Police ban on London semi

Police have ruled out any all-London FA Cup semi-finals being played in the capital because of security reasons.

With Millwall, Arsenal and Fulham involved in this weekend's quarter-finals, there is a good chance of two London teams facing a showdown in the last four.

The only neutral London ground big enough for a semi-final would be the 42,450-capacity Stamford Bridge.

But Standard Sport has learned that police are worried about crowd segregation and the semi-finals will be held at Villa Park and Old Trafford.

London fans will face major travel problems getting to Birmingham or Manchester on 4 April because rail engineering works are planned on the line from Euston for most weekends in the next month.

Fans from the capital have had huge hassles getting to semi-finals outside of London in the last two seasons.