more than 16 million fans through the turnstiles at Football League games, with the Championship breaking through the 10 million barrier for the first time since 1950-51.

"So I'm really excited about the prospects for 2007-08. The League is in a very healthy state and I'm sure fans will continue to see the close, hard-fought matches that have become the hallmark of our three divisions.

"But we are not complacent and we will continue with initiatives to go on building the fan base for the future, especially in encouraging youngsters to go along and watch their local League clubs."

Since The League's 'Fans of the Future' initiative was launched in September 2005 more than 500,000 children have attended matches either free of charge or through low-cost schemes such as 'Kids for a quid.'

The League is now set to boost these efforts with the introduction this season of 'The Football League Family Charter Mark,' an award which will be made to clubs that expand their supporter base through family oriented initiatives.

Lord Mawhinney said: "This new scheme will signify The League's appreciation of what clubs are doing to attract and retain family groups at their matches, and to encourage other clubs to follow their lead.

"We want to make all of our clubs family and children-friendly - it's about kids developing a real appetite to watch Football League matches and to go on supporting their local club."

Other measures for the 2007-08 campaign include a stricter control of on-field discipline, an issue on which Lord Mawhinney said: "We've invested quite a bit of behind-the-scenes time and will continue to do so.

"There's a competitive as well as a behavioural aspect to this issue. If a player cheats because he thinks it will give him an advantage it does in fact give him an unfair advantage, so he is undermining the integrity of the competition.

"One of my bugbears is the blocking of taking free-kicks quickly. We've had assurances that referees will be doing their best to stamp that out this season, and we will be looking for tangible evidence that on-pitch behaviour generally is better than in the past."

Among the main highlights of the coming campaign will be the return to Wembley, following last season's Play-Off Finals, of both the Carling Cup Final and The Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final.

"Wembley is the spiritual and historic home of football in England," said Lord Mawhinney, "and it was great to be back there for the Play-Offs - though I should say the use of the Millennium Stadium was a success for us.

"The chance to once again play all our big showpiece games at Wembley is important and I'm sure there will be lots of excitement surrounding the return of The League's two Cup Finals to the stadium."