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YORK CITY SOUTH |
New Frontiers
Play Off Final - Wembley Or Not?
Before I start, let me say the nearest ground to my home that City have ever played on is Wembley Stadium. With that off my chest, I can’t see what all fuss about playing last season’s Conference Play Off Final at Wembley was all about, even accepting that it was closer to Oxford than York and a 5pm kick off time wasn’t the best for anyone.
Previous finals have been played at places like Stoke and Leicester. Modern, shiny new stadiums. But just imagine if it had been Oxford v Luton last season, not Oxford v York, you’d need The Emirates or Old Trafford or Millennium Stadium to fit everyone in. Even The City Of Manchester stadium possibly wouldn’t be big enough.
The authorities are hamstrung by the choice of venue if they’re trying to find one equidistant from both finalists. The finalists aren’t known until less than 2 weeks before the final. The final is palyed probably 3 weeks after The Championship and the lower leagues have finished their league programmes.
Choose early and you don’t know who is playing, choose late and you’ve limited choice.
Go to many a ground on the Monday after their last home game and the contractors are already in digging up the pitch in preparation for next season.
Play it at a Midlands venue and its not much easier to get to. OK, it might be shorter on the road, but for all its failings, public transport isn’t at its best on a Sunday.
I’m sure the 5 o’clock kick off time was entirely at the TV company’s request, Blue Square happy for any publicity they can get.
38,957 (or a few thousand more if you believe some reports) turned up at Wembley, we all paid a good whack for our tickets.
Anecdotal evidence tells me that City’s support was a couple of thousand lower than had seen us in The FA Trophy Final a year earlier, "The Wembley factor" having worn off in many cases.
Would we get a bigger support at a Midlands venue (or The City Of Manchester Stadium) than Wembley. Bear in mind we took about 4,000 to Stoke in January.
In my eyes, at either Manchester or The Midlands, we would have seen an attendance of under 30,000 with tickets prices much less than at Wembley. City’s share of Wembley was reported to be around £250,000. Move it and I suspect you're talking no more than £150,000 given the reduced attendance’s and reduced ticket prices.
Also, think for the players, its their big day out. I’m sure that earlier in their careers, they played at a succession of league grounds around the country. How many of the Oxford players had played at Wembley before the final How many of the York team had played there before we played Stevenage last season? Not many.
Its the players big day out, the fans big day out and a massive day for the club. It deserves a massive location.
PS The above was well drafted prior to Blue Square’s decision to hold the 2011 final in Manchester. Let’s hope its, say, Mansfield v York and not Luton v Newport.
Disclaimer: The opinions and views stated in New Frontiers are solely those of New Frontiers and do not necessarily represent those of York City Football Club or York City South (a branch of The York City Football Club Supporters Club).
Email Chris, New Frontiers editor & YCS site webmaster