English FA to work with Man City and Liverpool to help fans attend FA Cup semi-final

Planned railway works mean there are no direct trains from Manchester and Liverpool to London for the weekend of the game

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The English Football Association (FA) has said it will work with Manchester City and Liverpool to help fans attend next month's FA Cup semi-final between the teams at Wembley amid concerns over a lack of public transport.

In a joint statement issued by Liverpool supporters group 'Spirit of Shankly' and City's 'We are 1894', concerns were raised that it would be difficult for fans to attend as engineering work scheduled for April 16-17 means there will be no direct trains to London from Manchester and Liverpool.

"More than 64,000 travelling supporters will be forced on to the roads, which will already be overburdened with bank holiday traffic," the supporters groups said. "For the other semi between Chelsea and Crystal Palace, Wembley makes sense. For Liverpool and City it makes no sense."

The FA said in a statement that it would meet Liverpool and City to discuss match arrangements and announce further details in due course.

"We are also continuing to work with both Network Rail and National Express to find a solution so that supporters of both teams are able to travel to and from the fixture, with as minimal disruption as possible," the FA said.

The supporters groups called for the match to be moved, although the FA's statement suggests there are no plans to relocate the match away from England's national stadium.

"City and Liverpool are less than 40 miles apart and there are plenty of grounds big enough far closer than Wembley to stage such a prestigious game," the supporters group statement added.

Updated: March 22, 2022, 7:40 AM