"The traditional curtain raiser to the new season"

Ah, the Charity Shield..but yes, agree on both of those.

Fat chance.

Playing the semi finals at Wembley destroyed what little kudos the competition had left. The FA ladles out the bulls**t about "all the fans being able to see the game" as an excuse which very clearly and very evidently doesn't work.

If they truly want the semis at a neutral ground, play them at the Millenium Stadium.

Suspect the next step will be exemption from the competition from the clubs who are playing in the CL. However, despite the regular accusations of them not taking it seriously, Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have still managed to drag their half arsed, second XI efforts to victory in the competition 19 times in the last 25 years, 20 if you now count Man City as one of the "big" clubs.

Even when they don't seem to give a s**t the buggers still usually end up winning it.

Posted By: Martin Peters, May 11, 11:44:52