The Football Association has announced the dates of the FA Cup semi-final clashes at Wembley Stadium.
The FA press release said…
Manchester City v Manchester United
5.15pm, Saturday 16 April 2011
Live on ITV1
Bolton Wanderers v Stoke City
4pm, Sunday 17 April 2011
Live on ESPN
The Manchester derby will kick off The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON Semi Final weekend at Wembley on Saturday April 16.
ITV1 will show the game, which kicks-off at 5.15pm on the Saturday evening. The last time these two clubs met in The FA Cup was in 2004 when they played in the Fifth Round at Old Trafford and Sir Alex Ferguson’s men went on to win that game by 4-2 before eventually winning The Cup later that year. In fact, that was the last time that United lifted The FA Cup.
The following day sees Wembley open its doors to Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City, with ESPN showing the tie live at 4pm on Sunday April 17.
This is the first trip to the new Wembley for either of these teams and it is the first FA Cup meeting between them since 1974, when Bolton ran out 3-2 winners at the old Burnden Park.
The two FA Cup Semi-Final winners will both receive £900,000 from The FA Cup Prize Fund, while the beaten clubs net £450,000 each.
The official FA website can be found here.
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