ENGLISH football fans were today hoping to have a clearer idea about the location of the new national stadium, a day before this year’s FA Cup Final.
It was expected that the FA would confirm in a statement that it has secured funding from a Germ
an bank for construction of a £715 million, 90,000-seat stadium at Wembley.
The statement was also expected to confirm that the FA has passed the other conditions set by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell in December.
A Government deadline for the FA and the group behind the London bid - Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL) - to satisfy the demands expired earlier this week.
But the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will not make an announcement on the bid until next week because of yesterday’s local elections.
The team behind Birmingham’s plans for the National Stadium said earlier this week that the West Midlands bid was "ready to go" if the Wembley scheme faltered.
Today’s expected announcement comes one day before thousands of fans flock to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff for this year’s final between Arsenal and Chelsea.
Last year’s match at the stadium was such a success that many supporters started calling for the final to remain in south Wales permanently.
But Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters’ Association, said that fans were less worried about the stadium’s location, and more about how many tickets would be available for future games.
He said: " The main issue will be how many tickets there are available for ordinary fans.
"We believe that a high proportion of the 90,000 seats will be ‘high premium’ seats that are not available to ordinary fans."
He also said that transport problems around Wembley needed to be addressed before any new stadium was built there.
"The other growing concern is that the transport infrastructure for fans in the area will not be up to scratch," he said.
"People fear that going to the new Wembley will be just as frustrating as going to the old Wembley."
Lewis v Tyson a sell-outLENNOX LEWIS’ June 8 showdown with Mike Tyson at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis is officially a sell-out.
All 19,185 tickets have been sold for the match-up between WBC, IBF and IBO heavyweight title holder Lewis and former undisputed world champion Tyson.
Ticket sales have produced a record gross gate of $23,026,042 (£15,739,971), shattering the previous mark of $16,860,300 (£11,526,444) for Lewis-Holyfield in 1999.
South African coup for northSOUTH AFRICAN rugby stars have turned their backs on the Springboks and secured moves to the northern hemisphere with Pieter Rossouw signing for London Irish while Robbie Kempson has joined Ulster.
Rossouw is currently the top tryscorer in the Super 12.
Murrayfield kids defend trophyMURRAYFIELD’S under-14 ice hockey side defend the Lynn Pollock Cup at Prestwick this weekend.
They face opposition from 20 teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and France, including Bordeaux, Inverness, Milton Keynes, and Castlereagh.
Blades fined over ‘battle’SHEFFIELD UNITED have been fined £10,000 over the infamous Division One clash with West Brom, dubbed the Battle of Bramall Lane, in which they had three players sent off.
Manager Neil Warnock, player-coach Keith Curle, French midfielder Georges Santos and Cameroon international striker Patrick Suffo were also punished individually for their parts in the debacle at Bramall Lane on Saturday, March 16 which was abandoned after Michael Brown and Rob Ullathorne left the field injured.
Scots climb the rankingsRUSSELL Hogg (Dunfermline) and Kirsteen McEwan (Barrhead) have risen to 15 in the International Badminton Federation’s latest mixed doubles world rankings.
McEwan and Elinor Middlemiss (Edinburgh) have also climbed up the women’s doubles lists to 42 following last weekend’s fine performance in reaching the semi-finals of the Austrian Open.
But the top Scottish pairing remains Sandra Watt (Edinburgh) and Yuan Wemyss (Dumfries), who are rated at 15.
