Real Madrid and Barcelona definitely wouldn’t sell 28k for a semifinal at a ground 200 miles away.
Great point, everything requires context.
Expecting to sell 34,000 tickets almost every year is madness. Okay it’s great for circumstances like Forest, Villa and Palace where they aren’t often in contention for trophies but not when you’ve been there over 30 times.
We’re the only club in this country who are in this position. Playing a semi final 200 miles away in a stadium with absolutely no novelty value. London clubs in the same scenario distance wise wouldn’t fill it. At least once Chelsea haven’t sold out a semi final and Wembley is in the same city. United and Liverpool have far more southern fans to take up the slack. Newcastle etc would sell their allocations for a while then hit the same issues. Midlands clubs have less distance to travel but would probably have the same issue.
In a rhetorical situation I even think Rangers and Celtic would struggle if they were playing in the same stadium against teams they have nothing to prove against that distance from Glasgow.
Also let’s not forget about some of the ticket prices. £150, £100, £70 tickets are all high for a semi final and will add up to an expensive weekend for a lot of families.
And then there’s the kick off times, with fuck all help from the FA for the club furthest away from Wembley with the schedule.
And we could be back there in three weeks time.
It’s actually hard to believe people are struggling to grasp why it’s not sold out TBH.