As there'll be fans on here that have seen you play at both, I was wondering which you thought was the better day for yourselves (ignoring any difference in results)? With us getting to Wembley (and you looking to try and get there) we've got the usual rush of people trying to sort out accomodation and transport for the big day out, and it crossed my mind that Arsenal fans for the other semi have it so much easier with living locally, it makes it just like going to a home game for them. But is that a good thing? Growing up outside London the whole buzz of semi-finals (at any neutral venue) and Finals was that they were something out of the ordinary, and that it was the whole day out (or even the whole weekend). So for me if I was a London based fan I'd feel I was missing out on something with games at Wembley by being able to treat it as virtually a normal game but turning up a bit earlier (especially now I wouldn't even get the semi somewhere else). Obviously there's the attraction of playing at Wembley (maybe lessened a bit now it's not the same stadium?) which you don't get with the Millenium, but ignoring that what are your experiences of the two as a whole occassion? Particularly the people who've been to both, did you feel there was something missing from it being a local game when it was Wembley that was there for Cardiff or did it not really make a difference?
I think I'd always prefer to be London born and bred than dream of visiting the big city once or twice in a lifetime....but Wembley is Wembley, still special. Too special to be used for semi finals though, that really does dilute the experience and I would guess add to the cost for Northern supporters especially.
It's rediculous that the FA signed up to staging the semi's there in addition to the final.....always preferred the old way of a neutral venue, plenty of good stadiums now to host them......Wembley should be for the Final only..... Haven't been to the New Wembley or Millenium Stadium, but always preferred the old Cardiff Arms Park to Twickenham if that's any help for the amazing atmosphere generated on International days.....
It's not so much the London part is the occassion, I was more meaning, if when you reached a Cup Final Wembley just happened to be elsewhere (like effectively it was when the games were at Cardiff) does it enhance the big day experience that it involves travelling rather than it being in your back garden.
We played Cardiff at the millennium, and as its a small, one club City - it was like a home game for them. London is big enough not to be defined by one team - so it a true neutral venue
That may have been the case once mate, but the atmosphere at Twickenham these days is fantastic. It has been made into a tremendous stadium.
Its an insult to the fans when you could have a game like hull v Sunderland played at Wembley when it should be played at SJP or some other northern monkey club.
You're right Col, Twickenham has been developed into a great stadium, certainly was in full voice yesterday..... Have to say Flyer you have an incredible knack of saying something sensible and then spoiling it in the same "breath".....There are some superb grounds in the North of Watford and the Hull/Sunderland game should be played at one of them....either Villa Park, OT or Ethiad would do for starters.....
Villa park should be for north south games, emirates for south south games and SJP/OT for north north games. We could!d use our new ground in the future for semis, there no danger of us getting that far. Were you referring to the northern monkey thing? Its what a i call a friend who lives in Leeds, she calls me much worse.
For the Wembley finals in the eighties, a crowd of us decided that we were missing out on the full cup final experience with the stadium being so local, so we booked into hotels the day before (Beaconsfield in '82 and Maidenhead in '86) so that we could drive to Wembley on the day as if we were out-of-towners.
I lived in Wembley...and so enjoyed walking to a match to support my team, greatest ever experience at footy...all three times I did it Even the cup final replay...loss to Spurs was better than the awful drag back from Cardiff New Wembley better than Millenium for footy But I agree ...and nowt to do with you Ricardo., the cup final should be at Wembley only...semis at a neutral...our semi at Arsenal was as great a day out as Wembley But enjoy the day Ricardo...I will be rooting for your lot all the way
I was living in Durham at the time of the 82 Cup Finals. Four long train journeys, would have much preferred just to take the Met line........
Absolutely. For the League Cup final in '86 about 20 of us from the Green Man in Harlesden (not much more than walking distance from Wembley) booked into a place called Skindles in Maidenhead on the Saturday before the final and drove in to Wembley the next day. Suffice to say, the Saturday night was fairly riotous. Shame about the game.
Can't agree more about the semis at Wembley devaluing the cup. I don't know a single person that thinks it's a good idea. It should be neutral somewhere in between clubs. They should also have the whole day televised on BBC or ITV instead of something like Murder She Wrote. Makes me so angry!! Going to Cardiff and playing against Cardiff in the play off final was a nightmare. It felt pretty hostile and I think it would have kicked off if we'd won.
I actually thought everything about the trip to Cardiff was good until they scored! I really liked how they split the city between the two clubs so that it was no problem finding pubs/ restaurants etc to go to & be made welcome. Of course, it was different for us as we were playing Cardiff but if it had been against Bristol City (or anyone else) the hositility would not have exsisted. With wembley I'm not sure what is available for supporters to visit outside the stadium & would sugest your better of having a drink in London before going to Wembley Park. You were at wembley not that long ago the the playoff final so how did it seem to you then? Obviously, if you have lost the return journey can be horrid but that applies wherever the game is played.
The thing is Wembley needs to pay for itself, so the semis probably will have another 176,000 paying customers, quarters there soon
I liked it, I came down the day before the game, stopped in a hotel next overlooking the stadium, and then travelled back the day after, and really made an occassion out of the event. Friday night I just went out in Wembley for a few quiet drinks after my journey (I was living in Scotland so it's too far to chance it on the day for a game like that). We had the first playoff game that year so other fans weren't around yet and it was just a nice relaxed night. The next day casual get up, head down for a programme/scarf/etc and drop it back at the hotel by 10am, then out to the pub for the full day. After the game just a lot of drinking with fans from both sides. Next day left the hotel as the Leeds and Donny Rovers fans were arriving, bit of banter between the 3 Yorkshire sides and then home. I did Cardiff on a there and back in a day trip before as well which wasn't as good, but that was as a neutral with friends for Huddersfield/Mansfield the season we played them and got promoted in D3. And being on the coaches for that there wasn't as much time to do other stuff around it. And obviously I've never had a big game in the place I'm living to be able to compare. I like the convenience of being where it is (hence why I do 3 day trips) so I get that, but that is within the bigger picture of being somewhere different. I didn't know if you guys would maybe find it a little too convenient, and it detract a bit from the specialness of the occassion by being too close to your normal matchday routine. I guess as well as when you went to Cardiff there'll be old semi-final trips out of London that would be the same kind of feel. I doubt it, we didn't even sell out our 1/4 Final at £20 a ticket so Wembley would have been a farce, especially for Sunderland fans who were only there the week before. I'm not even planning on going to the semi-Final as the Final could be a much more significant date for the club and I can't justify the expense of both. Not just because it would be our first cup final, and potentially first major trophy, I'm more bothered about the Final because if we get there it could be the last game we ever play as Hull City, and I wouldn't want to miss that. Wouldn't surprise me if they tried to change the League Cup Semi-Finals to one off ties at Wembley though, they'll justify it by saying it'll cut down on fixtures and is part of helping them introduce a winter break or something.
