Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Stu on April 14, 2011, 07:27:38 PM
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Should FA Cup semi's be played at that utter nail of a stadium?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/apr/14/fa-cup-semi-final-wembley
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Semi finals should be at neutral stadiums ie Old Trafford/Anfield/Emirates/Villa Park depending on who is playing in the match.
The only reason the semi's are at Wembley is the FA clawing back some of the millions they wasted in back handers during it's construction. ::)
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Neutral venues for semi finals were part of the magic of the cup.
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No way should semis be played at wembley. There is 3 North West teams that have to come all the way down .
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no
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No.
One of the nails in the coffin of a once-great competition.
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It's decisions like this that make you realise that the F.A really have'nt got a clue about football.
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In a word NO
Villa Park & Hillsborough are where semi's should be played
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In a word NO
Villa Park & Hillsborough are where semi's should be played
Hillsborough? How many times have you been there? It is an unsafe shithole.
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No way should they be at Wembley. It should go on the geography of who is in the semis. Old Trafford or Eastlands are large enough up North, Villa Park in Midlands and Emirates in the South. Those venues could deal with whoever is in the semis and mean lots less travelling for the majority of fans.
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Of course semi finals should be on neutral grounds but its all about money.
Wembley should be reserved strictly for Cup Finals and England Internationals. Oh and the Horse of the Year Show and the Empire Games.
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The FA bloke was patronising in the extreme, unsurprisingly.
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NO
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Oi! That's MY nail of a stadium you're referring to...
And no, semis should not be played down here, we can just about cope with knobhead football supporters for finals.
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In an ideal world, Villa Park wouldn't be a neutral venue.
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To be fair its the biggest venue and gives more fans a chance to see the games, I would have made the Chelsea semi last year in a smaller ground. Also everyone moaned about the old venue so the FA went out and built a large modern ground. This needs to be paid for hence the semis at Wembley. Sometimes people moan for the sake of moaning - I blame the daily Mail
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This one again.
Fills a few column inches and the FA still get their money. Only a fans boycott will make the FA think twice and that is never going to happen. FA Cup semi finals are now a permanent fixture at Wembley and always will be.
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I'd rather play semi's somewhere else, Takes the shine off getting to Wembley if you've already been
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This one again.
Fills a few column inches and the FA still get their money. Only a fans boycott will make the FA think twice and that is never going to happen. FA Cup semi finals are now a permanent fixture at Wembley and always will be.
This. The only way the FA can pay off Wembley is to use it. They will never go neutral again. Shame.
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To be fair its the biggest venue and gives more fans a chance to see the games, I would have made the Chelsea semi last year in a smaller ground. Also everyone moaned about the old venue so the FA went out and built a large modern ground. This needs to be paid for hence the semis at Wembley. Sometimes people moan for the sake of moaning - I blame the daily Mail
And some people moan because Wembley cost too muchm, it was built in the wrong place and wasn't really needed at all.
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The "more fans can see the game" line is pathetic, all the footballing authorities care about is raking in the cash.
The wants and desires of supporters and the history of the competition come way behind the financial factor.
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The "more fans can see the game" line is pathetic, all the footballing authorities care about is raking in the cash.
The wants and desires of supporters and the history of the competition come way behind the financial factor.
The tickets for the final have gone this year.
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No way should they be at Wembley. It should go on the geography of who is in the semis. Old Trafford or Eastlands are large enough up North, Villa Park in Midlands and Emirates in the South. Those venues could deal with whoever is in the semis and mean lots less travelling for the majority of fans.
So if they aren't travelling south - where would you play city united this weekend? Newcastle? Sunderland - aint no other options and even they mean 40,000 don't get to see the game - or don't they count cause they're glory huntin mancs?
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..........though personally I'd make em all travel to anfield or elland road - that'd learn em!
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No way should they be at Wembley. It should go on the geography of who is in the semis. Old Trafford or Eastlands are large enough up North, Villa Park in Midlands and Emirates in the South. Those venues could deal with whoever is in the semis and mean lots less travelling for the majority of fans.
So if they aren't travelling south - where would you play city united this weekend? Newcastle? Sunderland - aint no other options and even they mean 40,000 don't get to see the game - or don't they count cause they're glory huntin mancs?
Anfield or Goodison or B6
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The "more fans can see the game" line is pathetic, all the footballing authorities care about is raking in the cash.
The wants and desires of supporters and the history of the competition come way behind the financial factor.
It's true though
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it's not if you consider that 32,000 tickets are currently available to each side. If the game was held at Old Trafford (obviously wouldn't be chosen for utd vs city, but it might be for bolton vs stoke), and they split the capacity between the two sides, without any extras for corporates or wherever it is they go, then there'd (potentially) be more tickets available for each team.
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Wemberley. Yes, more fans can have a "Pie and a Pint 'deal'" for £9.00 and the cheapest seat is wider than some old Royal's box, you know!
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No.
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it's not if you consider that 32,000 tickets are currently available to each side. If the game was held at Old Trafford (obviously wouldn't be chosen for utd vs city, but it might be for bolton vs stoke), and they split the capacity between the two sides, without any extras for corporates or wherever it is they go, then there'd (potentially) be more tickets available for each team.
Well they'd get 38,000 tickets each but there would still surely be tickets for corporates, sponsors, football family etc.
And Old Trafford would be the only ground where this is possible. Next biggest ground is the Emirates (or St James' up north) and there you'd get at best 30,000 tickets each (26,000 each at St James') which is obviously less than 32,000 tickets that you'd get at Wembley.
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Which is plenty for most clubs.
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No they shouldn't be at Wembley - but there's no way it's ever going to change.
The fans of this and future generations will have to pay for the almighty FA cock-up that resulted in so much money being wasted on building such an ugly stadium. Fans will continue to be ripped off year after year after year.
Two from Villa Park, Old Trafford, The Emirates and the Millennium Stadium would have coped with any combination of semi-finalists.
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Should FA Cup semi's be played at that utter nail of a stadium?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/apr/14/fa-cup-semi-final-wembley
If there are 90 thousand people who want to see the games, then yes.
A Red Manc v Blue Manc semi-final at Villa Park would mean that many more supporters would miss out on a ticket.
Whilst I still believe that building the new-Wembley was a mistake; now that its there it should be made use of
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The "more fans can see the game" line is pathetic, all the footballing authorities care about is raking in the cash.
The wants and desires of supporters and the history of the competition come way behind the financial factor.
It's true though
As a statement of fact, it is true, but for the FA to claim that they have a great desire for as many fans as possible to see the Semi-finals is laughable.
Take a look at the allocation for the final for a direct contradiction.
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Whilst I still believe that building the new-Wembley was a mistake; now that its there it should be made use of
The FA are making use of it alright. They play on a football fans dreams of seeing their team playing at Wembley by charging whatever they like for tickets and fleecing them further for food/drink when they enter the stadium (and yes I know, you don't have to buy food/drink).
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No.
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Its a joke playing the Manc derby in North London
just about ££££
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Wembley should be the pinnacle of a players career it devalues it playing the Semi's there I would rather it played at a neutral league ground then you have something to look forward too when you reach the Final.
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*shrugs*
you'll get ripped off wherever you go for a semi-final. It would be nice I suppose to keep Wembley just s the centre-piece but then the stadium would be vastly underused. To be honest apart from a hankering for the old days its not an issue I will lose too much sleep over.
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Its a joke playing the Manc derby in North London
just about ££££
For a lot of those Red Manc fans it will be a cheaper day out than having to go all the way to Old Trafford.
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Its a joke playing the Manc derby in North London
just about ££££
Or Watford - Plymouth at Villa Park.
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nope. Wembley should never have been rebuilt anyway. the area's a shithole, the transport connections are dire, its expensive. But thats the londoncentric FA and their media friends for you, and lets face it, London managed to get the olympics despite the same key problems
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Its a joke playing the Manc derby in North London
just about ££££
Or Watford - Plymouth at Villa Park.
Yes that should have gone to Highbury
whereas Arsenal v Man Utd when Whiteside hit the winner was made for Villa Park
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nope. Wembley should never have been rebuilt anyway. the area's a shithole, the transport connections are dire, its expensive. But thats the londoncentric FA and their media friends for you, and lets face it, London managed to get the olympics despite the same key problems
Greg's right. They're even making a mess of the Olympics, what with 3 clubs squabbling over the Stadium.
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This isn't really a debate. Football fans don't want the Semi-Finals to be played at Wembley and the FA; who have no interest in football and only care about making money, do.
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This isn't really a debate. Football fans don't want the Semi-Finals to be played at Wembley and the FA; who have no interest in football and only care about making money, do.
If you were a fan of a semi-final team and playing the game at Wembley meant you could get a ticket, whereas playing at Villa Park meant that you would not, would you still feel the same ?
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This isn't really a debate. Football fans don't want the Semi-Finals to be played at Wembley and the FA; who have no interest in football and only care about making money, do.
If you were a fan of a semi-final team and playing the game at Wembley meant you could get a ticket, whereas playing at Villa Park meant that you would not, would you still feel the same ?
Take that a step further and any sell-out in the earlier rounds should be moved there.
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Surely the magic of the cup and particularly the semi's is that there is a bit of a scramble for tickets and the loyal fans are rewarded. I'm not overly keen on "fans" who pitch up once a decade when theres a whiff of a trophy
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The M1 is closed for the weekend (at least), that's going to make the trip down a fecking nightmare this weekend.
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The M1 is closed for the weekend (at least), that's going to make the trip down a fecking nightmare this weekend.
junctions 1 to 4 only
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The M1 is closed for the weekend (at least), that's going to make the trip down a fecking nightmare this weekend.
junctions 1 to 4 only
Well that's OK then, they can just nip through the centre of Harrow.
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plenty of ways around that issue
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Yes there are and they'll all be clogged up with traffic that would otherwise have been travelling between j4 and j1 of the M1.
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Why ? Most ManUre fans will either be travelling up the M3 or along the M4
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Anyone who thinks cup semi finals should be played at Wembley, should be burnt at the stake as a fucking heretic.
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Yes there are and they'll all be clogged up with traffic that would otherwise have been travelling between j4 and j1 of the M1.
Or else travelling to somewhere like Leeds.
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Surely the magic of the cup and particularly the semi's is that there is a bit of a scramble for tickets and the loyal fans are rewarded. I'm not overly keen on "fans" who pitch up once a decade when theres a whiff of a trophy
I agree.
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Wembleys a shithole
The semis should come home!
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Wembleys a shithole
The semis should come home!
On behalf of Wembley, f*** you.
You're right, though.
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If the FA have to make a decision then you know it will be the wrong one.
Semi Finals...
Old Trafford
Millennium Stadium
Emirates
Villa Park (ok biased)
Even Twickenham
Anywhere but Wembley.
The FA haven't got a clue about football supporters.
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If the FA have to make a decision then you know it will be the wrong one.
Semi Finals...
Old Trafford
Millennium Stadium
Emirates
Villa Park (ok biased)
Even Twickenham
Anywhere but Wembley.
The FA haven't got a clue about football supporters.
Wouldn't happen. The RFU told the FA to do one when the new Wembley was being built, that's why the finals were held at the Millenium Stadium.
You're right about the FA though, well, either that or they do know about football supporters and don't give a shit.
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It's the F.A, what else does one expect really.
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It's the F.A, what else does one expect really.
greed and incompetence, that's it
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And lots of wasted money on nice trips for the old farts
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Semis should never be at Wembley!
Although I have to say I have never been more disappointed in any ground than I was in the s-hole, for the cost the ground was souless, the area was as grim as it always was... 800 mill and they built a shithole!! But it was the FA so you expect nowt less
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I don't like semi finals being played at Wembley but the argument that it allows more fans to see the game should not be dismissed so lightly. It's inconvenient for us traditionalists but it is a factor all the same even if it is not the reason that the FA do it.
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I don't like semi finals being played at Wembley but the argument that it allows more fans to see the game should not be dismissed so lightly. It's inconvenient for us traditionalists but it is a factor all the same even if it is not the reason that the FA do it.
Chris, if the old argument about letting loads of fans have the opportunity to attend the game was true, then both of the finalists would get 40,000 tickets rathen than the paltry amount they will end up with.
The FA don't give a shit about the fans...just raking it in.
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In an ideal world there'd be four or five venues available for FA Cup semi-finals (up and down the country) and the two clubs competing in it would decide where it'd be held, based on geographical location and capacity. Old Trafford, Eastlands, Villa Park, Milenium Stadium, Emirates and Wembley could be used.
Unfortunately, now the decision has been made, I doubt the FA can change it lightly 'cos of all the people who've bought Club Wembley seats for x amount of years with FA Cup semi finals included.
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I agree that cup semi-finals at Wembley are just wrong and are purely held there so the incompetent FA can recoup their overspend on rebuilding the stadium. I still favour neutral venues, but another alternative which would enable all fans to see their team in a semi final would be to make them two-legged, home and away, which would also address issues about capacity of a neutral ground.
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There's nothing in the rules that forces the semi-finals to be played at Wembley.
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It's just wrong. I didn’t attend the semi last year, purely out of principle, and I do not subscribe to Sky Sports for the same reason !!
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I don't like semi finals being played at Wembley but the argument that it allows more fans to see the game should not be dismissed so lightly. It's inconvenient for us traditionalists but it is a factor all the same even if it is not the reason that the FA do it.
Chris, if the old argument about letting loads of fans have the opportunity to attend the game was true, then both of the finalists would get 40,000 tickets rathen than the paltry amount they will end up with.
The FA don't give a shit about the fans...just raking it in.
It is true though, more people get to attend a semi final at Wembley than if it was at Villa Park. I don't give a toss about the FA but I bet a lot of those Stoke fans getting their first crack in god knows how long are grateful for an opportunity to attend.
As I said I am against holding them at Wembley but you can't just ignore the fact because it doesn't suit.
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In an ideal world there'd be four or five venues available for FA Cup semi-finals (up and down the country) and the two clubs competing in it would decide where it'd be held, based on geographical location and capacity. Old Trafford, Eastlands, Villa Park, Milenium Stadium, Emirates and Wembley could be used.
Although I like the idea in principle, I'm not sure it could work practically.
The scenario I envision is side like Man Utd v Stoke (or similar) in the semi. Man Utd, who don't need the extra cash, might like somewhere close-ish like Anfield or VP, but Stoke, knowing their likely to lose, would want Wembley as they don;t expect to make to final there and for the extra income. Say what you want about the FA, but the clubs are also largely money focused and their choice would be whatever gets them the biggest revenue.
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I have just turned down a press pass to the game. That is how little I am arsed.
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I still think Wembley should just be for internationals and cup finals. Its just not right having the semis at Wembley.
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I think it should be remembered that unlike the days of old, supporters are no longer only based in the town/city that the team are from. TV coverage has opened things up to many more people than the fathers walking down to to the ground with their sons on a saturday afternoon. Fans of teams now populate all corners of the country - world, even - so there will always be a neccessity for many to travel somewhere.
Admittedly the distance from the home teams ground for this game is substancial but it's daft to think that everyone will be travelling down from up north.
Also saying the the game should be in the Millenium Stadium for instance is no better than Wembley, surely?
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I think it should be remembered that unlike the days of old, supporters are no longer only based in the town/city that the team are from. TV coverage has opened things up to many more people than the fathers walking down to to the ground with their sons on a saturday afternoon. Fans of teams now populate all corners of the country - world, even - so there will always be a neccessity for many to travel somewhere.
Admittedly the distance from the home teams ground for this game is substancial but it's daft to think that everyone will be travelling down from up north.
Also saying the the game should be in the Millenium Stadium for instance is no better than Wembley, surely?
I don't know what the exact current figures are but there was an academic analysis done a few years ago that showed 78% of Man City fans and 72% of Man Utd season ticket holders come from the North West.
They should hold the semi-finals at the most suitable neutral venue. It shouldn't always be Wembley regardless of which teams are playing and it definitely shouldn't always be Wembley for the convenience of people who choose not to support their local team.
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Also saying the the game should be in the Millenium Stadium for instance is no better than Wembley, surely?
For me it has nothing to do with the travelling, more that Wembley should be the Holy Grail for reaching the final. Playing the semi-finals at Wembley dilutes the magic somewhat. So Millennium Stadium would be fine for me.
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Also saying the the game should be in the Millenium Stadium for instance is no better than Wembley, surely?
For me it has nothing to do with the travelling, more that Wembley should be the Holy Grail for reaching the final. Playing the semi-finals at Wembley dilutes the magic somewhat. So Millennium Stadium would be fine for me.
this, this, this
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Also saying the the game should be in the Millenium Stadium for instance is no better than Wembley, surely?
For me it has nothing to do with the travelling, more that Wembley should be the Holy Grail for reaching the final. Playing the semi-finals at Wembley dilutes the magic somewhat. So Millennium Stadium would be fine for me.
this, this, this
Agree with DC as well.
That said, my best ever semi memory was at Wembley. 1996 it was, a few seconds after the ball left Savo's foot.
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Also it has nothing to do with football, its all money. The wrong money. It goes to business'. It should go back to clubs. Not just Villa park but how about Hilsborough, bet sheff wed would love some of that money