Fergie thinks it’s nonsense, but do the fans agree?
Sir Alex Ferguson has reproved the decision to host this season’s FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley, in lieu of travelling “chaos” and financial outlay fans of the four northern participants will face. United’s fans are unlikely to be affected by Ferguson’s concerns, seeing as the majority of them are based in the Capital, but the Scot’s suggestion that a Manchester derby to decide an FA Cup finalist should take place at Anfield provides a farcical alternative. Albeit Ferguson proposed Villa Park as a secondary option, I would feel personally disappointed as a Stoke City or Bolton fan to relinquish a rare trip to Wembley due to travelling costs which are incurred on most Premier League weekends.
A growing concern amongst a number of fans and pundits alike is the fading ‘magic’ of England’s oldest Cup competition. In my view, the recent hosting of FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley have preserved at least some of the tournament’s gloss, as they have provided a handful of smaller clubs a unique opportunity to perform for up to 90,000 spectators in one of the world’s most recognisable venues. Barnsley fans may have been similarly content to feature in a semi-final at say Old Trafford in 2008, but the opportunity to feature at a stadium of Wembley’s prestige, however recently developed, occurs quite literally once in a lifetime for a club of that calibre.
Staging three FA Cup ties a season instead of one increases the odds for small clubs to realise such a unique opportunity, and certainly improves their chances of causing an upset as Portsmouth proved last season in beating Spurs. A regular reappearance at Wembley seems implausible for both Stoke and Bolton fans, but it is understandable that Ferguson, who has led his team out on eight occasions since the stadium re-opened in 2007, feels aggrieved at the heightened importance of such a fixture with a tense culmination of United’s Premier League and European challenges also occupying his thoughts.
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It is possible that Ferguson is attempting to alleviate some of the pressure on his squad and undermine the progress Roberto Mancini has made since his instalment as City manager. I have no doubt that City will be competing with their neighbours on all fronts before long, but next month’s semi-final affords the Sky Blues a first return to Wembley since the 1999 Second Division Play-Off Final. Two injury-time goals thrust City towards what is now referred to as the Championship just four days after their rivals had completed an unprecedented European treble with two stoppage-time goals of their own. The difference in stature provides evidence of just how far City have advanced since the turn of the century, as they are presently able to entice World Cup winning stars to a state-of-the-art 50,000 capacity stadium.
The chance to showcase that wealth of talent at Wembley and the incentive to humiliate their neighbouring adversary in front of a global audience should not be undermined by Ferguson. For City, April 16th provides a glimpse at the rewards their extensive and expensive project will soon repeatedly reap and the prospect of ratifying the Abu Dhabi regime against United at Wembley is an occasion no amount of Ferguson mind-games will dampen.
Football fans are susceptible to travel ‘chaos’ each and every weekend, but no supporter would dispute Wembley as a destination whether as a semi-final or show-piece venue. It is worth remembering that Ferguson refrained from similar rambling when, in 2008, fans of Manchester United and Chelsea embarked on a round-trip of over 3,000 miles to see their teams compete in the Champions’ League Final in Moscow. Perhaps on that occasion UEFA could have taken the logical step to re-locate the match to Birmingham’s St Andrew’s Stadium to allay Ferguson’s fear that supporters spend too much money following their clubs, but somehow I suspect the supporters would not have concurred.
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