You don’t give sweet FA about fans... spirit of the Cup has been lost by this shambles
I HAVE one word for the FA’s handling of the FA Cup semi-finals… shambles.
It makes my blood boil that they are so tone deaf to the needs of supporters, they really seem to think a few free bus places is enough of a response from them to the traffic chaos they have created.
To put on 100 buses for Manchester City and Liverpool fans to get to Wembley is at best cynical... at worst, well, it’s taking the p***.
Let’s be straight about this. That’s 5,000 supporters at most.
Much less than 10 per cent of the 65,000 who will have to use the motorway network on one of the busiest bank holiday weekends of the year – because there are no trains.
And Wembley is, of course, a ‘public transport destination’, so there is virtually no parking when 25,000-plus cars will be heading to north London.
The FA have known for two years that the West Coast rail line would be down for repairs, they’ve been in consultation with the rail network since last September.
Yet no contingency plans in case there are teams from the North West, no consultation with supporters’ groups, no common sense.
If we’re going to be brutally honest here, it’s all about money.
It cost the FA £1billion to build the new Wembley and they’re still paying off the debt now, so they think they need the cash.
But I’m certain if they held talks with Liverpool and City, they’d waive their profits from the competition if the game was switched to make up any shortfall.
So why not discuss that idea?
Why not look to make up any shortfall with other revenue streams, such as concerts or special events?
And no one seems to be saying this, but we’re in a World Cup year.
Which means a
massive income
boost for the FA. Surely, if there was going to be one year when they could actually listen to fans and do the right thing for them, then this was it?
That’s the other thing which makes my blood boil.
When there was the whole European Super League fiasco, there was so much lip service paid to ‘putting the fans first’ from the
authorities, who feared missing out. Now, when it matters, the fans are put last. It’s shameful.
I love the FA Cup, I’ve had some of my proudest moments in the competition.
And I actually believe that the FA are devaluing the competition by playing the semi-finals at Wembley.
It should be all about the final, the oldest cup competition in the world, played in the legendary ‘home of football’. It should mean something to get there.
By playing the semis there, it removes the romance, makes it less special, more mundane.
Liverpool and Chelsea could go to Wembley three (or even four) times this year, and that devalues the whole experience.
And they wonder why the FA Cup isn’t as revered as it once was, isn’t quite so special.
There is nothing wrong with a neutral venue away from Wembley for the semis.
I had some of my greatest games in FA Cup semi-finals at Old Trafford and Villa Park.
Liverpool have had some of their best moments in history at those venues.
I scored twice at Old Trafford in the 1996 semi-final, and a goal I won’t ever forget in the 2001 semi at Villa Park.
People always ask me which was the best of those three goals, most usually citing either the volley against Villa or the free-kick against Wycombe.
But, funnily enough, it is the diving header, the first against Villa, which is my favourite (left, celebrating after), because that was a proper striker’s goal.
They are great memories. Special memories.
For me and the supporters who were there.
Better, I believe, than if the games had been played at Wembley because the atmosphere was more intimate and heightened.
I only hope the fans at the semi-final this time can have similar memories.
And not just nightmares about log jams on the M6 and M1.