Embarrassment as 20,000 seats are left unsold for semi-final
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Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final against Blackburn at Old Trafford is in danger of being played in front of thousands of empty seats. Neither club have sold their full allocation for Sunday's game and on Wednesday they each had about 9,000 tickets left.
Although there is still time for the potentially huge gaps at the stadium to be filled, the take-up is a poor reflection of what should be a prestige encounter. The lack of enthusiasm for the semi-finals is also reflected in the fact Watford have not sold out for their game against Manchester United at the much smaller venue of Villa Park on Saturday. They still had about 2,000 tickets available on Wednesday night and United are the only club in the last four whose seats did not go on general sale to their fans.
The snub by supporters is a huge embarrassment to the clubs, sponsors, television companies and in particular to the Football Association, who have gone to great lengths this season to promote the FA Cup as the final returns to Wembley for the first time since 2000.
Furthermore, the FA confirmed that from next season both Cup semi-finals will be played at Wembley but filling its 90,000 capacity looks a tough task based on the sales for this weekend's clashes. The reasons for the apparent apathy vary.
Chelsea fans have blamed the time and cost involved getting to and from Manchester for a 4pm kick-off. Ticket pricing, with the most expensive £55, does not appear to have been the most significant single factor.
An FA spokesman denied the country's biggest cup competition was losing its appeal. He said: "The FA Cup is more popular than ever. This season the third, fourth and fifth rounds saw the best average crowds for about 20 years." -
i think its because man u's stadium is the biggest in the EPL
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Originally posted by omgukilledkenny:i think its because man u's stadium is the biggest in the EPL
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i dun think wembley will be hard to fill, its nonsense.. everyone will wana be there..
maybe mid of month, pocket abit dry, no money to travel and spend ! -
I don't think it is a lack of enthusiasm for the semi-finals... Normally tickets for a FA cup semi final should be sold out by now but this time, i guess the price is also a cause of it... They have to realise that OT is a 76,000 stadium so it won't be easy to fill if the teams playing don't have that much supporters.
Chelsea themselves have problems filling their own 42,000 stadium for cup matches so how can they fill 38,000 somewhere far away? Blackburn even worse, lesser i think... Unless people staying in manchester go and watch the match, there will be quite a few empty seats in there. -
no surprise since everyone think that chelsea going to win no point watching it
it will be 1-sided match for chelsea but for man utd must see what line-up man utd put -
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Originally posted by ghimpheng:no surprise since everyone think that chelsea going to win no point watching it
it will be 1-sided match for chelsea but for man utd must see what line-up man utd put -
The Football Association have moved to allay fears that fans could stay away from Wembley at next season's FA Cup semi-finals. It follows concerns that Chelsea and Blackburn have struggled to sell their allocation of tickets for Sunday's semi-final at Old Trafford.
According to The Times, the clubs have a combined 16,000 seats to sell. Watford, who were allocated about 17,000 seats for their semi against Manchester United at Villa Park, still have around 1,500 left, according to the paper.
However, an FA spokesman is reported as saying: "We are confident we will see big crowds at Wembley for the semi-finals. "We want to make the semi-finals as accessible to as many fans as possible and Old Trafford is the biggest club ground in the country. "Old Trafford and Villa Park are well-established venues for the semi-finals and are used to dealing with the logistics."
The Times quotes Mike Graham, of the Blackburn Independent Supporters Association claiming he is not surprised by the low take-up from Rovers fans. "It's a low-wage area," he said. "Even forking out £25 per ticket -[the minimum price] is a lot, never mind £55 [the maximum]." -
you just push the die hard fan tag to a higher level,Originally posted by ghimpheng:no surprise since everyone think that chelsea going to win no point watching it
it will be 1-sided match for chelsea but for man utd must see what line-up man utd put your no bound support really makes others plain in comparison
one sided for Chelsea? you're Da Man!!!! -
err...Originally posted by ghimpheng:no surprise since everyone think that chelsea going to win no point watching it
it will be 1-sided match for chelsea but for man utd must see what line-up man utd put -
hahaha..u watch your football on which planetOriginally posted by ghimpheng:no surprise since everyone think that chelsea going to win -
Originally posted by ghimpheng:no surprise since everyone think that chelsea going to win no point watching it
it will be 1-sided match for chelsea but for man utd must see what line-up man utd put -
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Now where's Agenda?