Fans of Arsenal, Hull City, Sheffield United and Wigan Athletic will descend on Wembley on April 12-13 for the 2014 FA Cup Semi Finals weekend and millions more can watch all the action live on ITV and BT Sport.
The first scheduled semi-final between Wigan Athletic and Arsenal has been chosen by ITV as its first choice and will be played on Saturday, April 12, with a 5.07pm kick-off.
This will be followed on Sunday, April 13, by Hull City and Sheffield United’s semi-final showdown at Wembley will be screened live on BT Sport 1, kicking off at 4.07pm, with free-to-air highlights in the evening on ITV4.
As a mark of respect and remembrance for those who lost their lives as a result of the Hillsborough stadium disaster in April 1989, all English football matches matches taking place on the weekend of April 11-14 will kick-off seven minutes later than originally scheduled.
The match at which the disaster took place, the FA Cup Semi-Final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on April 15, 1989, was ended six minutes after kick-off at 3.06pm.
A minute of silence will be held between and six and seven minutes past the hour of kick off at both semi-finals held at Wembley.
FA Cup holders Wigan Athletic will kick-off Semi-Final weekend against Arsenal at Wembley as the Latics aim to cause another sensational cup upset.
Arsenal, who beat Everton in style in the quarter-finals, are looking to end their well-documented nine-year trophy drought and will fancy their chances of beating the Championship side.
Olivier Giroud came off the bench to score twice as the Gunners beat Everton 4-1 to book their place in their first FA Cup semi-final for five years.
Meanwhile, Dave Whelan’s Latics shocked Manchester City in last year’s FA Cup final and incredibly repeated the trick in this season’s competition to earn another trip to Wembley.
The Sixth Round re-run of last season’s Cup Final saw a Jordi Gomez penalty put Wigan in front at the Etihad before James Perch’s close range tap-in doubled the Championship side’s lead.
Sami Nasri’s long range effort ensured a nervous end for the Championship outfit but they held on for a 2-1 victory.
In Sunday’s second Semi-Final live on BT Sport, East and South Yorkshire will collide as Hull City and Sheffield United vie for a spot in the final, where either Premier League big guns Arsenal or reigning champions Wigan await.
Top-flight newcomers Hull eased past Sunderland 3-0 at the KC Stadium last weekend to book their spot in the semis for only the second time in their history.
The Blades, meanwhile, continued their resurgence under Nigel Clough by seeing off Charlton 2-0 in their quarter-final tie at Bramall Lane to stretch their current winning streak to nine in all competitions.
Ryan Flynn and January loan signing John Brayford were on target with second-half goals to fire the League One side through.
They will now be looking to make Steve Bruce’s Tigers their latest Premier League scalp after already seeing off Aston Villa and Fulham on the road to Wembley.
The Blades, who are four-time FA Cup winners but last lifted the trophy in 1925, are the first third-tier side to reach the FA Cup semis since Wycombe Wanderers in 2001.
For their opponents, it’s a first visit to Wembley in six years, having beaten Bristol City in the Championship play-off final to seal Premier League promotion in 2008.
Both ITV and BT Sport will share live coverage of the 2014 FA Cup Final at Wembley on Saturday, May 17.
This will be the last season in which ITV will screen live FA Cup games for at least the next four years after the BBC regained terrestrial TV rights to the competition from 2014 to 2018.
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Saturday 12th April
WIGAN ATHLETIC v ARSENAL – Kick-off: 17:07
LIVE: 4.30pm-7.15pm ITV
Highlights: 11.45pm-12.30am ITV
Sunday 13th April
HULL CITY v SHEFFIELD UNITED – Kick-off: 16:07
LIVE: 3.00pm-6.30pm BT Sport 1
Highlights: 9.00pm-10.00pm ITV4
ITV′s live match coverage, as well additional video clips, interviews and analysis, is available to watch for free via the ITV football website.
BT Sport subscribers can watch the channel’s live matches on BT Sport 1 via its online streaming service at btsport.com or on the BT Sport app for mobile and tablet devices.
Keep up to date with all the latest FA Cup reports, goal flashes and results by following ITV Football on Twitter (@itvfootball) and BT Sport’s feed (@BTSport).
Online streaming available to UK users only.
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