City Keep Fa Youth Cup Final at Joie Stadium on 14 May
Manchester City will host the fa youth cup final against Manchester United at Joie Stadium on 14 May after turning down an offer to move the match to Old Trafford. United have been allotted 968 away tickets for a final now set for a 7,000-capacity ground.
That has drawn a sharp response from United circles, with supporters’ groups calling the decision a disgrace and Joe Gabriel, the father of United striker JJ Gabriel, describing it as a “robbery of kids' dreams.”
Joie Stadium Holds the Final
City were drawn at home for the tie and declined United’s offer to switch the final, so the game stays at Joie Stadium. The stadium is used by City’s Premier League 2 side and women’s team, and it will stage the Youth Cup final instead of a larger venue.
The club’s reason is practical. City still have three home Premier League games to play and said moving the final into the gap between the Crystal Palace and Aston Villa home matches would rob them of essential time to complete construction work on the North Stand. They also have a test event booked for 20 May.
United Reaction Grows
United Supporters Trust and Manchester United Fans’ Forum representatives said in a joint statement that moving the final to the 7,000-capacity ground was “a disgrace.” They added: “The news that the FA Youth Cup final, a great fixture which has heralded so many superstars of the future, is to be played in a stadium of just 6,000 people is a disgrace” and urged, “Time to put fans first for once.”
Gabriel wrote on X: “To not play it in a main stadium is ludicrous. I don't blame City, I blame the FA for allowing it to happen.”
FA Stays Out
The FA is unlikely to step in because City have had dispensation to play their Youth Cup games at Joie Stadium this season. The governing body had supported the final being played at Etihad Stadium if possible, but the final’s delivery is traditionally handled by the club drawn first in the tie, and City have stayed with their own ground.
The setting is a long way from United’s last Youth Cup triumph in 2022, when more than 60,000 watched at Old Trafford as a team including Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho beat Nottingham Forest. This time, the away end is capped at 968, and the final will be decided in a venue built for a fraction of that crowd.
