Why are FA Cup semi-finals played at Wembley?
- Published
FA Cup semi-finals have been held permanently at Wembley Stadium since 2008.
Previously, neutral grounds including Villa Park, Old Trafford and Hillsborough hosted the fixtures - but in 2003 it was announced they would take place at the 'new' Wembley, after its rebuild.
The decision was primarily financial - to help repay the £798m cost of rebuilding a new national stadium.
Nick Barron, then a Football Association spokesperson, said the move was "a financial necessity".
The first semi-final held at Wembley was actually the 1991 north London derby between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, but the fixtures moved there permanently from 2008.
"There will be traditionalists upset by the idea of the semi-finals being at Wembley," said Barron.
"So will some fans of clubs who would have to travel a long way to London, and we appreciate that it's not necessarily an ideal situation."
When the FA released its 2022-23 annual report last year, chief executive Mark Bullingham said it had finished repaying the debt from building Wembley, describing it as a "significant milestone".
Could the semi-finals return to club stadiums?
The FA has not made an official statement on where future FA Cup semi-finals will be played but Wembley is the largest stadium in the United Kingdom - with a capacity of 90,000 - which allows more fans to attend.
In Europe, it is only second behind Barcelona's Nou Camp, which is being renovated.
The highest attendance for an FA Cup semi-final came in 2009, with 88,141 watching Manchester United against Everton.
Crowds for the past three years have been:
Coventry v Manchester United - 83,672 (2024)
Manchester City v Chelsea - 80,902 (2024)
Manchester City v Sheffield United - 69,603 (2023)
Brighton v Manchester United - 81,445 (2023)
Manchester City v Liverpool - 73,793 (2022)
Chelsea v Crystal Palace - 76,238 (2022)
Though switching the semi-finals to Wembley was initially a financial decision, reverting to club venues would limit the amount of fans who could attend.
The attendances for the past two FA Cup semi-finals played at club venues were 50,559 at Old Trafford (Chelsea v Blackburn) and 37,425 at Villa Park (Watford v Manchester United).
Venue change 'would make sense'
In 2022, former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson along with Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram - the mayors of Greater Manchester and Liverpool - called for the semi-final between Manchester City and Liverpool be switched to a venue in the north.
Engineering works meant no trains were running from either city to or from London that weekend.
Henderson said: "In my head it would make sense obviously to change it to a [different] neutral venue, especially with it being two teams from the north-west."
Burnham and Rotheram - in a joint letter to the FA - said: "We believe the most obvious solution is to move the game to a more accessible stadium and offer to work constructively with you to make that happen."
The FA provided free travel for 5,000 supporters to and from Anfield or the Etihad Stadium.
This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.
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