FA Cup final kick-off time finally confirmed after police and Eurovision concerns

The Football Association have finally confirmed that the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Crystal Palace will kick off at 4.30pm on Saturday May 17. It brings an end to prolonged discussions over the time the final could be played.

With no Premier League games scheduled for that day, the FA had been pushing for a traditional 3pm kick-off. The semi-finals were played last weekend, with just a fortnight to go under the showpiece event at Wembley Stadium. The TV companies have been trying to set the kick-off time since Monday - but to little success.

Of major concern to the FA had been the Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in Switzerland on the evening of May 17. More than 7.5million people in the UK watched Eurovision on the BBC last year, with the FA desperate to not see their final clash with the competition.

A later kick-off may have presented problems, with Eurovision starting at 8pm. If the final, to be played between Crystal Palace and Manchester City, were to go to extra-time or penalties, a clash may have occurred.

A 4.30pm kick-off time would ensure there would be no clash between the two events, with BBC to broadcast both events. A 3pm kick-off may have been even better but Mirror Football understands the Metropolitan Police raised concerns.

That has seen the kick-off time pushed back. Fans will be delighted that the kick-off time has finally been confirmed, with the FA having also come under fire for a major hike in ticket prices for the game.

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 ticket prices have also increased by more between the semi-final and the final this year than they did in 2024. The difference between the two rounds is almost 95 percent (£85) for Category 1 tickets, 78.5 percent (£55) for Category 2, and 66.6 percent (£30 and £20) for Category 3 and Category 4 tickets.

Image: Ben Roberts - Danehouse/Getty Images) Ben Roberts - Danehouse/Getty Images)

The FA have attempted to defend the price rises. 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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