Saturday Update: The FA has announced that the neutral zone is a pilot scheme available only to FA registered supporters and so there will be no tickets available today (match day) either at the stadium or from their website.
You may well have read in the media that Wigan Athletic have not sold their whole allocation of tickets for their FA Cup semi-final against Millwall tomorrow afternoon (kick off 5:15pm). Some lucky Londoners are apparently being offered free tickets through various FA channels. However, if that's not you and you want to take this rare opportunity to witness a high profile fixture which would usually be restricted to fans of the competing clubs only, then you might have had some difficulty discovering where you could actually buy some of those returned tickets.
The place to go is: http://ticketing.thefa.com/ where you can purchase seats in Wembley's "neutrals" area for the occasion. This will have its own, separate turnstile from those used by Millwall or Wigan fans and, of course, you will need to avoid wearing or carrying any obvious signs of supporting one of those teams. To purchase the tickets you will also need to register for a login to the FA's site (they call it a 'FAN' or 'FA Number') otherwise you won't be able to use the ticketing system.
Londonist was present at the 2004 Millwall-Sunderland semi-final at Old Trafford and, for a football-loving neutral, it was still an electric occasion. Tomorrow's game may well be close, as that one was, so there's a good chance of experiencing a similarly charged Wembley with that coveted place in May's final on the line.
And, of course, it's a "Come on the Lions!" from us, though we'll be sure to shout it discreetly.
Photo by Arturo Ayala via the Londonist Flickrpool.
