Our captain in the Athletic:
Jordan Henderson has admitted it would make sense to move Liverpool’s FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City to a neutral venue due to the travel chaos fans face to attend the game.
The match has been scheduled for 16 April and will be held at 3.30pm BST. However, there is no train travel to London from the north West over the Easter weekend, which means fans will struggle to attend the game through public transport.
The FA is putting on 100 free buses to the game, which are expected to hold 5,000 supporters. City are also laying on 50 coaches.
And Henderson, 31, has admitted he has been thinking about the impact on fans in recent weeks.
“I’ve been thinking a bit more about the fans,” said Henderson. “I think in many ways it’s their day and (it’s tough) not being able to get down to London for different reasons — the cost (that’s involved) of that.
“So, in my head, it would make sense obviously change it to a (different) neutral venue — especially with it being two teams from the north-west. That’s just my opinion. There’s obviously complications within that, which I'm sure the FA have got to overcome.
“But looking at the situation as a fan — which is probably the most important thing for me and something that we’ve learned over the past couple of years how important the fans are to football — that it is really disappointing to see that it’s a struggle. It’s got to be expensive for them to get there.”
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