All Easter Monday football fixtures in England will go ahead as planned, with clubs paying their own tributes to the Queen Mother, it was announced today.

There will be a minute's silence at grounds around the country during the packed holiday fixture programme and players will wear black armbands as a mark of respect, the Football Association said.

This follows discussions with Buckingham Palace, Downing Street, the Premier League and the Football League.

FA head of communications Paul Newman said: ''We would join the rest of the sporting world and the country in mourning the loss of the Queen Mother.

''Like everyone else, our thoughts are with the other members of the Royal Family at this time.''

The Rugby Football Union confirmed there will be two minutes' silence at the four Zurich Premiership matches this afternoon.

RFU president Roy Manock said: ''We heard the news with great sadness this afternoon and the sympathy of the Rugby Football Union and all concerned with the game goes to our patron Queen Elizabeth.

''The Queen Mother was a wonderful ambassador for her people and she made an enormous contribution to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.''

The Bank of Scotland Scottish Premier League will discuss their tribute to the Queen Mother with the other Scottish football authorities over the next few days.

''This is obviously a very sad day for the nation,'' said an SPL spokesman.

''We have not yet had the opportunity to discuss our response in detail with either our clubs or our colleagues within the other leagues.

''However, we would expect that the league would pay its sincere respects in terms of a minute's silence, players to wear black armbands and all flags to be at half-mast.

''We will be discussing this in detail in the days ahead before we come to a final decision.''

The Scottish Rugby Union will fly also flags at half-mast.

All matches, including the BT Cellnet Cup semi-final, will be preceded by one minute's silence.

There are five rugby league Super League matches scheduled for Monday and Rugby Football League media manager John Huxley said: ''We are considering the most appropriate form of action. We want to show our total respect.''