When is Steven Gerrard's final Liverpool game following FA Cup exit?

Aston Villa end Hollywood ending the Reds skipper

Steven Gerrard at Wembley (GETTY IMAGES)

The stage was set for a Hollywood ending to Steven Gerrard's Liverpool career - an FA Cup final at Wembley on his 35th birthday.

But Aston Villa hadn't read the script and ended dreams of such a finale by winning 2-1 in Sunday's FA Cup semi-final.

Philippe Coutinho looked to have put Liverpool on course for a meeting with Arsenal next month, but Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph responded for the Villains to dump Liverpool out.

So Gerrard won't bring the curtain down on his 17-year Liverpool career at the national stadium - but will instead do it in the rather less illustrious surroundings of the Britannia Stadium.

A view of the Britannia Stadium, home of Stoke City (GETTY IMAGES)

Liverpool's final fixture of the season is away at Stoke, which means Gerrard's final match in front of masses of Liverpool fans will come the weekend before in the club's final home match of the campaign against Crystal Palace.