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| Manchester City - Premier League title winners 2013/14 |
THE WORLD CUP countdown can begin in earnest following the last game of the domestic season as Fleetwood Town beat Burton Albion 1-0 at Wembley in the League Two playoff final.
Lancastrians Fleetwood secured a sixth promotion in nine years thanks to Antoni Sarcevic's 75th-minute free-kick, and the Cod Army will play in League One for the first time ever from August.
At the other end of the scale, the biggest winner domestically this year was Manchester City, who overhauled Liverpool in the closing weeks for a second league title in three seasons.
And, at long last, there was joy for Arsenal who ended a nine-year trophy drought with a fine comeback in the FA Cup Final from 2-0 down against Hull City. The Gunners eventually won 3-2 in extra time thanks to Aaron Ramsey's goal.
Leicester City stormed the Championship and were promoted alongside surprise package Burnley, while Queens Park Rangers made it through the playoffs thanks to Bobby Zamora's last minute goal against Derby County.
Wolverhampton Wanderers won League One to keep their sojourn at the third level down to one season - but the other two promoted sides have waited rather longer.
Runners-up Brentford will play at Championship-level for the first time since 1993, and playoff winners Rotherham United for the first time since 2005 after they beat unlucky Leyton Orient 4-3 on penalties having come back from 2-0 down.
Chesterfield won League Two from Scunthorpe United with third-placed Rochdale also promoted and the aforementioned Fleetwood joining them through the playoffs.
But rock-bottom Torquay United dropped out of the Football League for a second time in the last seven years.
The more shocking news, though, came from the Memorial Stadium where Bristol Rovers were relegated to the Conference for the first time ever.
And the Conference is an unforgiving division as Luton Town have discovered with the Hatters only finally promoted this year after enduring five seasons in the fifth flight.
Cambridge United, meanwhile, had to wait even longer - nine years - before a 2-1 win over Gateshead in the playoffs restored their Football League status last week.
In Scotland, the three big prizes went to three different clubs. Celtic unsurprisingly won the Premier League by a distance, but it was St Johnstone who won the FA Cup - for the first time ever - by beating Dundee United.
Earlier, Aberdeen had beaten Inverness Caledonian Thistle on penalties to win the League Cup for their first major trophy in 18 years.
But Hearts, who began the season with a 15-point deduction for going into administration, could not haul back their deficit and were comfortably relegated to the Championship.
There, they will face League One champions Rangers next season - and, incredibly, Hearts' Edinburgh rivals Hibernian joined them too.
The Hibees finished second bottom in the league but had seemed to gain a reprieve by taking a 2-0 lead in the away leg of their relegation playoff against Hamilton Academical.
At Easter Road yesterday, though, it all went wrong. Hamilton forced an equaliser with a last-minute goal from Anthony Andreu and then joined champions Dundee in the top flight by winning 4-3 on penalties.
In Wales and Northern Ireland, The New Saints and Cliftonville defended their respective titles with TNS going on to win the Double by beating Aberystwyth Town 3-2 in the Welsh Cup Final. Glenavon won the Irish Cup by the same score against Ballymena United.
A rather bigger occasion in Lisbon saw Real Madrid win La Decima - a 10th European Cup - as they beat city rivals Atlético after extra time.
Sadly, the eventual scoreline did not do justice at all to Atléti who had led the final until the dying seconds of normal time thanks to Diego Godín's first half header after a misjudgement by Real captain Iker Casillas.
But, with their last attack of the game, Real equalised through a pinpoint Sergio Ramos header from a Luka Modric corner.
Atléti hung on until half time in extra time - but they were unable to change the momentum of the game and Gareth Bale gave Real the lead by nodding in the rebound from Angel di Maria's saved shot.
Real then harshly added two late goals to the final score, with Marcelo's strike in the 118th minute and Ronaldo's record 17th goal of the tournament coming from the penalty spot. 4-1 to Real.
Los Rojiblancos can at least console themselves with a first La Liga title since 1996 - although none of the other major league winners in Europe can be considered much of a surprise.
Overall, La Liga in Spain still remains the most powerful top division.
As well as the Madrid derby in the Champions League final, Sevilla won a third Europa League in eight years, beating Benfica on penalties after a 0-0 draw in a match which was much more open than the score suggests.
That was Benfica's eighth consecutive defeat in UEFA finals, a sequence which stretches back to 1962 and the days of Eusebio. The curse of Bela Guttman had struck again.
ENGLAND
Premier League
Champions Manchester City
Runners-up Liverpool
Champions League Chelsea, Arsenal
Europa League Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Hull City
Relegation Norwich City, Fulham, Cardiff City
Championship
Champions Leicester City
Runners-up Burnley
Playoff winners Queens Park Rangers (beat Derby County 1-0 in the Final)
Relegation Doncaster Rovers, Barnsley, Yeovil Town
League One
Champions Wolverhampton Wanderers
Runners-up Brentford
Playoff winners Leyton Orient or Rotherham United
Relegation Tranmere Rovers, Carlisle United, Shrewsbury Town, Stevenage
League Two
Champions Chesterfield
Runners-up Scunthorpe United
Also promoted Rochdale
Playoff winners Fleetwood Town or Burton Albion
Relegation Bristol Rovers, Torquay United
Conference Premier
Champions Luton Town
Playoff winners Cambridge United (beat Gateshead 2-1 in the Final)
Relegation Chester, Dartford, Tamworth, Hyde
Conference North
Champions AFC Telford United
Playoff winners Altrincham (beat Guiseley 2-1 in the Final)
Relegation Oxford City, Histon, Workington
Conference South
Champions Eastleigh
Playoff winners Dover Athletic (beat Ebbsfleet United 1-0 in the Final)
Relegation AFC Hornchurch, Billericay Town, Truro City
Domestic Cup Finals
All matches played at Wembley
FA Cup Final Arsenal 3-2 Hull City (after extra time)
League Cup Final Manchester City 3-1 Sunderland
FA Community Shield Manchester United 2-0 Wigan Athletic
Johnstone's Paint Trophy Peterborough United 3-1 Chesterfield
FA Trophy Cambridge United 4-0 Gosport Borough
FA Vase Sholing 1-0 West Auckland Town
SCOTLAND
Premier League
Champions Celtic
Runners-up Motherwell
Europa League Motherwell, Aberdeen, St Johnstone
Relegation Hearts, Hibernian
Championship
Champions Dundee
Runners-up (promoted) Hamilton Academical
Relegation Morton
League One
Champions Rangers
Runners-up (not promoted) Dunfermline Athletic (lost 1-4 on agg to Cowdenbeath)
Relegation Arbroath, East Fife
League Two
Champions Peterhead
Also promoted Stirling Albion (beat East Fife 3-2 on agg)
Runners-up (not promoted) Annan Athletic (lost 4-8 on agg to East Fife)
Domestic Cup Finals
FA Cup Final St Johnstone 2-0 Dundee United
League Cup Final Aberdeen 0-0 Inverness Caledonian Thistle (after extra time). Aberdeen won 4-2 on penalties.
Challenge Cup Final Raith Rovers 1-0 Rangers
WALES/NORTHERN IRELAND
Welsh Premier League
Champions The New Saints
Europa League Airbus UK Broughton (runners-up), Aberystwyth Town (Cup runners-up), Bangor City (playoff winners)
Relegation Afan Lido
NIFL Premiership
Champions Cliftonville
Europa League Linfield (runners-up), Crusaders (third place), Glenavon (Cup winners)
Relegation Ards
Domestic Cup Finals
Welsh FA Cup Final The New Saints 3-2 Aberystwyth Town
Welsh League Cup Final Carmarthen Town 0-0 Bala Town (after extra time). Carmarthen Town won 3-1 on pens.
IFA Cup Final Glenavon 2-1 Ballymena United
Northern Irish League Cup Final Cliftonville 0-0 Crusaders (after extra time). Cliftonville won 3-2 on pens.
EUROPE
UEFA Finals
Champions League Real Madrid (Spa) 4-1 Atlético Madrid (Spa) after extra time
Europa League Sevilla (Spa) 0-0 Benfica (Por) after extra time. Sevilla won 4-2 on pens.
Super Cup Bayern Munich (Ger) 2-2 Chelsea (Eng) after extra time. Bayern Munich won 5-4 on pens.
Major European League champions
Spain Atlético Madrid
Italy Juventus
Germany Bayern Munich
France Paris Saint-Germain
Portugal Benfica
Netherlands Ajax Amsterdam
Belgium Anderlecht
Greece Olympiacos
Turkey Fenerbahçe
THE SEASON 2013/14
17.08 Preview: All change at the top
23.09 Mackems ditch Di Canio
05.11 Arsenal stride five points clear
22.12 Tyneside full of festive cheer
04.01 FA Cup Third Round features North London clash
04.02 Arsenal lead a three-horse race
14.04 Title tilts towards Anfield
27.04 Go ahead, Gateshead
12.05 Manchester City surface first
17.05 Comeback ends Arsenal drought (stats only)
19.05 Heed just fall short
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