Wembley semis ruin the magic

I feel that staging both of the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley Stadium has devalued the world's oldest and most famous knockout competition.

Having these two matches played below the twin towers has taken away some of the attractiveness of the tournament for me, as I expect it has players and fans.

Wembley is the Mecca of soccer and it has always been the ambition of footballers to reach the FA Cup final there, as it meant you could play on the pitch everybody dreams of stepping out on.

The semi-final used to be just as thrilling as the final, because you knew you were only 90 minutes away from the hallowed turf. A bit of that magic has disappeared now because the Wembley route has become a lot easier path to tread.

When I was at Norwich City I played in a last four clash against Sunderland at Hillsborough in 1992. It was a great day for the fans and players and I remember being so nervous because of the anticipation building up inside the ground.

But it wasn't just the hope of making an FA Cup final which was so special, it was the fear of missing out on a chance of playing at the world's greatest stadium which was equally worrying.

We lost the match 1-0 and I was shattered because I was desperate to return to Wembley, where I had luckily played twice before with Bristol City during the mid 80s in the Freight Rover Trophy.

This venue has so much history and the feeling of sharing a pitch where so many great footballers have been in action during many memorable matches, including England's 1966 World Cup triumph, is a proud moment for any player.

But playing the semi-finals at Wembley takes a bit of that glory and desire away and makes the final in another five or six weeks time an anti-climax because you've already played there, which ruins the big match occasion.

I also think it is unfair to supporters to play both games at Wembley. For example, how much more money did it cost Newcastle United's fans to get to Wembley than their Chelsea rivals, who only live a few miles down the road.

There should be half-way meeting point, which is another argument for non-Wembley semi-finals, such as Villa Park or Hillsborough, which would have been economically fairer for both sets of fans.

And what about the other game between Bolton and Aston Villa at Wembley, they couldn't sell all the tickets for this match, which again asks the question, should the game have been played a bit closer to home for both sides?

But whatever happens in the future, this year's spectacle between Aston Villa and Chelsea should still be special because it will be the last FA Cup final at the old Wembley before it is pulled down for refurbishment. Things will never be the same again!

l I'll be at Wembley this weekend cheering on my first club Bristol City against Stoke City in the Auto Windscreens Shield final. It should be a great match and it will be a real trip down memory lane for me as I won this competition with Bristol City back in 1986 - come on you Robins!

Suspicions over our sweep

All the lads had a sweepstake on the Grand National, but there was a stewards' enquiry other the winners who made our top three and galloped off with the prizes.

The gaffer Alan Little came first, I was the organiser, but somehow managed to come runner-up and our head of youth Peter Trevivian trotted in third, which all the boys thought was a touch suspicious.

But just to prove that I'm a good sport I even handed out a booby prize to Dave Morley whose horse was the first to fall - how can you be fairer than that!

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.