Manchester City fans face an 'unfortunate' choice between the men's and women's teams on Sunday — all because of a potential Europa League final appearance that hasn't even materialised.
City Women have their biggest game of the season against Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday in the FA Cup final, looking to complete a cup double after a testing season. That final kicks off at 2.30pm, half an hour after Pep Guardiola's men's side get under way across London at West Ham in the Premier League — a game that could move them on the brink of another title.
With the West Ham game originally scheduled for a 4.30pm kick off, at least allowing for fans to watch one game on TV if they attended the other, it was moved at the last minute to a 2pm slot instead, directly clashing with the cup final. City Women boss Gareth Taylor says the switch came about as West Ham were banking on an appearance in the Europa League final on Wednesday.
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No Premier League games take place on Saturday due to the men's FA Cup final, and Taylor says the knock-on effect means many City fans face a difficult choice on Sunday — even with a record-breaking 50,000 crowd expected at Wembley.
"It's unfortunate, it wasn't our doing. West Ham men asked for that game to be moved for the Sunday because they anticipated they would be in the competition they were in," he said.
"Now they're out, so it's a shame. I know there's a lot of supporters that watch both men's and women's, unfortunately that's been taken away again. We had the same when we played the semi-final, we were both in London but the kick-offs were too close for supporters to get across.
"It's unfortunate but it speaks volumes
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