FA Cup draw

[Nolongerathletic]

3 hours ago, an tha said:

It is a cert to stay at Wembley IMHO

 

Runours the cheats are laying on 50 coaches for their fans - must be offering seats as beds!

Was never going to be any other outcome..."Yes, of course, we hear your plight, but that doesn't mean we have to listen"

 

I imagine they laughed at those letters from the Mayors...all be forgotten about etc, common approach these days to not only sport..

 

If fans were to boycott....nah...not happening...

[an tha]

57 minutes ago, Nolongerathletic said:

Was never going to be any other outcome..."Yes, of course, we hear your plight, but that doesn't mean we have to listen"

 

I imagine they laughed at those letters from the Mayors...all be forgotten about etc, common approach these days to not only sport..

 

If fans were to boycott....nah...not happening...

I see the Labour party have asked for it to be moved too now.

[Scott_M]

[Caramac]

[Truered]

The Football Association is to provide 100 free buses for fans attending the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Manchester City at Wembley.

Fans of both clubs and mayors of the respective cities had asked for a venue change given no trains are running from either city to London that weekend.

However, the game, being shown live on BBC One, will go ahead at Wembley on Saturday, 16 April at 15:30 BST.

"Unessential roadworks" will also be paused to aid journeys, the FA said.

The FA has also promised "a number of free return bus services" for Manchester City fans attending the Women's FA Cup semi-final away to West Ham at 12:15 BST earlier that day.

Unlike the men's semi-finals, which are both held at Wembley each season, the women's semis are not held at a neutral venue.

[Kevin D]

What a compromise.

[Pete]

10 minutes ago, Truered said:

The Football Association is to provide 100 free buses for fans attending the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Manchester City at Wembley.

Fans of both clubs and mayors of the respective cities had asked for a venue change given no trains are running from either city to London that weekend.

However, the game, being shown live on BBC One, will go ahead at Wembley on Saturday, 16 April at 15:30 BST.

"Unessential roadworks" will also be paused to aid journeys, the FA said.

The FA has also promised "a number of free return bus services" for Manchester City fans attending the Women's FA Cup semi-final away to West Ham at 12:15 BST earlier that day.

Unlike the men's semi-finals, which are both held at Wembley each season, the women's semis are not held at a neutral venue.

Yay for the FA. Always on the side of the fans. 
 

[TD_LFC]

Can we use the 85 buses City won't need?

[Reckoner]

9 minutes ago, Truered said:

The Football Association is to provide 100 free buses for fans attending the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Manchester City at Wembley.

Fans of both clubs and mayors of the respective cities had asked for a venue change given no trains are running from either city to London that weekend.

However, the game, being shown live on BBC One, will go ahead at Wembley on Saturday, 16 April at 15:30 BST.

"Unessential roadworks" will also be paused to aid journeys, the FA said.

The FA has also promised "a number of free return bus services" for Manchester City fans attending the Women's FA Cup semi-final away to West Ham at 12:15 BST earlier that day.

Unlike the men's semi-finals, which are both held at Wembley each season, the women's semis are not held at a neutral venue.

It’s a half decent gesture, but totally misses the point that it’s not the cost of transport that is the main issue, it’s the horrendous traffic. And what the fuck are non essential roadworks taking place for anyway? 
On the other hand I’m fairly sure they are contractually obliged to hold them at Wembley as terms of the new stadium funding at the time it was built.
At least it’s not a 12.30 kick off!

[Reckoner]

City have requested only this- Reuters

[an tha]

Money before fans....every single time.

[Scott_M]

It was always going to be at Wembley on the Saturday, there was no other workable scenario. This piss bollocking about has only made the whole scenario more annoying.

[Barrington Womble]

Is 16th not an EFL fixture day then? I'm surprised they've got a 3.30KO there. 

 

Not arsed about the coaches. I can't think of anything much worse than being crammed on some shit coach for about 10 or 12 hours in one day. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for it. Maybe drive and stay a night or two. But that's a fucking shite solution for Easter while the kids are off. 

 

The real problem is the fixture being at Easter. Fucking shite. 

[Vincent Vega]

12 minutes ago, Barrington Womble said:

Is 16th not an EFL fixture day then? I'm surprised they've got a 3.30KO there. 

 

Not arsed about the coaches. I can't think of anything much worse than being crammed on some shit coach for about 10 or 12 hours in one day. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for it. Maybe drive and stay a night or two. But that's a fucking shite solution for Easter while the kids are off. 

 

The real problem is the fixture being at Easter. Fucking shite. 

EFL games are taking place on Good Friday and Easter Monday, so not an issue for this.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

20 hours ago, Nolongerathletic said:

Was never going to be any other outcome..."Yes, of course, we hear your plight, but that doesn't mean we have to listen"

 

I imagine they laughed at those letters from the Mayors...all be forgotten about etc, common approach these days to not only sport..

 

If fans were to boycott....nah...not happening...

The FA are like Homer Simpson.

"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand."

[Pete]

45 minutes ago, AngryOfTuebrook said:

The FA are like Homer Simpson.

"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand."

“If something is hard to do, it’s not worth doing” also comes to mind. 

[halewood pete]

[Reckoner]

44 minutes ago, Pete said:

“If something is hard to do, it’s not worth doing” also comes to mind. 

See also

 

Stupidity got us into this mess, and stupidity will get us out.

And

Weaseling out of things is important to learn; it’s what separates people like the FA from the animals… except the weasal

[Scott_M]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

“If something is hard to do, it’s not worth doing” also comes to mind. 

I abide by the “To Alcohol… the cause and solution to all life’s problems” motto.

[Strontium]

Ultimately the blame lies with whichever cretin decided engineering works should be done on one of the busiest weekends of the year.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

8 minutes ago, Strontium said:

Ultimately the blame lies with whichever cretin decided engineering works should be done on one of the busiest weekends of the year.

It's not the busiest on the railway, though. They always run reduced services on Bank Holidays and they always schedule engineering works when there are fewer trains to disrupt.

[aws]

Easter weekend is a stupid weekend to host semis at Wembley.  

[Scott_M]

15 minutes ago, Strontium said:

Ultimately the blame lies with whichever cretin decided engineering works should be done on one of the busiest weekends of the year.

They announced the works 2 years in advance. The FA should have known.
 

Let’s face it, there is a decent 50% chance a side from the North West would be playing. 

[Bernard Diomede]

They should have just switched the league and cup games round as there was only a week in between. But that would have been far to fucking sensible. 

[dockers_strike]

Our captain has spoken.

 

Jordan Henderson has criticised the Football Association for failing supporters with scheduling for the FA Cup semi-finals and believes Wembley should only host the final.  

 

The FA resisted calls to relocate next month’s tie between Manchester City and Liverpool but have moved the kick-off forward and will provide 100 free buses for fans to help ease the threat of travel chaos.

 

Fans of both clubs in addition to the mayors of the respective cities had called for the game to be switched to a different venue given that there are no trains running from either Manchester or Liverpool to London on the weekend of the match.

 

“It’s the fans’ day and not being able to get down to London for different reasons, in my head it would make sense to change it to a [different] neutral venue, especially with it being two teams from the North West,” said Henderson, the Liverpool captain. 

 

“There’s obviously complications within that I’m sure, which the FA have got to overcome, but looking at the fans, which is the most important thing and something that we’ve learnt over the past couple of years, it is really disappointing to see that it’s a struggle, and it’s got to be expensive for them to get there. 

 

“I love playing at Wembley. It’s a fantastic occasion, a fantastic stadium. But I would like to keep Wembley for finals.” Despite pressure to change the venue to minimise the financial and logistical impact on supporters, the FA confirmed on Friday that the tie will go ahead at Wembley on Saturday April 16.

 

However, the governing body have announced a raft of measures that they hope will ease the burden on fans. They include: 

• The provision of 100 buses to ferry up to 5,000 City and Liverpool supporters from the Etihad Stadium and Anfield to Wembley and back free of charge
• Hundreds of miles of non essential roadworks being put on hold to aid journey times
• Kick-off time brought forward from its usual 5.15pm slot on Saturday to 3.30pm to assist with travel back to the North West and ensure City fans can also watch their women’s team’s semi-final earlier in the day.

With only three Premier League matches and none in the Championship, League One or League Two due to kick-off at 3pm on April 16, the FA are not contravening English football’s so-called “3pm blackout” by televising the Cup semi-final at 3.30pm. The game will be shown live on BBC One.

 

Article 48 of the Uefa statutes permits games to be broadcast at such time in instances where there are so few matches kicking off at 3pm.

The 3pm blackout has been in place since the 1960s and is there primarily to prevent attendances dropping off at games outside the top flight if they were scheduled at the same time as live matches. 

In addition to police, security, club and broadcaster considerations, the FA felt an earlier kick-off would further help to reduce possible travel complications as a result of no trains running between Manchester/Liverpool and London.

 

It will also ensure City fans are still able to watch the women’s team’s own semi-final against West Ham at Dagenham and Redbridge’s Chigwell Construction Stadium, which is due to kick off at 12.15pm. The FA will also provide a number of free return bus services between Manchester and east London for City supporters for that match. 

Buses chartered and roadworks rescheduled

The governing body said they recognised the “significant challenges” being faced by Liverpool and City supporters and were “pleased” to able to charter 100 buses to assist travel to and from the game. 

The FA said they had also been working with partners at National Highways to minimise disruption on the road networks given the shortage of train services. “Hundreds of miles of unessential roadworks will be put on hold to help supporters enjoy the occasion and enhance their journeys,” the FA said. 

 

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and his counterpart in Liverpool, Steve Rotheram, had written to the FA to call for the game to be moved from Wembley.

 

With petrol prices soaring and no trains meaning more congestion on the roads and the prospect of some fans having to book overnight accommodation, Burnham and Rotheram told the FA that fans faced “excessive cost and inconvenience”.

 

The FA had been warned of the potential for traffic chaos for the semi-finals six months ago, with the engineering works scheduled as far back as 2019. The FA said European fixture considerations were a factor behind the decision to play the Cup semi-finals on Easter weekend and pointed out that engineering works are also scheduled for April 9/10 and April 23/24.

 

The other semi-final, between Chelsea and Crystal Palace, will be shown live on ITV on Sunday April 17 at 4.30pm.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/03/25/jordan-henderson-fa-has-failed-fans-cup-semi-final-wembley/