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YORK CITY SOUTH

Southern Connections 2005/6

No FA Cup Final At Wembley Stadium This Year

25/Feb/2006 (Forest Green) - Dot Brown

My friends Christine and Kevin came over to West London for the day. We enjoyed some winter sunshine on a walk around Ruislip Lido and then on the way home we took a small detour to show them the new Wembley Stadium. They had not seen it close up and they were very impressed with what they saw. There was still evidence of work underway and on our journey home we debated if it would be ready in time to host the FA Cup Final in May 2006.

Well now we know. The Football Association announced this week that this year's FA Cup Final will now take place at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff. They have also decided to move England's World Cup warm-up matches against Hungary on 30 May and Jamaica on 3 June to Old Trafford. The FA took these decisions after the company building the new stadium were unable to give "100% certainty" that the Wembley Stadium would be ready by 13 May. Apparently even if the building was finished by the end of March, the management of the new stadium still need to train their staff and satisfy safety officials that they are ready to put on major events.

In his statement, the Wembley Stadium Chief Executive, Michael Cunnah, acknowledged his disappointment about the delays and said 'It is still too early to say exactly when the stadium will open. We will announce a definitive date once we have more certainty on when the stadium will be fully ready and finished to world-class specification. Wembley will be the greatest stadium in the world and will host the most exciting events in the sport and music calendar for many years to come." See the Wembley Stadium website.

I am looking forward to visiting the completed Wembley Stadium soon - and dream of the day I can watch York City FC playing there!

PHOTO - A January 2006 evening at Wembley Stadium [Photo by Kevin Barrow]

Next Social Evening - TUESDAY 7 March 2006 - Dagenham Social Club, before the game. Everyone welcome.

More information? Please check our website for more information.

Kit Kat Crescent Southern Connections