FA Cup Semi Finals

[CosmicHotspur]

Man City (or Reading) -v- Manure

Bolton -v- Stoke

 

[Marty]

Brilliant, come on United!

And then a win for Bolton or Stoke in the final would do nicely, as it will deny 6th place (ie Liverpool) Europa League next season :grin:

 

[Bonjour]

Would be good to see either Bolton or Stoke win it this year.

 

[TheChosenOne]

Where's Arsenal ? Ooops.

 

[Partizan]

Would be good to see either Bolton or Stoke win it this year.

Yes to Bolton but definitely NOT stoke. Would rather see Man Utd win it than bloody Stoke

 

[Batspur]

Blimey!

A straight draw. I suspect the cl will be a little more crooked.

 

[MrWoolley]

Hoping for a United vs Bolton final!

 

[mattdefoe]

i dont mind man city winning it at the expense of man utd, i dont want man utd having yet another fa cup to there name over us, if there going to win the prem i dont want them having a double season!!

City and an fa cup is so rare anyway theyd probly lose the final to bolton or stoke

 

[the watson]

Unless Man city beat reading and united, even less chance of liverpool playing europe next season? nice.

 

[Marty]

Unless Man city beat reading and united, even less chance of liverpool playing europe next season? nice.

Assuming they finish 6th, which is the only place that seems likely for them atm, Liverpool will not play in Europe next season if Bolton or Stoke win the cup. If Man U or Man C win, 6th place gets to play in Europe.

 

[the watson]

Assuming they finish 6th, which is the only place that seems likely for them atm, Liverpool will not play in Europe next season if Bolton or Stoke win the cup. If Man U or Man C win, 6th place gets to play in Europe.

oh right that makes more sense :doh:

 

[DogsOfWar]

Assuming they finish 6th, which is the only place that seems likely for them atm, Liverpool will not play in Europe next season if Bolton or Stoke win the cup. If Man U or Man C win, 6th place gets to play in Europe.

I have a feeling that the runners-up in the FA cup still qualify for Europe which means that only 5th will qualify for the Europa this season.

UEFA talked about ending it but it hasn't been implemented. If this is the case I thought Liverpool would struggle without a couple of seasons CL football but no European football at all will cripple them financially as well open up the flood gates for the likes of Reina and Gerrard to leave.

 

[KentuckyYid]

Could they still make it through via the Intertoto cup?

 

[DogsOfWar]

Could they still make it through via the Intertoto cup?

I think the Intertoto cup ended a couple of years ago.

 

[seany]

Could they still make it through via the Intertoto cup?

:lol:

 

[Hot-Spur]

Bolton Vs Stoke :sleepy:

 

[seany]

From the bbc site

Now then, the draw for the FA Cup semi-final also has another connotation... by our calculations, it looks very unlikely that sixth place will now be good enough for Europa League qualification. We think Bolton or Stoke are guaranteed a Europe League place courtesy of an FA Cup final appearance, provided their opponent - Man City or Man Utd - finishes in the top six of the Premier League. Now, England get an extra place in the Europa League if Man City or Liverpool win it, only if they don't qualify by some other means (i.e fifth place takes precedent over winning Europa League), while there is, of course, an extra Europa League place for the team that wins the Fair Play League. But, as it stands, you'll need to finish top five if you want to qualify for Europe this season. We, erm, think.

 

[Marty]

BBC are wrong, they're going by the old rules where the runners up get the FA Cup's European place.

The rules were changed in either 08 or 09, now only the cup winners get the Euro place. If the winners have already qualified for Europe, then regardless of where the losers finished, the place goes to 6th in the league.

Bolton or Stoke have to win the cup if they want to play in Europe. Being a losing finalist is not good enough.

 

[mattyspurs]

BBC are wrong, they're going by the old rules where the runners up get the FA Cup's European place.

The rules were changed in either 08 or 09, now only the cup winners get the Euro place. If the winners have already qualified for Europe, then regardless of where the losers finished, the place goes to 6th in the league.

Bolton or Stoke have to win the cup if they want to play in Europe. Being a losing finalist is not good enough.

Are you sure about that?

Are you not thinking of when the League cup runners up place was scrapped?

I'm not saying i'm right, as I am probably not, but the BBC might be on to something here

 

[Marty]

Are you sure about that?

Are you not thinking of when the League cup runners up place was scrapped?

I'm not saying i'm right, as I am probably not, but the BBC might be on to something here

100%, sir. League Cup runners up have never been given a place in Europe (as far as I remember), FA Cup runners up used to but do not as of a couple of years ago.

Example: Chelsea won the final last year, but were already Champions. Pompey lost. Did Pompey play in Europe this year? :wink: