BERMUDA football fans will be able to watch England's home qualifiers on Fox Sports World (channel 53 on CableVision) after an agreement between the English Football Association and Fox was signed this week.

Local fans have been able to watch a number of live and tape-delay English Premier games on Fox Sports World for years but have always been stymied when the England team plays.

On Wednesday the Premier League and Fox Sports World announced a three-year contract that calls for more telecasts in North America ? and subsequently Bermuda. At the same time, the network announced a four-year deal with the English FA to broadcast games of England's national team and the FA Cup.

English clubs have played exhibition games in the United States with increasing frequency ? Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool are coming this summer.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said his league's deal with Fox calls for the addition of 1:15 p.m. (Bermuda time) Saturday live telecasts, in addition to the 8:30 a.m. (Bermuda time) live games under the previous deal. There will be about 195 games televised a season, an increase of about 15. Fox began broadcasting the league in 1998.

David Sternberg, Fox Cable Networks' senior vice president of emerging networks, said it had not yet been determined how many games would be shown on Fox Sports World and how many would be sold pay-per-view.

Included in the deal with the FA are rights to England's home qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup and the 2008 European Championship. Nic Coward, the FA's director of corporate and legal affairs, said the agreement was "an attempt to turn England into America's second team".

Fox's news conference was held in a Manhattan football bar, and the English officials brought along the FA Cup, won Saturday by Manchester United.