Fans blast midweek Cup Final

The country's main national fans' group today said they are appalled by possible plans to move the FA Cup Final to a Wednesday next season.

The Football Supporters' Federation are outraged because they say a midweek night game in 2006 would devalue the showpiece event and cause serious problems for the people they represent.

Chairman Malcolm Clarke said: "We have not been consulted and are not very pleased about it.

"I am as sure as I can be that the vast majority of supporters will regard this as yet another nail in the coffin of the FA Cup and will be pretty dismayed at the loss of one of the great traditional days in the football calendar.

"If the FA are trying to build up the value of the competition again this is not the right way to go about it.

"I am very disappointed in the FA and hope this is not a sign of the way things will be under the new regime."

The FA said today that they had several options on the table but insisted: "No final decision about the date of the 2006 final has been made."