Editing FA Cup (section)

===Semi-finals===
{{Main|FA Cup semi-finals}}
The semi-finals have been played exclusively at the rebuilt [[Wembley Stadium]] since [[2007–08 FA Cup|2008]], one year after it opened and after it had already hosted a final (in 2007). For the first decade of the competition, the [[The Oval|Kennington Oval]] was used as the semi-final venue. In the period between this first decade and the reopening of Wembley, semi-finals were played at high-capacity neutral venues around England; usually the home grounds of teams not involved in that semi-final, chosen to be roughly equidistant between the two teams for fairness of travel. The top three most used venues in this period were [[Villa Park]] in Birmingham (55 times), [[Hillsborough Stadium|Hillsborough]] in Sheffield (34 times) and [[Old Trafford]] in Manchester (23 times). The [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|original Wembley Stadium]] was also used seven times for semi-final, between 1991 and 2000 (the last held there), but not always for fixtures featuring [[Football in London|London teams]]. In 2005, both were held at the Millennium Stadium.

In 2003 the FA decided to permanently use the new Wembley for semi-finals to recoup debts in financing the new stadium.<ref>{{Cite news|title=FA Cup: Greg Dyke says semi-finals will stay at Wembley|publisher=BBC Sport|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/27008308|access-date=12 February 2016|archive-date=4 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504111826/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/27008308|url-status=live}}</ref> This was controversial, with the move seen as both unfair to fans of teams located far from London, and taking some of the prestige away from a Wembley final.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fsf.org.uk/news/news0002-facup.html |title=Football supporters hail FA Cup semi-final decision |publisher=Football Supporters' Federation |access-date=8 February 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208165141/http://www.fsf.org.uk/news/news0002-facup.html |archive-date=8 February 2007 }}</ref> In defending the move, the FA has also cited the extra capacity Wembley offers, although the 2013 fixture between [[Millwall F.C.|Millwall]] and [[Wigan Athletic F.C.|Wigan Athletic]] led to the unprecedented step of placing 6,000 tickets on sale to neutral fans after the game failed to sell out.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|title=FA Cup semi-finals: should they be played at Wembley? – poll|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/poll/2013/apr/11/fa-cup-semi-finals-wembley-poll|website=The Guardian|date=11 April 2013|access-date=12 February 2016|first=Paul|last=Campbell|archive-date=23 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223132225/http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/poll/2013/apr/11/fa-cup-semi-finals-wembley-poll|url-status=live}}</ref> A fan poll by ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 2013 found 86% opposition to Wembley semi-finals.<ref name=":2" />