Liverpool legend Danny Murphy joins clamour for FA Cup semi-final to be moved from Wembley

Danny Murphy has waded into the semi-final venue row and labelled the English FA as "stuck in the mud".

The former Liverpool star reckons the decision to stage the last four clash between his old side and Manchester City is ridiculous and a solution is staring English powerbrokers in the face.

The call to locate both FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley would have already been viewed as controversial enough to traditionalists but logistically the journey from the North-West will be problematic for the majority of supporters of Liverpool and Manchester City due to already announced rail closures over the Easter period.

And speaking on talkSPORT, Murphy said: “I think that the FA are stuck in the mud for their opinions at some times and aren’t open minded enough to change and do the right thing for once.

“They don’t care about the fans – it’s as simple as that. It would upset too many dignitaries and cause too much confusion for the FA to do that.

“Do I think it undervalues the final by having the semi-final at Wembley? Yes but when you are talking about Manchester City and Liverpool you’ve got the Old Trafford stadium which is huge and so simple a solution to this problem. They just don’t want to for a few quid.“

The FA have presently proposed a solution of laying on 100 coaches from the Etihad and Anfield though that has been widely criticised as being not enough by supporters groups and the local Labour mayors of both cities have already called upon the authorities for the tie to be switched.

“It loses its uniqueness by its regularity of being there,” Murphy added.