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JJ Gabriel, you may have never heard of this name, but he does have great potential. Maybe in a year or two, he will become a high-profile and extremely popular supernova in the Premier League, just like Arsenal's "Emperor Grandson" Dauman. And, in order to witness the style of their team's prodigy as he competes for the championship, the Red Devils supporters are fully prepared. On May 14th, the FA Youth Cup final between Manchester United and Manchester City is about to begin. This unique Manchester Derby may become the platform for Gabe to officially start his journey to take off. However, it is quite regrettable that such an attractive contest was held in a very small stadium, with a maximum capacity of only 7,000 people, and the number of tickets allocated to Manchester United was only 968.
Is this reasonable? It seems obviously unreasonable. You need to know that although the influence of the FA Youth Cup cannot even match the influence of the Premier League, its finals can still attract countless fans. The attendance record for this event was set when the Manchester United youth team reached the final last time: at Old Trafford on May 11, 2022, a total of 67,492 spectators flooded in. The last time the Manchester City youth team won the championship was a 4-0 victory over Leeds in the 2024 final. The attendance at the Manchester City Stadium was not small, reaching 20,000.
Therefore, there is no need to worry about the number of spectators, but why does it change to holding events in small places? Let’s start from the beginning. Since the FA Youth Cup final was changed to a determined game, the new practice is to draw lots to determine the home team, and the home team is responsible for arranging the match venue. And in most cases, the home team will set the game at the home ground of its first team, just like Villa Park, Manchester City Stadium, Emirates Stadium and Old Trafford in the past few years. However, from a theoretical perspective, it is also possible to choose the stadium of the youth team and women’s team of the team to start the game.
Speaking of which, there will be a situation where Manchester City does not choose the main stadium with a capacity of more than 50,000, but chooses the much smaller youth training stadium Joey Stadium. What is the most likely reason that people think of? It is like this. The first team has a particularly heavy workload during the same period, and the club also wants to make the main stadium the best preparation for the team's final sprint to the championship. Currently, Blue Moon has one game less in the Premier League, 5 points behind Arsenal, and they still have 5 games to play in May. Except for the FA Cup final and the away game against Bournemouth, the games against Brentford on May 9, Crystal Palace on the 13th and Villa on the 24th are all at home.
Theoretically speaking, the interval between the last two home games is as long as 11 days, during which the FA Youth Cup on May 14 can be accommodated. However, Manchester City also stated that the renovation project of the North Stand is at a critical stage. They need to seize the time to complete the inspection and completion work, with the aim of opening it for spectators in the final round of the league against Villa. And after the news spread that the final was scheduled to be held at Joey Stadium, Manchester United applied to move the game to Old Trafford, but was rejected because Manchester City was not willing to give up their home court advantage.
Most of the parents of Manchester United's youth training players will express their dissatisfaction and anger in private, because they find that their sons have no way to show off their majestic appearance in front of tens of thousands of live audiences. JJ Gabriel's father wrote such words on social media. He said, "This is a robbery of children's dreams." He also added, "It is ridiculous not to play games at home stadiums. However, I don't blame Manchester City. I blame the FA for allowing this to happen." In addition, the Manchester United Fans Trust has also made a public voice, hoping that the Football Association can intervene in this matter. However, Manchester City obtained permission from the governing body and, according to the BBC, the FA could no longer forcefully intervene and require the game to be changed to a different venue.