It’s that time again folks! Yes, it’s approaching FA Cup semi-finals day, so we now have to rant on for a while about how unfair life is when you’re just a poor little northern team having to play one of those rich teams from that big place, in that big place, at their home big place!
The draw for the semi-finals of the FA Cup has been made and the two London clubs have been kept apart. No real surprise there! Do they have any other advantages over their opponents which would make them favourites to progress to the final?
Well, for a start, there is very little travelling involved for them as, thanks to absolutely ludicrous judgement by the FA yet again, both games will be played at Wembley. This is the first problem for Manchester United and Southampton who can hardly be held responsible for the FA spending far more than their budget when building the new Wembley and, consequently, needing to play as many games there as possible just to get their money back.
According to The Evening Standard, at the current rate, the debt will be paid off by the end of 2024. So that was a good deal then!
The fans of the two clubs can consider themselves blameless as well, yet it is they who will have to fork out a fortune to travel to London and back by whatever expensive means possible, pay an arm for drinks then a leg for food. Not to mention the ticket prices they already had to pay before leaving home.
If their team actually manages to overcome the obstacle of playing a London team in London, they have the prospect of having to do it all again for the final. As they say, at least Dick Turpin wore a mask, what is the FA’s excuse.
Tottenham beat Swansea at The Liberty and are rewarded with a home semi-final against Manchester United!
The second, and most important factor, is that the game between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United is actually a home game for Spurs. As everybody is aware, the club is building a brand new version of White Hart Lane and is currently housed at Wembley so, for them, this is a home game.
Anybody thinking differently is deluded. Tottenham Hotspur have played fifteen league games at Wembley this season and have only lost one, having drawn four and won ten. That is decent home form and proves that they should not be playing an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. How can a club which will has played fifteen league games plus four Champion’s League and, including this semi-final, three FA Cup games be classed as playing at a neutral ground? This will be their 22nd game of the season at Wembley! Manchester United have played there ONCE!
So basically all United have to do is play Spurs away from home and beat them to play another game in London!
It is little wonder that the FA Cup has lost most of it’s sparkle when it is governed by idiots for the benefit, in the main, of people who live in and around the London area. Any semi-final involving clubs from Manchester and London should be played in Birmingham. Simple. Why does the FA find that so difficult to work out?
The other semi-final should also be held away from the capital at a ground somewhere between London and Southampton. It isn’t rocket science but we here at WSA are beginning to believe that the FA is run by mentally retarded baboons with a collective IQ of seven! Obviously they are all London based and all will have free entry to both semi-finals with the minimum of travelling involved. Talk about jobs for the boys!
Based on the evidence previously presented, the two London clubs will be favourites to reach the final given that they are both playing IN LONDON and one of them is even playing AT HOME.
Nemanja Matic – Scoring United’s second against Brighton to book an away trip to Spurs in the semi-final
The only way these games could be made any less fair would be to move the Chelsea-Southampton tie to Stamford Bridge, a thought which probably occurred to the FA suits for a fleeting instant, but was disregarded because it didn’t make them as much money!
So to finally answer the question raised by the headline; yes, Manchester United can overcome massive London bias and beat Spurs, as they have done in the past but, if they do, it will still go down as the most unfair FA Cup semi-final of all time and the chances of Southampton beating Chelsea are slim, even with Mark Hughes now in charge.
With all the odds stacked massively against the two clubs from outside London, it might just be worth a small bet on them reaching the final and wouldn’t we just love it if they did! They should then negotiate to play the final anywhere but Wembley!
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 