Only a semi-final boycott may force FA into Wembley rethink

It has to be the most unpopular decision in football. Check Twitter, listen to the phone-ins, ask your mates - you'll do well to find many football fans in favour of the FA Cup semi-finals being played at Wembley.

It’s an old but still relevant debate. Everyone knows the plan. It's been this way since the new Wembley was opened in 2007, but still it’s annually questioned and roundly criticised.

In the past few weeks, the amount of flak thrown at the FA for hosting the semis at Wembley has, understandably, grown to an unprecedented level.

They've had it from all angles. Fan groups, politicians, players, social media, mainstream media, pundits. But yet, it hasn't mattered one jot. This year's semis – Chelsea versus Crystal Palace and, even more controversially, Liverpool against Manchester City – will take place, as ever, at the £790m national stadium.

Why? Well the clue is towards the end of the previous sentence.

The FA made no secret of the fact it was a financial decision to break with tradition and stage the semis and final there when the crumbling, fabled home of English football was finally rebuilt, unsurprisingly over budget and behind schedule. It was a necessity, we were told, to help pay for the thing.

However, 14 years on from Wembley's reopening, surely now it is time to move these prestigious club games away from this particular part of north London and bring back FA Cup semi-finals at neutral club grounds?

Growing up, it was a joy to watch FA Cup semi-finals being played at Villa Park – it always seemed to be Villa Park didn't it? Seeing two other teams' fans fill that famous old stadium to the rafters, half and half, was, in my book, a tradition that should have been preserved.

There may be a small bit of nostalgia here, granted, but there was something special and unique about a rival's ground being opened up to two other teams for the day. There was an unfamiliar, even alien, feeling, witnessing two teams go for it on neutral territory with the dangling carrot of a big trip to Wembley for the winner.

Because, that was the whole point. Wembley. The final was reserved for Wembley. A buzzing, important, special, one-off day when the TV coverage got under way at 10am and fans flocked down for a rare chance to watch their team at the most iconic stadium in the country, possibly the world. Not any more. Manchester City fans have been there for six semi-finals and three FA Cup finals since 2011.

Of course, this yearly debate has been brought into sharper focus this spring after it emerged following the draw there would be no direct trains from either Manchester or Liverpool to the capital over the Easter weekend, plunging the travel plans of thousands of supporters coming down from the north-west into chaos.

Some have said moving the game to an alternative weekend would have solved the matter. A different date would mean trains running as normal and therefore fans would likely be far more open to the idea of a trip down Wembley way, safe in the knowledge there were plenty of trains to cater for them.

So, yet again, we have a situation where the fans are forgotten, their views discarded because, when it comes down to it, money talks. Forget the fact both City and Liverpool's influential fans groups teamed up to denounce the decision to plough on with the original plan. Ignore, too, the respective region's mayors writing an open letter to the FA pleading with them to move the game to a more suitable venue. Even Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson weighed in and said the game should be moved. His comments predictably fell on deaf ears as well.

Cynical, weary, match-going supporters will not be surprised. This is just the latest example of fans coming last when fixtures are planned and there will be little shock at more FA mismanagement. After all, the rail work had been flagged up to them well in advance, it's a holiday weekend and, lo and behold, the two best teams in the country have made it through to the last four of the country's biggest cup competition. No matter.

But what should fans do? In all probability, and despite clear opposition to the idea from the two clubs involved, it would be a surprise to see many empty seats come 3.30pm on April 16. Liverpool and City fans will travel down in their thousands to the capital – some even using the free buses laid on by the FA as part of their reactionary PR charm offensive as they attempted a late shot at appeasement.

And therein lies the problem. Unless fans organise a boycott of the game and opt to stay away in huge numbers, the FA will crack on. Then, just before kick-off, when they scan the impressive arena and realise, in all likelihood, it’s sold out, the bigwigs will no doubt insist it was the correct decision all along to play the games there.

But there's no getting away from the fact that for traditional football fans, playing the semis at Wembley a month or so before the final is like someone trying to arrange Christmas in mid-November. Throw in the fact there's little or no public transport available for some and, this year, we have a right mess.

The problem is, nothing will change unless fans opt to stay away.

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