Why the FA Cup semis are played at Wembley as Palace and Forest book trips

With the FA Cup quarter-finals going down this weekend, 4 golf equipment will e-book their locations at Wembley for the semi-finals.

Wembley has hosted the final 4 yearly since 2008, with stadiums like Outdated Trafford and Villa Park standing in in the course of the well-known floor’s rebuild on the flip of the century.

However why is Wembley Stadium not saved for the competitors’s finale?

The reply is a quite boring one: cash. Actually, it was determined again in 2003 – throughout the brand new stadium’s development – that semi-finals could be staged beneath the well-known arch to assist pay for the brand new floor.

Wembley first hosted the semi-finals within the early Nineties, together with derbies between Arsenal & Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United & Sheffield Wednesday.

The final season earlier than Wembley was knocked down (1999/00) additionally noticed two semi-finals within the capital, with Aston Villa and Chelsea prevailing earlier than the Blues repeated the trick within the ultimate.

Now one thing of an annual custom, Wembley hosts a pair of semi-finals throughout one weekend every season, although it isn’t with out its opposition.

Firstly, soccer purists will argue that Wembley must be saved for the showpiece occasion of the ultimate, whereas there are often geographical elements to think about, notably when two northern sides are paired collectively.

This yr’s draw meant that there would solely be one London consultant within the final 4, with Crystal Palace taking that berth after seeing off Fulham in the one all-London quarter-final tie.

It appears unlikely issues will change any time quickly, given the semi-finals have been staged at Wembley for 18 seasons and counting, particularly with the bottom filling up with passionate supporters irrespective of who’s concerned.