Wembley is at the core of the issue and FA incompetence and their debts is the reason.....THEY WANT US TO PAY FOR IT ALL.
Ask Ncastle fans,if they were champions, if they would like the CS at a packed Sid James Park as a curtain raiser.
Ditto spuds, vanilla, etc & et al.
No fucking aboot with trains,coaches,shit beer and overpriced food in a shit location hundreds of miles from home.
The Champions should have this ‘privilege’ as was traditionally the case and imho we should demand it back and if the FA prevaricate go native with militant actions that attracts media coverage.
Visualise a packed Etihad at concessionary ticket prices and all proceed going to deserving Manchester charities,trophies being paraded etc.
Am I wrong. Am I WRONG. AM I WRONG !!
When you say 'traditionally', what you mean is from what you remember as a youngster...
The only real 'tradition' that can be claimed is the it has had various formats, locations, days and kick-off times.
It was generally a midweek, evening match played in October or November until 1959 when it became the Saturday 'curtain raiser.'
Your stated demands, in other posts, for a return to a 3pm, Saturday at the home of the champions, was only a 'tradition' for 14 years, and for 3 of them the champions declined to take part! (The champions haven't taken part on 11 occasions, for various reasons.)This is the period when you where aged 8(ish) to 22, so what you call 'tradition' is just the period you remember when you were growing up...
Are you wrong to be suggesting reconsidering alternatives to Wembley as a venue? NO
In '74 it was agreed to use Wembley and make it 'compulsory' for the champs to take part. Even then, it rarely filled out, with only 10 of the 27 'old' Wembley fixtures recording gates in excess of 80,000 and only 5 of those were above 90,000! 60,000 seems to be about the average.
Since new Wembley opened, attendance has only dipped below 70,000 once, which was the 45,000 for us v Leicester. Its probable that COVID played a part in that, but it still beats the 40,000 figure for Everton v Blackburn at old Wembley in '95!
Out of the 14 fixtures played at 'new' Wembley the only CS gates below 80,000 have been for our games there. I think that's indicative of our general take it or leave it attitude to the CS at Wembley. But it does still provide a great opportunity for fans that wouldn't normally get to experience Wembley to see what it's like, but the novelty will wear off in the not to distant future.
At some point, attendances will start to dip to the 60,000 mark and holding it at Wembley will seem less of a 'necessity'.
What I'd like to see is for the two qualifying teams to be given the opportunity to decide if they want the match to go ahead there. If not, and a suitable neutral venue can't be agreed upon/found, they reach agreement on who will host the match ( I think it was previoysly held at the home ground of the cup winners on 3 occasions).
Ideally, play the match on a Saturday with a kick off no later than 5:30. If TV demands a Sunday, no later than 3pm at Wembley or 4:30 at another venue.
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