The controversial decision to stage the FA Cup semi-final in London means there’s a long day ahead for supporters, given the lack of direct trains
The exodus will start at around 5am on Saturday. From Anfield and Aintree, Southport and Speke, Bootle and Birkenhead and everywhere in between.
All roads lead to Wembley, for Liverpool supporters. Pep Guardiola and Manchester City await in the semi-final of the FA Cup. Another big game in this biggest of seasons.
“It’s going to be an early start,” Reds fan Roy Bentham tells. “Well, it might be a late night for some people…”
Bentham is in charge of travel for Spirit of Shankly, the Liverpool supporters’ union, and it is fair to say his phone has been hot of late.
As Jurgen Klopp’s team pursues an unprecedented ‘quadruple’, demand for coach spaces, never mind match tickets, is as high as it has ever been.
That is certainly the case for this game, with no direct trains running between Liverpool (or Manchester) and London all weekend, due to engineering work which the FA knew about more than two years ago.
It means pretty much all of the 35,000 supporters heading down from Merseyside, and roughly the same amount from Manchester, will do so by car on a Bank Holiday weekend, meaning heavy heads, congested motorways and packed service stations.
“It’s just a shame,” says Joe Blott, the chair of Spirit of Shankly. “This is supposed to be a joyous occasion, one for fans to savour.
“But it’s been turned into something else; a chore, an inconvenience and a long, stressful day.”
