Is someone had asked Chas ‘n’ Dave to write a song to mark Tottenham’s appearance in the 1981 FA Cup semi-final, I’m guessing they’d have politely said ‘**** off’.

I’ve never met a single fan who thinks the last four of the oldest national football competition in the world should be played at Wembley Stadium.

I’m sure they exist, but rumour has it they also think Wings made better records than the Beatles, George Lazenby was the ultimate James Bond and pineapple on a pizza is totally acceptable.

This season, Manchester City and Liverpool supporters, probably 60,000 of them, will have to travel from the North West on Easter weekend, with engineering works meaning no direct trains running from either city to or from London.

The Football Association knew about this more than two years ago, was again reminded of it, and took a conscious decision not to act. Some say, well, how did the FA know which teams would make it to the semi-finals?

Let me clear that one up. Only once in the last ten years has there not been a Manchester or Liverpool club in the last four of the FA Cup, and that was in 2014, when Wigan, Hull City and Sheffield United were all involved.

In fact, only once since the semi-finals moved to the new Wembley, in 2008, has there not been at least one team from these two cities or further north in the final four.

You hardly needed to summon Mystic Meg, Uri Geller and Clinton Baptiste to predict this one. To paraphrase the latter: ‘I’m getting a word… money.’

And that’s not a wild accusation. The FA told us so, at the time, in no uncertain terms.

A spokesperson said it was: ‘A financial necessity in order to pay for the new stadium. And the upside is that not only will more fans be able to watch the games, but they will be doing so in the best stadium in the world.’

Wow. That quote didn’t age well, did it? He’s right, though. It is about money. However, it is not about what they make, but about what fans have to spend, which is tantamount to a stealth tax.

With travel issues this season, even if the added splurge on parking, petrol, more food, possible hotels and so on only came to £25 per person, which is extremely conservative, that’s around £1.5m extra taken straight out of the pockets of City and Liverpool fans, not to mention the excruciating journey times.

Oh yes, this is all happening during the carnage of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, meaning the chances of the M1 and the M6 being fully operational, moving cohesively and without any major accidents, is about as likely as Ashleigh Barty winning this year’s Wimbledon.

Manchester City are subsidising coach costs in an effort to minimise the damage, which is great, but it’s not the answer.

As laid out above, this needless travel from one end of the country, and the inevitable extra cost to supporters, happens almost every single season.

It has never been morally acceptable but how can it be justified at a time when people are experiencing a drop in living standards not seen since 1956?

And does environmental impact only matter a week either side of a Climate Change Conference? It seems so.

In terms of other options, there are plenty. Birmingham is less than half the distance, even Newcastle is a third closer. The issue of reduced capacity pales in comparison to the seven-figure hole left in fans’ pockets.

I do a Saturday morning show on BBC 5 Live called Fighting Talk. I give guests preposterous, ridiculous statements and they must justify them for 20 seconds.

In this case, it would read: ‘The FA Cup semi-finals should be held far away from the teams taking part, because who cares about the price of living, environmental crisis, common sense and respect for the fans?’ I’m afraid this is, more than ever, a case of Defending The Indefensible.

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