Posts Tagged ‘Climax’

For any soccer fan, a visit to the new Wembley Stadium is a must. Not only is it one of the world’s most outstanding modern stadiums, but is host to the best of English football and features a veritable ‘footie-fest’ of the nation’s leading cup finals and Football League play-offs every season. The Football Association – the sport’s governing body – is planning a £12million move of its administrative headquarters from Soho Square to the new Stadium during July 2009. As Wembley is also the home venue for all of England’s international fixtures – including the qualifying games for the 2010 World Cup Finals – the move will firmly establish the stadium as the ‘home of English football’. As the English football season progresses towards its climax in May, Wembley hosts a number of prestigious finals including the traditional finale to the football season – the FA Cup Final. But, before that the cup final season begins in either late February or early March with the staging of the Carling Cup Final. This show piece cup competition of the Football League will celebrate its 50th anniversary at Wembley in 2010. Next up is the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final played at Wembley in early April. This competition is exclusively for clubs that compete in League One and League Two of the Football League. The 2009 final was an absolute thriller with Luton beating Scunthorpe 3-2 after extra time in front of a substantial lower league football crowd of 53,378. In May the games come thick and fast at the Stadium, starting with the FA Trophy Final and FA Vase Final, played on successive days on the second weekend of the month. Next, and still in May, the Football League hosts the Play-off finals when the last promotion spots for The Championship, League One and League Two are decided. Indeed, The Football League Championship play-off final – normally played on late May Bank Holiday Monday – is billed as football’s most lucrative ‘one-off’ game. The winners will be promoted to the Barclays Premier League and with that comes access to lucrative TV money. Finally, the last weekend in May sees the traditional season finale; the FA Cup final. This is one of the few ‘protected’ games to be televised live on terrestrial channels and is the daddy of all football competition finals. As you can see, May is also the month when the owners of London hotels – particularly those situated around Wembley – rub their hands in glee at the glut of ‘no vacancies’ signs, as they accommodate the thousands of football fans travelling to the capital to watch their teams in action. But, fans of football that can’t get a ticket to a game at Wembley needn’t despair. They can still access the stadium and sample its marvellous features at first-hand by buying a Stadium tour ticket.

Winning the Champions League Final is now seen by Europe’s top teams as the ultimate prize. No longer is winning the domestic title enough for the likes of the big four in the English Premier League, or the leading clubs participating in Spain, Italy and the rest of Europe. Much is at stake, reputation, glory and money and this season’s Champions League has been nothing if not controversial. Now the climax that most neutrals have wanted is imminent; Manchester United will take on Barcelona in Rome on May 27th in the 2009 Champions league Final. Barcelona’s spectacular last-gasp semi-final, second-leg added time winner denied Chelsea the chance to make the Final an all-English affair for the second year in a row, leaving the London-based team to lick their wounds and a certain Norwegian referee, embroiled in controversy to hurriedly exit the UK. However, Manchester United’s place in the Final never looked in doubt from as early as 10 minutes into the semi-final, second leg when they stormed to a 2-0 lead on the night, eventually steamrollering Arsenal 4-1 on aggregate and breezing into the final berth. Now, the reigning Premier League champions are aiming to return the Champions League Cup to their trophy cabinet with a win over Barcelona. But, having lost their appeal to UEFA, United will face the Spanish giants without key defender Darren Fletcher who was sent off during the second-leg semi for a foul on Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas. Rio Ferdinand is also a big doubt as he struggles to overcome injury, but that won’t stop as many Manchester United fans as possible attempting to book their ticket to Rome. Advice to non-football fans planning a trip to the Italian capital – avoid the last week of May! While in town both sets of supporters will no doubt be taking the opportunity to see what else the beautiful city has to offer, meaning that Rome hotels, restaurants and bars will be packed with tens of thousands of Mancunians and Catalonians. So, unless you can stand frenzied football fans all teetering on the edge of anticipation then it may be best to avoid Rome until the start of June. Although no trouble is anticipated, travelling football fans do tend to get quite boisterous, especially in the final 24 hours before the game kicks-off. So, there will be no quiet contemplation at the Trevi Fountain, or rest and relaxation in Rome’s piazzas during the run-up to the final, and unless you are willing to be part of that atmosphere, steer clear of Rome until the football circus departs!