FA.com Statement re Cup Final

[law74]

Much was being said about the late kick off time being partly responsible for the millwall fans fighting on saturday evening, get a few bottles of fake blood, a group of you start pushing and shoving each other, spray the blood onto a couple of your mates, hey presto, the liberals will once again be blaming footy fans, drink and drinking times, and next years final will be at an earlier time (though sadly with alcohol exclusion zones within the M25)

drown out all the presentations before the game with 3pm 3pm 3pm (& foul and abusive chants about the tv presenters that would not be fit for prime time viewing)

Oh, I am sure I am not the only one that remembers the rows when some companies used to give away t-shirts outside the world cup games that were sponsored by major rivals, stick a Stella logo on your banner, another could have a virgin trains logo etc major rivals to all the FA "Partners" and chants about how crap the companies that are advertising before the game are etc etc, make it

 

[Ding Dong]

Look lets be honest,no proper CITY fan or wigan fan is going to boycot an FA cup final,wharever the problems.
The time to boycot [if CITY win ] will be the community / charity shield game.
And i dont just mean individuals staying away. But all supporters clubs and CITY in general should refuse to take ANY tickets for what amounts to a pre season friendly.
Dont forget City were one of the first sets of fans to make a stand against Arsends extorionate ticket prices.

Finaly this FA statement has been issued by the normal faceless suits who know f**k all about supporting a team. Where are the so called " football people " such as Trevor Brooking , Graham Taylor , Clark Carlisle and many more . your silence is deafening

 

[Deleted member 52846]

What's the big problem with everyone? Seems like a big bandwagon overreaction to me. 17:15 is a good ko time. Suits me miles better. Gives everyone good time to get there without having to get up with the birds, the end of the game is early in the night for anyone going out in London so good time for going round bars and that, plus for anyone going back to Mcr they can be back and out in town by 12:30-1am easily.

 

[Blue Punter]

What's the big problem with everyone? Seems like a big bandwagon overreaction to me. 17:15 is a good ko time. Suits me miles better. Gives everyone good time to get there without having to get up with the birds, the end of the game is early in the night for anyone going out in London so good time for going round bars and that, plus for anyone going back to Mcr they can be back and out in town by 12:30-1am easily.

I personally don't have a huge problem with the k.o. time, as I usually go down Friday - Sun. No fun if you've got kids to get home or work the next day and the option of the train is effectively taken away from you.
Problem I have is the bullshit way in which it's been forced upon us.

"The FA would like to highlight that 5.15pm is a regular kick-off time in the football calendar".

At most, 1 game a week in the Premiership at that time, so not that common. The one time that is regular is 3pm on a Saturday.

"In terms of transportation, a small percentage of Cup Final fans use the method of train travel".

Where are the stats for this?

"The kick-off time is unchanged from last year..."

It was wrong then and it's wrong now.

When these wankers at the FA travel round the country, does anyone believe they travel by coach with National Express?
Not a chance. Either chauffered cars or 1st class train travel.

On Sun morning an FA rep was asked did the late k.o. (and subsequent alcohol intake) contribute to the disorder with Millwall. He replied that fans are not allowed to drink alcohol in the stands. I couldn't believe he had the balls to answer that way. Quite possibly the weakest response to a relevant question I've ever heard.

 

[John117]

Hi everyone, 1st post so be kind! LOL. I'm on nights on the Friday so 5.15 actually suits me personally, however I disagree with the reasoning behind it. Would be great if I could actually get tickets as me and my son are only blue members. Managed to get some for the semi and was lucky enough to get cheap flights from Mcr to heathrow (with avios). If anyone can get tickets but can't make it for whatever reason, I would be grateful if you could pm me and let me know how much you want for them?

John

 

[dom]

What's the big problem with everyone? Seems like a big bandwagon overreaction to me. 17:15 is a good ko time. Suits me miles better. Gives everyone good time to get there without having to get up with the birds, the end of the game is early in the night for anyone going out in London so good time for going round bars and that, plus for anyone going back to Mcr they can be back and out in town by 12:30-1am easily.

I personally don't have a huge problem with the k.o. time, as I usually go down Friday - Sun. No fun if you've got kids to get home or work the next day and the option of the train is effectively taken away from you.
Problem I have is the bullshit way in which it's been forced upon us.

"The FA would like to highlight that 5.15pm is a regular kick-off time in the football calendar".

At most, 1 game a week in the Premiership at that time, so not that common. The one time that is regular is 3pm on a Saturday.

"In terms of transportation, a small percentage of Cup Final fans use the method of train travel".

Where are the stats for this?

"The kick-off time is unchanged from last year..."

It was wrong then and it's wrong now.

When these wankers at the FA travel round the country, does anyone believe they travel by coach with National Express?
Not a chance. Either chauffered cars or 1st class train travel.

On Sun morning an FA rep was asked did the late k.o. (and subsequent alcohol intake) contribute to the disorder with Millwall. He replied that fans are not allowed to drink alcohol in the stands. I couldn't believe he had the balls to answer that way. Quite possibly the weakest response to a relevant question I've ever heard.

Totally agree.

What a bunch of disingenuous sh!t

 

[tidyman]

I actually prefer the late kick off but I can still agree with the criticism of the FA's attempt to defend their decision. I would have more respect for them if they'd just come out and said, we kick off at the time that earns us the most dough. Deal with it or support a team who don't pay their players £100,000 + a week, because that money has to come from somewhere.

It's probably a minor point but I'd be interested in knowing where this figure of how many travel to the final by train came from. No one has ever asked me how I get to the game and while the train companies could probably make an educated guess, they don't ask people why they're traveling either.

 

[Balti]

In relation to the information announced for the kick-off time of The FA Cup with Budweiser Final, The FA would like to highlight that 5.15pm is a regular kick-off time in the football calendar.

This time was agreed with major stakeholders and broadcasters and has been used across the game for a number of years for televised matches.

In terms of transportation, a small percentage of Cup Final fans use the method of train travel.

Additional coach services which National Express are running, including directly from Wembley Stadium, mean there are more options for fans returning north after the game from Wembley on Saturday 11 May.

The kick-off time is unchanged from last year and this allows more football fans around the country to watch The Cup Final in its entirety.

The domestic viewing figures for last year’s FA Cup Final, shown on ITV and ESPN, recorded a combined peak in-home audience of 11.7m people in the UK.

This was the highest peak viewing figure The FA Cup Final has achieved under the current TV deal and a higher audiencee than that of Bayern Munich v Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League Final.



I'd urge anyone on Facebook to weigh in like I have and let the FA know what real fans think.
<a class="postlink" href="https://www.facebook.com/TheFACup" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">https://www.facebook.com/TheFACup</a>

TV revenue this

TV revenue that

FA wankers

 

[ninjamonkey]

I think the best and only plausible thing we as match going fans can realistically do is to make our voices heard during all their pre-match crap. With it being the 150 year anniversary i suspect their will be a lot of on pitch build up prior to the game, lets get to our seats early, refuse to put more money into the FA coffers by not buying anything inside the ground and lets make ourselves heard it will get picked up on tv pre match when they are in the studio.

 

[kunaguero10]

I don't have an issue with a later kivk off, bit more time in bed on game day and time for a fry-up etc.

Although the FA are spinning it as a better time for all fans to watch the game, they're managing to also piss off most match goers I'd imagine, From a 3pm ko no away fans would get home nor would an awful lot of home fans. I only live about 5 miles from City and wouldn't be home by then and not all fans want to go on the piss etc.

Could you repeat that in english, please.

always treat someone who can't get out of bed in time for a 3 o clock kick off with caution