Monday, February 26, 2007
An opportunity not to be missed
As Alun Cairns points out there is a very real chance that the Millennium Stadium will have one last opportunity to stage the FA Cup final this year.
The Telegraph reported on 13 February this year that the new Wembley stadium may not be ready in time to stage the FA Cup final on May 19 because of a legal dispute between contractors:
It is understood that an impending legal case involving Wembley contractor Multiplex and one of its subcontractors, Honeywell, could delay the staging of test events.
The Telegraph reported on 13 February this year that the new Wembley stadium may not be ready in time to stage the FA Cup final on May 19 because of a legal dispute between contractors:
It is understood that an impending legal case involving Wembley contractor Multiplex and one of its subcontractors, Honeywell, could delay the staging of test events.
However, Multiplex have rubbished the claim as "misleading" and said that the stadium will be ready.
Work on the project, which has cost an estimated £750 million, was originally due be completed in January last year. However, repeated delays, including a 50-ton steel roof girder slipping out of place, forced the FA to abandon the stadium's opening and move the 2006 FA Cup final back to its temporary home of Cardiff.
FA chief executive Brian Barwick said last week that everything was "on track" to host the FA Cup on May 19 at Wembley but pointedly added that there were "no guarantees" it would be ready on time.
As ever we will have to wait until the last moment before knowing for certain. In the meantime we should concentrate on getting the transport links right so as not to suffer the same travel chaos as occurred yesterday.
