The Mail Bag
What's wrong with Wembley?
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After reading Paul Rideout's comments about the staging of the semi-finals at Wembley being "a disgrace" I felt I had to comment on it. Sure, it takes away some of the shine of the final, but as a 19-year-old Evertonian who has never been to Wembley, I'm absolutely buzzing! I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way so let's stop complaining, draw up our witty banners and enjoy our day out will we! I for one am looking forward to Wembley. COYB!!
Brian Maguire, Posted 16/04/2009 at 01:38:44
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How many seats will be empty at second half kick off? The middle tier will be bare, believe me!
Probably the wrong time to bring this up, but lets follow Germany?s example of safe standing areas. Then we can have all the more fans see the game.
Now, if the reason for the semis being at Wembley was taken by the FA for safety reasons, to allow more fans to watch the game or a plethora of other reasons it would be easier to understand, but when the answer is simple ? money, and the need to claw back the huge cost of the stadium ? to me, it simply sucks.
Why people think it devalues the final is beyond me. So what that it?s played at the same stadium. Give one good, sensible argument for that meaning the final is a lesser event?
But I said to myself I wouldn?t go until I can see Everton there. And guess what? We?re there. I would LOVE to go but I haven?t got a ticket. But that doesn?t begrudge me wanting all our great fans that have got a ticket to visit the mighty stadium to go and paint it blue.
We?ve EARNT the right to play at Wembley. The FA have deemed it correct to hold the semi-finals there and so we?re there on merit. Forget the tradition of ?semis shouldn?t be at Wembley? because loads of traditions are lost along the way in life.
On Sunday, Wembley is lucky enough to host the greatest football club in the world: Everton... I for one can fully understand why the FA would want Wembley to have the honour of hosting the mighty Everton Football Club. Cut them some slack lads...
It is simple. Holding the semis at Wembley devalues the final. It does, has and will. And the FA don?t care about that because they get more cash.
Villa Park, Elland Road, Hillsborough (not this year obviously), City of Manchester Stadium could have held the semi, but hey, less revenue and less space for free loaders.
The fact the semis are at Wembley devalues nothing, the cup is there to be won. Also, it's good for the fans to get comfy with their surroundings for when they return in May!!
It looks like the England design (or lack of) but blue. Could be a good omen! COYB
Let's go enjoy it and win or lose give the boys the best support possible.
I was wondering whether our extended spell in the Wembley wilderness had provoked these sentiments, so I asked my dad about 1966 when we had had a 33-year wait to get there. He confirmed my suspicions that there were no thoughts of enjoying the day, simply of winning. I see no reason why this attitude should have changed.
And playing the semi-finals there does devalue the final experience since you have already experienced the stadium etc. Although to be fair the amount of other games that are played there these days devalues it more than the semis.
Personally I think the semis should be played at Cardiff, as this would provide a special, unique place and also a large ticket allocation. But again, we know why they are playing them at Wembley so it?s not going to change.
At least Highbury in 84 kicked off on a Saturday afternoon and we had time to enjoy the celebrations. If we lose on Sunday, a long trek back to the North West is not what the doctor ordered; if we win, by the time we arrive home, all thoughts will be on sleep and getting ready for Monday morning and a return to work.
For those of you who are not old enough to remember, Semi-Final Day used to be a great day similar in excitement to Third Round Day. Wembley should not be used to host a semi-final, except in cases where two London clubs are involved. I would even have been happier playing at Old Trafford with half the ground filled with Blues ? that truly would have been a sight and noise to behold.
I may be wrong, but there is an air of resignation that we will not progress on Sunday and some fans are happy to enjoy the experience of Wembley. But, like someone said, losing a Semi is the worst possible game to fail in.
Wherever a Semi is played, the only thing that matters is that you win.
COYB
COYB
As my dad shouted to me at 2 -0 down in ?66 - ?Remember The Alamo? (had some funny sayings, did dad).
Simply put, anything other than winning isn?t good enough. This is a one-off game so why not? Small clubs who make it this far or even to the final have that attitude that it?s a smashing day out; well, considering they have waited all their lives to get there, shouldn?t they want to badly win. Although I will try to enjoy it best I can Sunday, I will also be quite anxious. But maybe a miracle will happen.
COYB
Given that Cardiff is fairly central in the country (in terms of the location of football teams) I see no good reason why the semis shouldn’t be played there, with only the finalists getting the honour of competing at Wembley.
With 31,250 tickets for each club that still leaves 27,500 tickets going to God knows who and many of those will end up with touts as well.
You could use Old Trafford (obviously not for our game) or Cardiff and split it 50/50 for each club and both teams would get around 38,000 tickets with no Corporate crap.
Far fairer, but as it?s the FA Cup and the FA have to pay for Wembley it?ll never happen.
The FA in the early 90s used Wembley for semis purely for safety reasons following Hillsborough. But then the stadiums in the Prem were all seater by the mid 90?s and were all safe to stage big events so we found ourselves at Elland Road in 95 against Spurs ? fuck me now, that was a game, wasn't it lads ? better then the final!!! Holding the semi at a neutral ground not Wembley is the way to go......
Everything is fucked up in football these days though and, in the week that we remember the Hillsborough deaths, I find it sad that people still say, well at least the death of the 96 meant that football became safer ? yeah, true... it did... but now two decades later, I feel it's gone beyond that and football is not about the fans anymore but about how much money the FA and the clubs can extract from the them. An FA Cup semi final is a match FOR THE FANS not a match for the FA to use to see how much cash they can make...
James Boden posted in the Articles regarding the semi-final.
http://www.toffeeweb.com/season/08-09/comment/fan/article.asp?submissionID=11425
I agree with James regarding Wembley. It should be reserved solely for the final. Why cannot the FA come up with a deal with owners of Cardiff Arms Park which turns out to be a win/win solution for both? Or with the owners of Murrayfield? Or the owners of Twickenham? Or with all three? I understand the financial reason why Wembley is used for the semis but do the FA understand the fans?
Cardiff Arms is a fantastic stadium and was a great substitute during Wembley’s interim period. Murrayfield and Twickenham also appear quality stadia. Surely some financial arrangement could be agreed with the other three stadia? A three year rotation whereby each stadium hosted a semi-final two years every three. A neutral, quality, national venue each time - but not Wembley.
Some may argue the semi-final is possibly the best chance they have of seeing their club play at Wembley and that would appear true in the current climate. Even our fans are hyped up for Wembley albeit for a semi-final. What does that say?
To me it says the Wembley venue is more important than the actual match. That Everton or any other team reaching the semi-final, the game is insignificant. We went to Wembley regardless of the final result. That is not good enough to me. Not as an Everton supporter and not as a football fan. Wembley should be a place to be revered. To be the ultimate goal ? not the penultimate. Fail and you can say you went to Wembley. Succeed and you can say you went to Wembley ? again - to succeed or fail.
As a fan I was only able to attend a single semi-final match at Villa Park on that fateful day in April 1989. The anticipation of seeing my team at Wembley for a final was immense. I somehow feel the aura of Wembley has been lost but more so the anticipation that accompanies the semi-final matches?
The Cardiff option is better than Wembley (not that it helps the FA pay anything off). Though not too much of a fan of the place because due to this venue being used before it signalled the destruction of the one true Wembley and the cup?s prestige was lost forever.
The Murrayfield option? Ok, that really isn?t going to happen at all, and the Twickers option? Access there from what I heard is appalling. No tube, poor road links, so football fans coming down from the north, as apposed to rugby fans from the south will be screwed. Also, I don?t think they?re allowed to hold footy matches there. Something to do with the residents and planning permission when it was rebuilt... may be wrong.
Thanks for your words. As for the stadia, I fully concur with what you wrote. I put out options that the FA could possibly investigate but we all know they won?t lift a finger. After all, it is their competition and they need the money.
The Twickers option is intriguing though. Croke Park was solely used for Gaelic Football until a resolution was passed allowing it to be used for Rugby Union and Football matches whilst Lansdowne Road is being rebuilt.
Cannot a deal be brokered with the the owners of Twickenham, the residents thereby and the FA? A deal which states specifically that for one Saturday out of the 52 per year a football match could take place there with stipulations regarding travel? Coaches must stop at X, Y and Z with a shuttle to transfer supporters? It wouldn?t be able to accommodate car travelling supporters but that must be the case now.
Back in the day, getting to grounds used for semi-finals was not easy but the FA still felt they were stadiums good enough for these games. Twickenham is good enough, more than good enough ? and football supporter behaviour has come a long way since the dark days.
Just a thought.
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1 Posted 17/04/2009 at 07:57:50
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Some of us are lucky enough to have been to the Old Wembley several times so any of you youngsters out there deserve the chance for a day out in London... Go and enjoy it mate.