Southampton qualify for Europa League: Arsenal FA Cup victory means Saints reach Europe for second time in 30 years

Southampton finished seventh in the Premier League and needed Arsenal to win the FA Cup to reach Europe

Ronald Koeman and Southampton could clinch a Europa League place (Getty Images)

Arsenal's victory means Southampton qualify for Europe for only the second time in 30 years. With the Gunners having already reached the Champions League by virtue of their league position, their Europa League spot for winning the FA Cup goes to the next highest-placed Premier League side – Southampton, who finished seventh.

Ronald Koeman’s side will enter next season’s competition at the third qualifying round, playing their first leg on 30 July.

They join Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham – who qualified via Uefa's fair play league - as England’s representative’s in next season’s Europa League.

This is the second time in 12 years in which an Arsenal FA Cup victory has sent Southampton into Europe. The 2003 success for Wenger’s side, against Gordon Strachan’s Southampton in

Cardiff, sent the South Coast side into the Uefa Cup as losing finalists – before this season’s rule change reverted the place to League positions.