The FA faced snowballing opposition today to their proposal to turn lower-league teams into feeder clubs for Premier League outfits.

The Football Supporters Federation warned: "The backlash would be huge" and said that "the overwhelming majority of fans are absolutely opposed" to the idea.

And Football League chairman Greg Clarke said the proposal could distract from efforts to remedy the alarming decline in the domestic game.

The idea of mimicking continental leagues, with top clubs having feeder sides or B-teams in the lower leagues, resurfaced this week.

It may be considered by the commission being set up by FA chairman Greg Dyke to address the shortage of English players in the top flight.

But Clarke fears that Dyke's commission could be derailed by infighting and self-interest.

He said: "The Football League is not keen to have feeder clubs. If you look at leagues which do have them, you tend not to get good attendances.

"But if there is a proposal it should be put forward as part of the process and be dealt with by the commission.

"Let's not hijack Greg Dyke's process. Let's get all the ideas on the table without everyone having personal agendas and having the process degenerate into being parochial, tribalism and faction fighting."

A Football Supporters Federation spokesman added: "The English league system is one of the strongest in the world and that shouldn't be jeopardised.

"No other country has such big crowds going down to the fourth and fifth tier.

"We don't think it's just fans of Football League clubs who are against this either - we think most fans of top-flight clubs will too. Every club has its own identity, however big or small.

"In January 2012 we polled our members on this very subject and 86 per cent said they opposed the idea of top-flight clubs buying feeder sides."