FA Cup final kick-off time confirmed as Andy Burnham request denied after Man City complaints

Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has seen his request for a 3pm final kick-off time rejected. The showpiece event at Wembley will take place in a fortnight, with facing .

The kick-off time was only confirmed on Saturday, with the game to get underway at 4.30pm on 17 May. The game will be screened live on both the and , with those two companies, along with the Metropolitan Police and the local authority having a say in the kick-off time.

The BBC had been pushing for a traditional 3pm kick-off, as has been the norm since 2011. The corporation is also seeking to avoid any clash with the Eurovision Song Contest, which will start at 8pm on the same day.

With more than 7.5million tuning in for last year's contest, the BBC were keen to avoid losing any viewers. ITV meanwhile wanted to bring in increased advertising revenue that comes with a 5.30pm kick-off.

The length of time it was taking to confirm the kick-off time led to rising rising fan anger towards the FA, with City fans unable to book their travel down to the capital.

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Some even urged Burnham to step in, with one City fan pleading: "FA Cup date is set a year in advance Eurovision is set a year in advance Why the hell is this still to be decided? @AndyBurnhamGM please take this up."

In response, the Labour mayor for Manchester pledged to get involved, insisting that the kick-off time should be 3pm: "Will do. It’s not good enough. Will raise with the @fa. It absolutely should be 3pm."

Burnham has now been ignored though, with the FA selecting the time of 4.30pm. have also come under fire after implementing a huge rise in ticket prices for the final. A category 1 ticket will be £175, an increase of £30 (20 percent) on the 2024 final, while category 2 tickets will be £125, which represents a rise of £10 (8.7 percent) on the same tickets last year.

Elsewhere, category 3 prices are £75 (a seven percent increase) and category 4 tickets are £50, meaning an increase of £5 (11 percent). The increases have been met with a fierce backlash from supporters of both finalists, though the FA have moved to defend themselves.

A spokesperson said: “The FA Cup is our biggest revenue producer, and it allows us to invest more funding into every level of English football. We regularly review our ticket prices for FA Cup matches at Wembley Stadium to ensure they are in line with other major sporting events.

"We have not increased the prices of tickets for the Final over the last six years despite the rise of inflation during this period. This season, we have introduced limited price increases for tickets to the Final.

"The majority of these in the higher-priced categories and minimal increases in the lower-priced categories. We will be freezing the prices of almost all tickets to the Emirates FA Cup Final for the next three years.”

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