LIVERPOOL and Manchester City fans are demanding that their FA Cup semi-final next month be played at Old Trafford.
The Premier League’s top two drew each other on Sunday after reaching the FA Cup’s final four, with the match set to take place on April 16/17.
Plans have been thrown into chaos, however, with scheduled engineering work meaning that there will be no trains to the North West from London Euston that weekend.
This means that neither team’s fans will be able to travel by rail to the match, in a major blow.
Manchester United are set to host Norwich in the Premier League that weekend, but Spirit of Shankly chairman Joe Blott would like to see the FA come up with a solution to have Liverpool’s clash with City moved to the Theatre of Dreams.
He told the Mail: “In an ideal situation we would like to see it played at Old Trafford.
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“It is easily accessible for both sets of fans, rail travel is available and cheaper coach travel.
“It is a big ground and if there is a hit on tickets the FA should take the hit on it not general admission.
“I appreciate United have a home game but this is on the FA. They should be on top of this.”
Scheduled engineering works have been planned for that weekend up to two years in advance, although the FA decided to place semi-finals weekend on those dates regardless.
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Coach travel to and from the game could set fans travelling from Merseyside back as much as £49, compared to the £19 it would cost to travel to and from Manchester.
Despite strong calls for the match to be moved, the FA confirmed this morning that they will NOT be relocating the match.
Blott added: “As days go by it becomes more unrealistic. This is why the FA should have realised when the quarter-final draw was made.
“Did they not know? At least three North West teams were in those quarter-finals.
‘THIS IS RIDICULOUS’
“Where was their forward planning? Engagement with the Premier League should have taken place weeks ago. Where was Plan B?”
MP Clive Efford weighed in: “This is ridiculous, either the Government should tell network rail to reschedule the maintenance work on the railway or the match should be moved to the North West.”
Kevin Parker of Manchester City’s official supporters’ club said: “Nobody is surprised. The FA will have known this was going to be a problem and yet have done nothing about it.
“They could have made arrangements to play this game at Old Trafford. However, for them it is just about money, not the supporters of City or Liverpool.”
Kevin Miles of the Football Supporters’ Association added: “It appears to be another glaring example of common sense failing to prevail.
“Unfortunately, it seems fans are still the last consideration and we still have a position where nobody asks fans what they think. The key thing is consultation and find out what people think. No one has asked.”