WEMBLEY IN DATES MIX-UP

FOOTBALL chiefs have 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 (Ilkay Gundogan lifts the trophy last year, above).

The Championship play-off final is also there, 24 hours later.

But Leicester and Coventry are still in the FA Cup and could yet both be involved in the Championship play-offs.

Championship leaders Leicester go to Chelsea on Sunday for their FA Cup quarter-final. But Leicester have had a wobble in recent league results and could yet end up in the play-offs.

Coventry boss Mark Robins (below) takes his team to Wolves on Saturday and they too are still in the mix for the playoffs. The Championship play-off final is one of the biggest dates in the calendar, often billed as football’s £100million game.

Extra dates have been put in the diary for Wembley as potential back-ups. It is believed there is scope for moving the game in an emergency situation. It has been made more difficult this year because the Champions League final is also 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 go on the road and play one of their Euro warm-ups – against Bosnia & Herzegovina – at St James’s Park on Monday, June 3.

The FA say 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.