Wembley as P/O FInal venue

Tranmerewhite

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I’m sure this is a debate that’s been had before, however; why is the playoff final at Wembley?

The biggest possible fixture this division can currently accommodate is Tranmere vs Orient/Wrexham which would be 35-40k. Down to a realistic smallest of Dover vs Boreham Wood of below 10k.

Surely in either scenario a much more suitable venue could be picked? Potentially the option for either a northern or southern venue. E.G Manchester City Etihad which holds 55k or Anfield. In the south there’s Readings Madjeski 32k.

Secondly the prices. We are talking about non league football, where fans either want to escape the premier league hype or staying loyal to a fallen league club, in either scenario the £46 ticket is outrageous for the standard. Last year I paid for myself plus one, due to only having essentially 10 days to book (after 3-0 win at shots) the train also cost £92 each and then the exorbitant Wembley prices, resulting in a day out for 2 people costing me the best part of £400.

A more central venue, such as the Etihad would have been less than half the cost for Tranmere fans and cheaper too for FGR, while being no further away for their fans.

Thoughts?
 

Tranmerewhite

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Apparently it was supposed to be held at Prenton Park this season, but Chester are still celebrating their 0-0 draw on the pitch.
Explains why none of them attend Chester home matches?
 

Silkman72

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We don’t want to play at the Ethihad !!
 

Master D

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The Wimbledon v Luton playoff final was at the Etihad and it still wasn’t full there.
 

Reremnart

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We don’t want to play at the Ethihad !!

Couldn`t agree more. I haven`t been to a match there (mainly because I hate City. They are a money leaden disease on the face of English Football IMO) so I can`t comment on the match day experience but I have been there for concerts and it is not the best place to go to. There are hardly any pubs, or places to eat, parking is very limited and the whole area around the stadium is run down and depressing. Come to think of it it`s pretty much like Wembley really in that respect.

I do however agree that Wembley is far too big for the Play Off final especially given that as many as half of the club`s in this league are tin pot with very little fan base. OK it might work out if one of the London/South East teams are in the final (like Bromley who have sold 12500 tickets for the FA Trophy for example) against us or say Wrexham play in the final it might get a 25-30 k crowd (or in Orient`s case probably a lot more) but image Fylde against Boreham Wood. What sort of crowd would that attract ? Last season was a joke crowd wise given the pathetic support Forest Gump managed to drag off the streets of Nailsworth.

The other factor that I think effects the crowd for the Play Off is that the fans of the clubs involved only get a weeks notice between the semis and the final. Surely it is about time they seriously looked at playing this game after the FA Trophy/Vase matches therefore giving people more time to organise travel etc. I know quite a few people who wanted to go last year but there unable to do so due to lack of cheap rail tickets, coaches etc at such short notice. When you consider that the Trophy finalists have as much as 6 weeks to sort themselves out I find it somewhat silly that the fans wanting to attend what is after all a far more important game are given so little time to prepare for it, especially Northern based fans who have to travel hundreds of miles to get to Wembley

The ideal scenario would be use one of the larger stadiums in the Midlands like Villa Park but there again I vowed never to set foot in that place again after the 1994 League Cup Semi (memories of which still haunts me even to this day) but having said that I don`t think playing at a Premier League ground has the same appeal as playing at the National Stadium for either fans or players at this level.
 
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rudebwoyben

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I don't think the Madjelski Stadium would be an appealing prospect as a play-off final venue either!
 

White Army

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I like Wembley. Don’t care how many people are there, seeing Connor Jennings blast one in from 25 yards, and the celebrations that followed will stay with me forever.
 
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Tranmerewhite

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I don't think the Madjelski Stadium would be an appealing prospect as a play-off final venue either!
It was just an example.

There has to be a venue that is more easily accessible and can allow a reduction in the ticket prices.
 

Harrier94

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Villa Park wouldn't be a bad shout for a stadium.
 

Bluandwite

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Apparently it was supposed to be held at Prenton Park this season, but Chester are still celebrating their 0-0 draw on the pitch.
Wrong, the 2-2 from the season before more like. We'll go on a day out to Prenton Park next season on the 0-0's anniversary instead of Spennymoor away.
 

Tranmerewhite

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Wrong, the 2-2 from the season before more like. We'll go on a day out to Prenton Park next season on the 0-0's anniversary instead of Spennymoor away.
Tranmere vs Oldham will be a proper “derby”.
 

B2TF

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I think only someone who's seen his team at Wembley multiple times would ask this question. Who cares if it's not full. Wembley is the national football stadium, why should only the pro-teams in the Football League get to play there? We got to within 10 minutes of going back into the League in 2006. The game was supposed to be at Wembley but they hadn't finished it so we had to play at Leicester - a stroll down the road for opponents Hereford. The game itself DESERVED a Wembley setting. We lost and didn't even have the consolation of "at least we've been to Wembley". You piss off and play your final at the Etihad if you want but it's Wembley for me, every time. :cool1:
 

B2TF

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They should hold it at the Impact Arena, home of Alfreton Town.
Hey douche bag, we get it, scoring at The Shay was a dream for you, a lucky fluke though it was. Change your avatar. Do you fancy North or South next season? :bdick:
 

B2TF

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Wrong, the 2-2 from the season before more like. We'll go on a day out to Prenton Park next season on the 0-0's anniversary instead of Spennymoor away.
Chester, Chester, Chester, how on earth did it come to this........ :ffs:
 

UTS

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Villa Park is the immediate candidate... 40,000 capacity and in the middle of the country.
 

Pablosammy

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Villa Park is the immediate candidate... 40,000 capacity and in the middle of the country.
That's always been my candidate too, although Wolves would also be good. Notts County, Forest, Birmingham, Leicester, Stoke... they could all take turns.

I realise I might be seen as a killjoy, but I really dislike the new Wembley, especially when it's 70% empty.
 

UTS

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That's always been my candidate too, although Wolves would also be good. Notts County, Forest, Birmingham, Leicester, Stoke... they could all take turns.

I realise I might be seen as a killjoy, but I really dislike the new Wembley, especially when it's 70% empty.
I’ve been once to Wembley to watch England vs Scotland a year or so back... the crowd was 80,000+ and I still didn’t rate the atmosphere... if anything the stadium is too big... the stands behind the goals aren’t close to the pitch either. Getting out was an absolute nightmare I have no idea how Tottenham fans cope every week it was absolute gridlock at HT and FT in the concourse.
 

The Terminator

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Pretty sure Stoke was used as well to host Doncaster 3-2 Dagenham back in 2003.

You can make an argument for both cases IMO of having the game at Wembley or elsewhere.

Pride Park of Derby would be a good shout IMO, near the train station and centre of town.

I guess policing is also something that needs to be considered.
 
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Soup Ladle

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When we played Wednesday at Cardiff in the L1 play off final, we took 18,000 and they had 40k odd. I really wish it had been at Wembley even if it would’ve been 20-30k under capacity. Everyone deserves their day there, still waiting for ours.
 

E10rifle

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We are shit at Wembley in playoff finals (great in the league before you ask why I’ve specified*), so I’m all for it. Villa Park would almost certainly be sufficient for every possible game. We had c.28,000 and c.25,000 in our two recent trips to Wembley, and I seriously doubt we’d match that further north.


*I realise this specification may in itself require further explanation.
 

Meadow

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As mentioned above, we (Wimbledon) played Luton at the Etihad in the playoff final due to Wembley being reserved for the Champions League final. We took about 9000 with the tickets at nearly £40 plus the travelling costs.

Contrast that with our L2 playoff final at Wembley. We were outnumbered by Plymouth but we took 23,000 and the tickets were well under £30.
 

Meadow

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As it happens, I don't like Wembley very much, but as I work as a steward there (when Wimbledon are away), bring it on.
 

Boz

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Why do the NL final tickets at Wembley have to be at such an extortionate price, when compared with other events held there?

The new Wembley doesn’t have the same romance as the old stadium, twin towers etc. It’s fairly soulless. Can’t get any more fired up about playing there than Villa Park, The Etihad etc
 

Pablosammy

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As mentioned above, we (Wimbledon) played Luton at the Etihad in the playoff final due to Wembley being reserved for the Champions League final. We took about 9000 with the tickets at nearly £40 plus the travelling costs.

Contrast that with our L2 playoff final at Wembley. We were outnumbered by Plymouth but we took 23,000 and the tickets were well under £30.
Vanarama National final tickets are well over £40. It's stupid.
 

Laika

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Well, I like Wembley. I'd have been much more annoyed after last year's FA Trophy final if we had lost AND I then found myself in Birmingham.
 

Luke Imp

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We did two PO Finals at Cardiff while Wembley was being built, so the chance to watch Lincoln at Wembley in a Cup Final a couple of weekends ago was a great experience and even better that we won.

The actual Stadium didn't feel as big as I thought it would be. I know that sounds a little daft because it looks huge from the outside, but I think they designed it very well whereby even though it's a big place, with having the tiers quite steep and overlapping each other a little, it means you feel quite close to the pitch even in areas you usually wouldn't feel so i.e. the corners. I was in the tier below the Exec Boxes and even though I was in a corner, it still felt like you could get a decent idea of what was going on all over the pitch. There was plenty of leg room with wider than normal seats (that didn't feel the cheaper plastic ones you usually get even though they looked like it). The seats had a little more space between them as well so you didn't feel crammed in and didn't have to stand up as people wanted to get past..

It had a very weird choreographed feel about it, though. Don't get me wrong, some of it was needed and done very well, but there seemed to be a lot of jobs worth types around i.e. someone explaining to Waterfall how to lift a trophy! That was probably just how they run a Final and would be the same elsewhere, mind.

They constantly played music at times when you just wanted it turned off and to have a sing song and hear the fans sing. Any lull in sound and the PA system kicked in. That was annoying.

As UTS says, the traffic and parking is horrendous. We pre-booked in the 'Red' car park, which is right outside the Stadium. It took us nearly 2 hours to do the final 3 miles because 3 lanes suddenly became 1 and then a car park attendant was physically writing down everything on your confirmation email onto a separate piece of paper for some reason. There were two of them doing that in what was probably a 500+ sized multi storey car park.

If you've been there before to watch your team, I can understand why you'd not bother again. Location wise it's in a pretty shit and run down area, Wembley way looks nothing like it does on the TV, parking is horrendous even if you pre-book but there are tonnes of hotels a stones throw from the Stadium. It's still a building site around the Stadium, too.

Our tickets were £21-£63. How that compares to other games I'm not sure. Parking was £30 at official Wembley parking, which was well worth it in terms of how close it was to the Stadium, security and convenience.

Ended up being 30,000 Lincoln there.

In short, I can understand why those who haven't done Wembley to watch their team would want these matches to be played at Wembley and why those who have been there and done it wouldn't be fussed about it being moved to a Villa Park/Bet365 etc.

EDIT - I'm not sure whether this was just us, but we couldn't pick our seats or blocks - just the category of ticket we wanted. The Club were told to sell blocks anti-clockwise.
 

DontBringBertie

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Why do the NL final tickets at Wembley have to be at such an extortionate price, when compared with other events held there?

The new Wembley doesn’t have the same romance as the old stadium, twin towers etc. It’s fairly soulless. Can’t get any more fired up about playing there than Villa Park, The Etihad etc

Is it actually soulless? Or is that just the fashionable thing to say about any new stadium.
 

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