City and Liverpool will meet over Easter weekend, but the mayors have said the game will be difficult for fans as engineering work scheduled for April 16-17 means there will be no direct trains to London from Manchester and Merseyside.
“This leaves tens of thousands of fans across our region in an unfair position, as both clubs’ supporter groups made clear today,” mayors Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram said in a joint letter to to FA President Debbie Hewitt.
“Without fast and direct trains, many people will have no choice but to drive, fly, take overly complex train journeys or book overnight accommodation.
“We believe the most obvious solution is to move this game to a more accessible stadium and offer to work constructively with you to achieve this,” added the letter sent on Tuesday.
The mayors added that rising fuel prices would impose excessive costs on fans while there were also “significant logistical and safety considerations” with thousands of fans converging on the M6 motorway.
“More than 64,000 traveling supporters will be forced to take to the roads, which will already be overloaded with public holiday traffic,” the two clubs’ supporters’ groups said in a joint statement.
“For the other semi-final between (London clubs) Chelsea and Crystal Palace, Wembley makes sense. For Liverpool and City, it doesn’t make sense.
“City and Liverpool are within 40 miles of each other and there are plenty of large enough grounds closer than Wembley to host such a prestigious game.”
The FA previously said in a statement to British media that they would meet with Liverpool and City to discuss match arrangements and announce further details in due course.
“We are also continuing to work with Network Rail and National Express to find a solution so that supporters of both teams can travel to and from the match, with as little disruption as possible,” the FA said.
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