The Football Association stand accused of ignoring warnings about the travel disruption that will affect tens of thousands of Liverpool and Manchester City fans heading to Wembley next month.
Both sets of supporters face a logistical nightmare getting to London for their FA Cup semi-final clash due to no running trains from the North West to the capital over the Easter weekend.
Avanti West Coast confirmed it will not be running any trains into London Euston from April 15 to 18 because of engineering work that is scheduled to take place across a number of locations.
The travel company said further work is also slated on the West Coast Main Line, which will cause further alterations and disruption for travellers.
Services from Liverpool Lime Street will start and terminate at Rugby across the long weekend, while trains from Manchester Piccadilly will begin and end at Milton Keynes Central and run via Stoke-on-Trent.
However, the ECHO has learned the FA were made aware of the potential travel chaos for football fans as far back as 2019.
Rail industry sources say the FA were first alerted to the planned work back in November 2019 before the governing body received a written request in September last year to consider changing the venue of the game.
The FA have so far refused to open talks about rearranging the game for another neutral venue in the north west, despite calls from both sets of fans to consider an alteration that would be a huge boost to a large portion of what is expected to be around 70,000 fans.
READ MORE: Liverpool fans set for FA Cup semi final travel chaos with no trains to London from the North West
Dave Penney, Network Rail passenger director for the North West and Central region, said: “Because we plan our railway upgrades up to two years in advance, regrettably it’s impossible to know which teams will make it to Wembley in the FA Cup or factor that in to our annual bank holiday railway improvements.
“Now we know Liverpool and Manchester City are through to the semi-final, we are making fans aware of our work before match tickets go on sale to give people as much time as possible to plan their journey.
"Our message is if you choose to travel by rail the best times to do so are before and after the Easter Bank Holiday on Thursday 14 and Tuesday 19 April.”
The FA said earlier this week that they were liaising with both clubs and Network Rail to "find a solution" for match-goers to travel to Wembley "with as minimal disruption as possible".
On Monday evening, the Liverpool supporters' union Spirit of Shankly urged a re-think of the venue after branding the travel arrangements as "shambolic" in a tweet earlier in the day.
SOS said: "Spirit of Shankly and all Liverpool FC supporters along with City’s 1894 Group and fans of Manchester City FC celebrated on Sunday at reaching the FA Cup semi-final.
"Yet rather than basking in the anticipation of the match, to be played on Saturday 16 / Sunday 17 April, it was, for all involved, not a case of “We’re on our way to Wembley” but “How will we get to Wembley?”
"Over the upcoming Easter weekend, when the game is scheduled, there are no trains between Euston and Milton Keynes, meaning there is no direct train to London from either Liverpool or Manchester. More than 64,000 travelling supporters will be forced on to the roads, which will already be over-burdened with bank holiday traffic.
"For the other semi-final between Chelsea and Crystal Palace, Wembley makes sense. For Liverpool and City it makes no sense.
"The FA statement on the matter claims they are looking for a solution and twice mentions supporters, yet fails to include us in any ongoing conversation. We are asking both clubs, the FA and Wembley to reconsider where this game is played and, for once, to put the fans at the forefront of their thinking.
"City and Liverpool are less than 40 miles apart and there are plenty of grounds big enough far closer than Wembley to stage such a prestigious game.
"We appreciate ties of this magnitude need forward planning, but the issue of how two sets of supporters will be able to travel and watch their teams has been ignored. Network Rail will have had their works scheduled, as is often the case over public holidays, for months.
"Did the FA in their planning of such a large-scale event not think to check for disruption to travelling fans in advance? We urge those in charge to think again and move the venue."
