Emergency plan made for FA Cup final due to unexpected fixture scenario

11 March 2024 , 15:03

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Wembley is scheduled to stage the finals of the FA Cup and the Championship play-offs a day apart (Image: The FA via Getty Images)

Football chiefs have had to put an emergency plan in place for a potential FA Cup final and Championship play-off date clash.

The FA Cup final is set in stone at Wembley for Saturday, May 25, with the Championship play-off final due to be at Wembley 24 hours later. But Leicester and Coventry are still in the FA Cup and could yet both be involved in the Championship play-offs which has raised the possibility of a date switch.

Championship leaders Leicester go to Chelsea on Sunday for their FA Cup quarter final and are only two games away from the final. Leicester have had a recent wobble in recent results and could yet end up in the play-offs and the same goes for Coventry.

Coventry boss Mark Robins takes his team to Wolves on Saturday and they are still in the mix for the Championship play-offs this season. The Championship play-off final is one of the biggest dates in the calendar as it is often billed as football’s £100m game.

But there is a potential clash if Leicester or Coventry go all the way in the FA Cup and extra dates have been put into the diary for Wembley as potential back-ups. They would have to shift the Championship play-off final but it is believed there is scope for moving the game in an emergency situation.

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It has been made more difficult this year because the Champions League final is being staged at Wembley on Saturday, June 1. The stadium is effectively handed over to UEFA before and after the Champions League final which has also meant that England have to go on the road and play one of their Euro warm-ups - against Bosnia & Herzegovina - at St James’s Park on Monday, June 3.

They then face Iceland at Wembley on June 7. The Football Association insist that all stakeholders were consulted but clearly it was decided on the basis it would be unlikely that a Championship team would reach the FA Cup final.

The last Championship team to reach the FA Cup final was in 2008 when then Premier League Portsmouth beat Cardiff City and football’s date makers have been banking on it not happening again.

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John Cross