England earn extra place in UEFA Cup

LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - An additional English club will qualify for next season's UEFA Cup after England topped Europe's Fair Play rankings, UEFA said on Friday.

The spot in the first qualifying round will go to the highest-placed team in the Premier League's own fair play chart who have not already secured European football next season.

Manchester City are currently fifth but the four teams above them -- Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal -- have all booked places in Europe.

Everton and relegation-threatened Fulham are sixth and seventh respectively in the fair play standings going into Sunday's 38th and final round of league games.

Everton can guarantee a UEFA Cup place by avoiding defeat against Newcastle United and will qualify even if the lose should Aston Villa fail to beat West Ham United.

The Fair Play competition run by European soccer's governing body for the 2007-08 season ended on April 30.

UEFA DRAW

Seven other national associations -- Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Spain and France -- go into a draw for two other UEFA Cup spots after finishing with a coefficient equal to or higher than 8.0 in the rankings.

The draw will be made next Tuesday, the day before this year's UEFA Cup final between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg which is being staged at Manchester City's stadium.

UEFA's Fair Play competition is based on assessments made by its delegates at domestic and international matches.

The coefficient is based on several criteria such as positive play, respect of opponents and officials plus crowd behaviour as well as cautions and dismissals.

England will now have four representatives in the UEFA Cup next season -- Tottenham , who qualified by winning the League Cup, Everton or Aston Villa by coming fifth, and the winners of the FA Cup final between Portsmouth and Cardiff City.

Manchester City qualified for the UEFA Cup through the Fair Play league in 2003 when they lost in the second round.

(Editing by Ken Ferris)