Get ready for the usual sting. If Manchester United can find a way to beat Chelsea, (which seems unlikely with two donkeys like Smalling and Young in the team), what is the betting that their next FA Cup game will be against Manchester City?
There is a force at work somewhere which endeavours to ensure that these two teams never meet in the final.
It may be that they want a London team in the final and one way of making sure of that is to have Tottenham play Arsenal in the semi-final. Guess what that would mean? Correct, City would play United in the other semi.
Should the unthinkable happen and the two Manchester clubs avoid each other in the next round then there is the possibility that they could meet, for the first time ever, in the FA Cup final. If that happens, then the game does not need to be played at Wembley.
There is no need to drag the long suffering Northerners down to rip-off London for a game of football. They can stay fairly local and play at Anfield, which would make much more sense.
Obviously, if the expected happens and they meet in the semi, then one or the other will not be present for the final. This would mean that a London club was involved so there would now be no way that the game should be played at Wembley.
What if Spurs reach the final? It would be a home game for them. It’s bad enough that the game is played in London to start with, without handing the London clubs the massive advantage that comes with it.
Now, of course, even the semi-finals are at Wembley, so the FA can rip off the punters three times, as can the hoteliers, the bars, the restaurants, British Rail, Stagecoach, Virgin Trains and any other company involved in any way whatsoever with catering for the poor suckers who, once again, have to kow-tow to the overlords down South.
It is no wonder that there is a North/South divide when you take into consideration that the South does absolutely nothing to assist or help the North, either in sport or economically. It is like a marriage where “what’s the Souths is the Souths and what’s the Norths is the Souths as well“. It is a disgraceful state of affairs.
It will never change of course. As long as there are enough “Northerners” prepared to put up with this derogatory treatment and hand over their hard earned cash to the spivs and the conmen, as long as there are enough “Southern Northerners“, who can’t find a Premier League team to support in London, even though there are five of them, (six if you includeWatford), and as long as the FA have a massive debt to repay on the stadium. No it won’t change but it would be nice if, for once in football, the fans voted with their feet by not going.
How many FA Cup finals would then be played at Wembley? If people from outside of London refused to go then it would make all the difference. Games not involving London clubs would be played much nearer home meaning less travel, no overnight stays and, therefore, less money needing to be spent. This, in turn, would make these games more affordable for more people to attend. So it would certainly be a win situation for the fans.
They just don’t seem to realise it and will, no doubt, turn out in their thousands to support their team even though they know it is inherently wrong, particularly in the case of the semi-finals, to always play these games in London.
(Update: As you will now all be aware, Chelsea beat United with a little help from referee, Jimmy Clitheroe, so the United/City issue isn’t a problem. It means that three London clubs will be at home in the semi-final and at least one of them will be at home in the final, that’s our fair game of football folks!)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 