Gary Neville has offered to pay for a Manchester City fan and his son to attend the FA Cup final, but on one strict condition.
City booked their place in the showpiece fixture with a 3-0 win against Sheffield United in the semi-final at Wembley on Saturday.
24 hours later crosstown rivals Manchester United squeezed past Brighton on penalties, setting up a Manchester derby final on June 3.
69,603 people turned out at Wembley to see Riyad Mahrez score the first semi-final hat-trick since 1958, more than 20,000 below the stadium’s official capacity.
There were sections of empty seats in both the City and Sheffield United ends, but Neville decided to mock the attendance of City fans on Twitter.
When one City fan challenged Neville, pointing out the significant expenses involved, the former United defender replied with a generous offer.
What did Neville say?
The fan said to Neville: “Hi @GNev2 @markgoldbridge, I’ve just seen the prices for the final at Wembley. I can’t afford to go with my son so I am just wondering if you fancy paying for us both? I would hate to disappoint you both having empty seats there.”
A few hours later Neville replied to the supporter: “Ok mate I will pay for you and your son. I will follow you now and if you can get tickets I will sort. Please DM me.
The Sky Sports pundit did have one condition though.
“Just one thing though. If you can’t handle jokes make sure you don’t sing about United in the future. That a deal?”
It’s not clear whether the fan took Neville up on his offer.
MCN view: It’s time to move Wembley semi-finals
Ticket prices are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to FA Cup matches at Wembley.
For fans of northern teams travelling down to the capital there are train tickets, hotel accommodation and food and drink to think about.
There has long been an argument to move the semi-finals away from Wembley as it spoils the magic of having the final at the national stadium.
The current cost of living crisis makes the FA’s refusal to relocate all-northern semi-finals even more infuriating.
Over the weekend a number of former players and pundits raised the issue.
Gary Lineker discussed the topic on the BBC’s coverage of Manchester United vs Brighton, while former Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher echoed the sentiment on Twitter.
“There are enough stadiums of 60k+ to cater for fans,” he said.
“Two teams from the North shouldn’t have to spend on travel to get to Wembley! It’s about paying off Wembley & nothing else.”
