The FA Cup Thread 2010/2011

[The Future]

I'd rather face Reading, they'd probably give it a good go instead of unleashing Gareth Barry football genius on us.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Wanted City in the final, but after some thought, I'd love United/Bolton. This also means Bolton or Stoke are guranteed a place in Europe right? That's brilliant news, granted that it's Bolton of course, who really deserve a chance like that.

[Adam]

I don't think so, they got rid of that rule on the runners-up a couple of years ago. If Man Utd or Man City win the trophy, 6th place in the Premier Division will get the spot IIRC.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

I don't think so, they got rid of that rule on the runners-up a couple of years ago. If Man Utd or Man City win the trophy, 6th place in the Premier Division will get the spot IIRC.

Really? I thought the rule was that if the winners are in Europe, then the runners up get into the Europa League (in the case that they aren't already) and 6th place in the PL loses out?

[EddieG]

Nope, only winners go to Europe, if they already qualified through the league/another cup, it opens a spot in the PL, before the League Cup, there's only 5 Euro places in the PL, still 5 now that Birmingham qualified (Still can't get over this. ) So if Bolton or Stoke win the FA Cup, there's only 1 team in the PL going to the Europa League.

[Adam]

I don't think so, they got rid of that rule on the runners-up a couple of years ago. If Man Utd or Man City win the trophy, 6th place in the Premier Division will get the spot IIRC.

Really? I thought the rule was that if the winners are in Europe, then the runners up get into the Europa League (in the case that they aren't already) and 6th place in the PL loses out?

That did used to be the case, but they changed it in recent seasons. You see that Portsmouth weren't in the Europa League this season, Liverpool were.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

I don't think so, they got rid of that rule on the runners-up a couple of years ago. If Man Utd or Man City win the trophy, 6th place in the Premier Division will get the spot IIRC.

Really? I thought the rule was that if the winners are in Europe, then the runners up get into the Europa League (in the case that they aren't already) and 6th place in the PL loses out?

That did used to be the case, but they changed it in recent seasons. You see that Portsmouth weren't in the Europa League this season, Liverpool were.

Portsmouth didn't go in due to admin, so their place went to Liverpool I believe? I'm pretty confused because others are saying that as long as the winner is in the CL, the runner up WILL go into Europe :/

From elsewhere:

If United win the FA Cup the runner up goes into the Europa League unless they've qualified for Europe by another route in which case it will be the highest team in the league who haven't qualified by another means.

If City win the cup they go into the Europa League, unless they've already qualified for Europe (either competition) in which case that spot goes to the highest team in the league who haven't qualified by another means.

Edited March 13, 2011 by JohnnyPerfect

[Starvinho]

United vs City semi-final?

Obviously very excited about the game, hopefully it will live up to the League Cup semi's a couple years back and not the 0-0 monstrosity earlier this season. And the prospect of a United-Bolton final sounds very good too!

[Pesci]

Cup runners up don't get into Europe any more.

[britneyspearsisgod]

As of the 2009–10 season qualification for the UEFA Champions League changes' date=' the top four teams in the Premier League qualify for the UEFA Champions League, with the top three teams directly entering the group stage. Previously only the top two teams qualified automatically. The fourth-placed team enters the Champions League at the play-off round for non-champions and must win a two-legged knockout tie in order to enter the group stage.[sup'][23] The team placed fifth in the Premier League automatically qualifies for the UEFA Europa League, and the sixth and seventh-placed teams can also qualify, depending on the winners of the two domestic cup competitions. If one of the cup winners qualifies for Europe through their league position, the sixth-placed team in the Premier League will qualify for the Europa League. If both of the cup winners qualify for the Champions League through their league position, the sixth and seventh-placed teams in the Premier League will qualify for the Europa League. If either domestic cup competition is contested between teams outside the top four league positions, the winner will automatically qualify for the UEFA Europa League regardless of their final league position. A further place in the UEFA Europa League is also available via the Fair Play initiative. If the Premier League has one of the three highest Fair Play rankings in Europe, the highest ranked team in the Premier League Fair Play standings which has not already qualified for Europe will automatically qualify for the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round

CREDIT: Various Sources via Wikipedia

So there.

[Adam]

Pompey missing out was nothing to do with their administration.

[Bobfoc]

I believe that the situation with Portsmouth was such that they would have missed out on a European place even if they had won the FA Cup. It was something to do with the fact that the club didn't apply for a UEFA club licence during their period in administration.

[DavidMarrio]

I believe that the situation with Portsmouth was such that they would have missed out on a European place even if they had won the FA Cup. It was something to do with the fact that the club didn't apply for a UEFA club licence during their period in administration.

We have a winner.

Congrats to Bolton and Stoke for getting to the FA Cup semi finals it's nice to see them get their day at wembley and then the chance to win the FA Cup.

I'm kinda glad United and City got drawn together as it'll mean one of the big teams will go out but to be honest I wanted them to meet in the final the atmosphere, banter and aftermath for whoever won and whoever lost in terms of bragging rights would have been good to see.

Time to support Bolton and hope they win the FA Cup even if it means Liverpool not getting into Europa League which to be honest wouldn't really bother me

[Baddar]

The same still applies to the Utd-City match though. If United win, it'll be another year that City have failed to win a trophy (providing they don't win the Europa from here) and we'll be fancied in the final, whoever we would meet - same goes for City.

And besides, the nerves are going to be bad enough for the semi's as it is - I'm not sure I could handle a derby day final.

[Lineker]

Stoke or Bolton in Europe, nice!

FA say #Bolton or #Stoke will qualify for Europe even as runners-up of FA Cup IF United and City finish in top four.

[Pesci]

Guess I'm cheering for City to win the FA Cup and Spurs to get past them in the league, then.

[Lineker]

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has predicted "absolute chaos" during FA Cup semi-final weekend.

All four competing teams will travel to Wembley from the north west of England while Liverpool fans will be heading to Arsenal on Sunday for a league clash.

"It's going to be absolute chaos - but there's nothing that can be done about it," said Ferguson.

"Think of the amount of people driving down. You've got Villa Park and Anfield on your doorstep."

United face local rivals Manchester City at 1715 BST on Saturday 16 April and a day later Bolton play Stoke in a 1600 BST kick-off.

Liverpool's match at the Emirates Stadium also begins at 1600 BST - and takes place on the same day as the London Marathon.

"There will be 60,000 people coming down from Manchester - think about how much petrol is used for that?" added Ferguson.

"Stoke fans, Bolton fans, City fans, United fans - and on the same weekend Liverpool fans are travelling down. And you've also got people coming down to see the London Marathon.

"I don't think the cost of people travelling down to Wembley is considered."

A Football Association spokesman told the BBC: "We look forward to welcoming the four teams to Wembley next month, where 180,000 fans will enjoy a fantastic football spectacle in the two games."

Semi-finals have been played at the new Wembley since 2008 and are scheduled to continue to be take place at the venue as the FA attempts to recoup the costs of building the stadium.

However, it is understood that the FA may review the current situation during a consultation of the FA Cup competition.

Meanwhile, United will take on Spanish champions Barcelona in a friendly as part of their pre-season tour of the United States.

Man Utd's US tour fixtures

v New England Rev - 13 July

v Seattle Sounders - 20 July

v Chicago Fire - 23 July

v MLS All Stars - 27 July

v Barcelona - 30 July

The sides, who last faced each other in the 2009 Champions League final, will meet on 30 July at the 91,704-capacity FedExField in Washington.

Barcelona are likely to provide Ferguson's team with their strongest test in the five-match tour.

United will also play against three MLS club sides and an all-star select XI.

The Old Trafford club will take on New England Revolution in Boston on 13 July and Seattle Sounders on 20 July in Seattle before facing Chicago Fire on 23 July.

The Red Devils will then meet MLS All Stars on 27 July at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.

The meeting with Barcelona at FedExField, which is home to the Washington Redskins NFL team, will round off the tour and is sure to evoke memories of recent battles in European competition.

The Catalan side were 2-0 victors over United in the 2009 Champions League final, but a Paul Scholes goal at Old Trafford saw the Red Devils prevail in their semi-final clash the previous season , with Sir Alex Ferguson's men going on to lift the trophy in Moscow.

All I can say is that hopefully when Wembley is out of the red, they revert back to having the semi's at OT/Villa Park. It's so stupid as it is now and takes the specialness away from reaching the final.

[DavidMarrio]

I've never liked the idea of the semis being at Wembley, I mean it is just the FA trying to be money grabbing bastards by having 3 games at Wembley and always liked the semis being at the likes of Villa Park, WHL, Old Trafford etc. But atleast the teams who get the semis could say "oh we've been wembley"

(I remember when we played Chelsea at Old Trafford haha )

Fergie does have a point though, they've cocked up their. Roads are gonna be a nightmare

[stokeriño]

I'm sure the Met are overjoyed as well.

[Starvinho]

I always liked our FA Cup semi's at Villa Park because we never bloody lose there, it's like our second home. The Wembley semi's are shite though, they take away some of the specialness for cup final day in my opinion.