FA Cup final given end-of-season billing

The FA Cup final will be restored as the closing fixture of the English domestic league season next term.

The showpiece match will take place at Wembley on May 17, one week after the climax of the Premier League season.

It marks a return to tradition for the world’s oldest knockoput competition and will be the first time since 2010 that the cup final has taken the end-of-season slot.

The 2013 final took place when eventual winners Wigan still had two league games to play and despite securing their first major piece of silverware with a shock victory over Manchester City, the club went on to be relegated.

Manchester City’s cup triumph in 2011, when they beat Stoke City 1-0, was overshadowed somewhat by their bitter rivals Manchester United having secured their record-breaking 19th top-flight title with a 1-1 draw against Blackburn Rovers earlier that day.

The FA Cup first took place in 1871-72 and the most recent edition of the competition involved 758 clubs.