FA Cup semi-finals

The FA Cup semi-finals are played to determine which teams will contest the FA Cup Final. They are the penultimate phase of the FA Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world.

The semi-finals have always been contested at neutral venues. Since 2008, all semi-finals have been held at the new Wembley. In the past any suitably large ground which was not the home ground of a team in that semi-final was used. Villa Park in Birmingham, Old Trafford in Manchester, and Hillsborough in Sheffield were common hosts. All semi-finals between 1871 and 1881 were played at Kennington Oval. The first neutral semi-final match outside London took place in 1882 in Huddersfield.

The 1989 semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough, Sheffield, turned into tragedy when 97 supporters were killed in the stands due to overcrowding. The Hillsborough disaster had wide-ranging effects on future stadium design. Liverpool were granted a special dispensation to avoid playing their 2012 semi-final match against Everton on the 23rd anniversary of the disaster.

The 1991 North London derby semi-final between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur was the first to be played at Wembley, the traditional venue for the FA Cup Final. Two years later both semi-finals were held at Wembley after the first FA Cup Steel City derby–between Sheffield clubs Wednesday and United–was switched from the original venue of Elland Road, Leeds, after fans of both Sheffield sides protested.

This was repeated in 1994, although a replay between Manchester United and Oldham Athletic was held at Maine Road, Manchester. From 1995 to 1999 and from 2001 to 2004 other neutral grounds were used, though in 2000 both matches were played at the old Wembley, in its final year of operation. In 2005 both semi-finals were played at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. However, in 2006 the FA decided to revert to the neutral ground system, with Villa Park and Old Trafford hosting the games.

In 2003, it was announced that all future semi-finals would be played at the new Wembley Stadium, once it had opened; this took effect in 2008. The decision was mainly for financial reasons, to allow the FA to recoup some of the costs of rebuilding the stadium. However, the move was opposed by traditionalists and drew criticism from some supporters' groups. Over a decade after the move, Aston Villa (amongst others) have called for the semi-finals to be regionalised once again.

Tottenham Hotspur's 2018 semi-final was to some extent a home match for them, as they played their home games at Wembley that season while their new stadium was under construction. However, for the semi-final, it was treated as a neutral venue.

In the past, there would be a replay if a semi-final match was drawn. If the replay was also drawn, there would be a second replay. In theory, an unlimited number of games could be played to obtain a winner. For example, in 1980 it took four games to decide the tie between Arsenal and Liverpool. This was the most games needed to settle an FA Cup semi-final, although there were several occasions when three games were played.