Coronavirus: The FA Cup final could take place ‘as late as October’
The FA Cup final could be put back from May until October.
It came after the Football Association ruled that all football in England below the three divisions that make up the National League will end immediately and all results will be expunged due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Football Association said it was ‘reviewing all options’ to complete the men’s FA Cup, which had reached the quarter-final stage featuring Sheffield United v Arsenal., Newcastle United v Manchester City, Norwich City v Manchester United and Leicester City v Chelsea.
Holders Manchester City are among eight clubs through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup
And that could mean the final could be delayed until the autumn, according to the Daily Mirror.
The FA statement read: ‘Clubs involved are close to reaching a major Final and for those clubs and supporters we will do all we can to keep the Wembley dream alive.
‘The NLS and the women’s football pyramid were able to build a consensus amongst their leagues and, where possible, aimed to create a consistent approach across all leagues, whilst taking into account the unique characteristics of each individual league.
All football below the National League will end immediately and all results will be expunged
As a result, The FA and NLS steps three to six have reached a consensus that their 2019-20 season will now be brought to an end, and all results will be expunged. This will mean no promotion or relegation of clubs between NLS steps three to six, and no promotion to NLS step two.
These decisions will also apply to the leagues and clubs who play at NLS step seven.
We will continue to assist and support the National League (NLS steps one and two) to determine the outcome of its 2019-20 season as quickly as possible. The planned implementation of the restructure of the NLS will also now be deferred until the start of the 2021-22 season.
Furthermore, we can now confirm that we have decided that all grassroots football is concluded for the 2019-20 season. This will allow the game to move forward and to commence planning for next season. Our County Football Associations (CFAs) will be supporting grassroots leagues over the coming days to determine how they should close out their current competitions.
