FA Cup Semifinal Revisted: A Day in the Life of a Fan

"We’ve all got season cards, you’ve all got oyster cards" rang out from the Manchester City fans as they taunted their red rivals on the London underground.

Even on public transport the atmosphere was electric; there was a notable sense of excitement and trepidation hanging in the air, but the day was just beginning.

Being a Manchester City fan, I had little experience of Wembley; our last visit was the '98/'99 second division playoff final.  Unfortunately, a pre-booked family holiday meant that our viewing of the match was limited to an Irish bar in Alcudia, Spain, sitting next to an increasingly arrogant, then notably sheepish, Gillingham fan. 

The on-field drama was matched by a parental dispute, after my dad had remarked he would rather be at the game than on holiday.  I was rather ambivalent about the situation; the all-inclusive resort meant all the pineapple juice and ice cream an 11-year-old boy could ever ask for. 

But this was 2011, and the second Manchester derby semifinal in two years, following the previous year’s Carling Cup disappointment.  The FA Cup semi was not a two-legged affair at Eastlands and Old Trafford, however.  This was a one-off, knockout game at Wembley.

Wem-ber-ley!

We parked up in Queensbury and headed to the nearest pub for a few drinks to calm the nerves.  Upon noticing the pub was also a restaurant, my dad inquired, “Shall we come back for a celebratory meal after the game?” to which my 13-year-old cousin replied, “So we’re not coming back then”.

Ah, the optimism City have brought to even the youth.

Stepping out of Wembley Park tube station, we were presented with a phenomenal sight—one which will stand the hairs on the back of any football fan’s neck—Wembley Way and the stadium arch.

We were finally here.

Three years after the Abu Dhabi United Group’s takeover of the club, we were on the verge of major silverware.  The previous season’s League Cup was tense, but the FA Cup was an altogether different proposition; this was the world’s leading domestic cup competition.

Wembley Way was a scene awash with blue and red; fans drinking freely in the streets were singing their club’s anthems, whilst vendors squeezed every penny from the gathered masses, with £7 burgers and wretched half-and-half scarves.

The escalators to the top tier seemed never-ending as we made our way to our seats on the back row and waited for the teams to arrive.

A deafening noise rang out as the teams took to the pitch.  Huge roars greeted every Manchester City player’s name—our gladiators for the day, taking on an enemy so abhorrently evil that they adorned the devil himself upon their garments.

It was time for the United team-sheet to be announced; we turned our backs.  Then 45,000 blue shirts in unison began leaping, arm-in-arm (a celebration taken from the previous season’s Europa League opponents, Lech Poznan).  The stadium rocked.

United started the better of the two teams, and I immediately felt it was going to be a long 90 minutes.  It what appears to be Dimitar Berbatov’s last meaningful game for United, he spurned multiple chances to put the Red Devils ahead.  Joe Hart smartly smothered his first chance, but mere seconds later Hart was helpless as Berbatov had the goal at his mercy.  He missed, badly.  The momentum changed from that moment.

City finished the half well on top, but it was not until shortly until after the break when the match winner stamped his influence on Wembley’s hallowed turf.  Michael Carrick played a sloppy pass in front of his own penalty box to which Yaya Toure did not need a second invitation.  The giant Ivorian gained possession of the ball and easily strode past United’s solid, but slightly immobile, Serbian centre-half, Nemanja Vidic, before coolly slotting the ball under the out-rushing goalkeeper.

Cue pandemonium in the stands.

Strangers leapt into each other’s arms in the way that only football could induce.  As long as we could keep a clean sheet, we were in the FA Cup final.  United produced one free kick which required a diving save from Joe Hart, but the Barclays Premier League’s tightest defence was rarely troubled.  Yaya Toure continued his damaging central runs, and Shaun Wright-Phillips confirmed that United left back Patrice Evra struggles against pacey opposition.  United were kept on the back foot and City claimed the most important derby win in recent history.

Blue Moon rang throughout Wembley, and not for the last time.

I never did get that celebratory meal, though.