PREMIER LEAGUE AVOID FA CUP FINAL CLASH

All Premier League matches on the penultimate weekend of the season will be played on the Sunday.

Last Updated: 02/02/12 at 16:14 Post Comment    Bet with SkyBet  Barclays Premier League. Click here to bet.

The FA Cup final will be played on Saturday May 5.

The FA Cup final will be played on Saturday May 5.

Premier League clubs have agreed to move all matches on the penultimate weekend of the season to the Sunday to avoid a clash with the FA Cup final on Saturday May 5.

Fixture congestion caused by the need for a break before Euro 2012 and the Champions League final being played on a Saturday forced the FA to move the FA Cup climax to a weekend where top-flight league matches were also scheduled.

A fixture pile-up last season saw Premier League games played on the same day as the final, but the 20 club chairmen agreed at a meeting today to move to the Sunday.

Premier League communications director Dan Johnson said: "We realise that it is not good for either competition to have our matches conflicting with the FA Cup."

The only exceptions will be if an English club is involved in the Europa League final the following Wednesday and would prefer to play on the Saturday, and if Sky choose to show a top-flight match in the Saturday lunchtime slot - the Premier League would be contractually obliged to agree to that.

Lunchtime kick-offs should not conflict greatly with the FA Cup final as this year, for the first time, the kick-off is at 5.15pm.

The chairmen also unanimously agreed to bring in the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP), a change to the youth development system which has been opposed by some lower league clubs, from next season.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said: "The clubs unanimously backed the EPPP and adopted the rules necessary to implement it.

"The hard work already done in progressing the system of youth development really is just the start, but the commitment shown by the Premier League clubs, mirrored by the Football Association and Football League, means that there will be more and better homegrown players at every single level of English professional football."

It was also confirmed, as expected, that next season's Premier League will kick off on August 18, six days after the end of the London Olympics.

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here has only been 3 players who made me hold my breath in dread when they picked the ball up anywhere near our penalty area...in their prime Scholes and Giggs... and always Drogba. Awesome player who on his day was the best striker in the world in my opinion.

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Farewell Big, Brutal, Big-Balled B**tard

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remember him scoring a 25-yarder, either the season just gone or the one before, against Bolton at the Reebok. I've never seen a ball hit that hard before in my entire life. You could almost feel the shockwave from his foot contacting it 40 yards away in the stands. Didier Droga. You might not have loved him, but you just had to be in awe of him.

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den Hazard, def. - 1) that girl in a club who makes eyes at you all night, who allows you to buy her a drink and walk her home arm in arm, who then gives you a suggestive kiss on her doorstep before declaring how tired she is and how she has to be up early the next day. 2) A cock tease.

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