4 hours ago
8
It takes a great deal of organisation and a lot of staff, working across a variety of roles, to deliver these two huge fixtures. More than 12,000 staff worked at Wembley over the two days. Many worked both days and through the night to ensure everything was in place.
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa – 26 April
-
Matchday mascots wait to greet the players as they arrive at Wembley for the first of the weekend’s FA Cup semi-finals.
-
Staff install temporary anti-ram barriers outside the stadium.
-
Aston Villa fans partake in some pre-match sustenance.
-
Staff put out a centre circle display banner (above), a member of the pitch team checks a lawnmower (below left) and chefs prepare desserts in the kitchen for the hospitality areas (below right).
The pitch was cut eight times over two days as the Wembley grass grows at a rate of 2mm per day. In total, more than one billion blades of grass were cut to perfection at 22mm. Wembley catered for around 20,000 hospitality guests over the weekend with more than 250 chefs working in 98 kitchens across the stadium.
-
Medical staff make preparations backstage (above left) and move a stretcher pitchside. A British Sign Language interpreter, who is displayed on the scoreboard, works backstage (below).
-
Stewards keep an eye on the celebrating Crystal Palace fans after the final whistle (above), and (below) the pitchside BBC Sport presenting team analyse Crystal Palace’s victory.
-
Cleaning staff begin the post-match clear-up (above) and the pitch team give the grass another cut.
The six members of the Wembley Grounds Team covered a combined 40 miles over the weekend and the white lines were marked four times, and the team used 22 litres of paint.
-
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery gives a post-match press conference.
-
The vinyl displays in the dressing rooms (above) and pitch-side (below) are replaced with those of Sunday’s teams.
Nottingham Forest v Manchester City - 27 April
-
The Nottingham Forest players depart the team bus (above left) and the Manchester City dressing room awaits the arrival of their team.
Some of the 36,000 Nottingham Forest fans in attendance enjoy a drink before kick-off. Over the weekend around 100,000 pints were consumed alongside 20,000 portions of chips, burgers and hotdogs.
-
A cameraman and the ITV Sport presenting team prepare pitchside before kick-off.
Some of the 60 photographers who were accredited for each game, snap the players ahead of kick-off.
-
The Nottingham Forest fans are in high spirits ahead of kick-off, alas this soon changed as Rico Lewis gave Manchester City the lead in the second minute of the match.
-
Half-time sees the ITV presenting team wait to go live from a studio at the stadium (above left) and pitchside a DJ entertains the crowd.
-
Manchester City fans celebrate their FA Cup semi-final win over Nottingham Forest (above) and a smiling Pep Guardiola conducts a post-match interview in the mix zone.
Manchester City’s 2-0 victory means they will be appearing in their third consecutive FA Cup final, and the match against Crystal Palace on 17 May will be City’s 29th appearance at the national stadium since it was refurbished in 2007.
