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Road to... Cardiff Millennium Stadium to host English FA Cup final
Updated: Thursday January 04, 2001 6:34 PM
CARDIFF, Wales (AP) -- The next three FA Cup finals will be staged at Cardiff's 75,000-capacity Millennium Stadium, the first time the prestigious event will be played outside England in its 129-year history. The move away from London, announced Thursday by the Football Association, was made because Wembley -- venue for the FA Cup final since 1923 -- is due for demolition and won't be rebuilt until 2003 at the earliest. This year's final will be played on May 12. The Football League also announced at the same news conference that the League Cup finals also will be staged in Cardiff over the same period. The first would be February 25. FA chief executive Adam Crozier said the Charity Shield -- the traditional season opener between the league and cup titlists -- also would be played at the Millennium Stadium. "We're absolutely delighted that the FA Cup final and the Charity Shield are going to be staged at the Millennium Stadium, which is already established as one of top sporting arenas in Europe," Crozier said. "This year will be first time an FA Cup final is staged away from Wembley since 1922 but, as we saw during the rugby union World Cup in 1999, the Millennium Stadium generates a unique atmosphere. "Of course we had alternatives but we couldn't go to a club ground in England just in case that club reached the final," Crozier said. The Millennium Stadium, built to stage the 1999 rugby union World Cup final, is the biggest ground anywhere in Britain. It has a sliding roof to keep out the rain and is guaranteed to be a neutral venue no matter which teams reach the final. But the pitch's surface has been criticized for cutting up too quickly. The FA feared that, after the stadium had staged three Six Nations rugby union games during the winter, it would not be fit to stage such a high-profile soccer game as the FA Cup final. By contrast, Wembley had a reputation for having one of the finest playing surfaces in the world. The FA sought assurances from the owners of the Cardiff stadium that the field would be re-laid well before the Cup Final. "I am not worried about the pitch. I am sure it will be in great shape," Crozier said. "We all know the best games need a terrific pitch and I am confident that will happen." Among the alternatives to the Millennium Stadium were 74,000-capacity Twickenham and 67,000-seater Murrayfield rugby union grounds and Manchester United's Old Trafford, which now has a capacity of 67,600. Since the FA Cup final was first played in 1872, the game had been staged at six different grounds around England before it gained a permanent home at Wembley in north London.
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