The first match at the new look Wembley will not now take place until 2007, the English FA has confirmed.

Three England matches and the Community Shield planned for the new stadium in the autumn will now be played at alternative venues.

The first match likely to be played at the new Wembley is now going to be England's friendly against as yet unconfirmed opposition in February 2007

That will be some nine months after the original proposed opening match - this year's FA Cup final on May 13th.

England's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Andorra on September 2nd and Macedonia on October 7th, as well as an England friendly on August 16th and the FA Community Shield on August 13th will also be played elsewhere.

Builders Multiplex announced today that it hoped most of the remaining work on the 90,000 seat venue would be completed by the end of the June. However, the firm said it was entitled to a further extension under the terms of its contract in order to put the finishing touches to the project.

This would extend the completion date until at least the end of September - a year later than the original deadline.

An FA statement on Wembley said: "Further to recent meetings with Multiplex and Wembley National Stadium Limited (WNSL), it is clear that the construction of Wembley Stadium is significantly behind schedule. . .

". . . we do not want to set deadlines on when the stadium will open and be faced with the constant speculation surrounding this as we approach individual fixtures. Therefore, we believe it is important that we are transparent with our plans.

"The FA is taking the prudent measure of booking new venues for all of our fixtures until the year end. The fixtures will be played at alternative venues which will be publicly announced by the FA once they are confirmed.

"The FA and WNSL continue to meet with banks and other key stakeholders to discuss the current status of the project and ensure we have the appropriate plans in place moving forward." PA