FA CUP SEMI FINAL DAY

So today is the first day of the FA Cup semi final weekend and it's the first game Runcorn2wembley will miss in this season's competition.

Everyone associated with the campaign raising money for Cancer Research is extremely disappointed not to be at the game, let alone not being allowed a collection.

But what's even more frustrating is the lack of coverage on the FA's website. Despite being told the FA website couldn't put up news about Runcorn2wembley, on Thursday I was notified via Twitter that a similar campaign following the FA Vase was on the website.

Click here to read about it. The cause is fantastic and I congratulate the fans for doing such a campaign. It's a shame the FA couldn't help with similar coverage for a charity campaign for it's most prized competition - The FA Cup.

The semi final Runcorn2wembley is still following is Aston Villa v Chelsea and both clubs have shown a similar stance to all other organisations with the campaign.

Chelsea has not replied to emails or phone calls while Aston Villa have refused to have anything to do with the campaign.

The FA commercial department has provided some help with the Facebook account and the promise of allowing a collection at the Trophy Tour when it goes to the two finalists. I thank them for the assistance they guys have given, it's much appreciated.

Unfortunately Brent Council, the Met Police and The FA have all refused to permit a collection for Runcorn2wembley at either the semi final or final.

And that coupled with no tickets being allocated and no help from the clubs involved means Runcorn2wembley is unlikely to reach the £5,000 target. We're just under £800 short.

Still we live in hope and a number of the fundraisers will donate a set fee for the 'ticket' price for today's semi-final and we hope the FA Cup Trophy Tour will raise funds too.

Finally I would like to thank everyone involved with the collecting and donating for the invaluable help.

A special thank you to all the non-league clubs, who's help has far outweighed that from League and Premiership clubs.

I will update this blog next week with news on the teams we've followed during the campaign, as many are involved with a fight to be promoted.

SEMI FINAL ANYONE?

Well it's been an interesting journey from the start of the Runcorn2wembley campaign and we're now reached the semi final stage at Wembley.

Unfortunately no-one seems to be taking responsibility for giving permission to collect from fans before the Aston Villa v Chelsea game.

Brent Council, Wembley Stadium, The FA and the Met Police have all said they can't give permission. They've all mentioned one of the others as being the organisation to give the permission.

So with a week to go before the semi final Runcorn2wembley has no tickets, no collecting rights and no chance of reaching the £5,000 target. It's very frustrating as we're just £800 short.

What's most annoying is the 'big' clubs are providing no help at all to the campaign, completely the opposite to the smaller clubs earlier in the campaign.

Speaking of the 'helpful' clubs, Easter Monday provides an exciting clash for Guiseley FC as they face promotion rivals in the Unibond Premier League, Bradford Park Avenue.

I, along with a couple of other fundraisers, will hopefully be able to see the game and catch up with the people at Guiseley who helped us so much in the early stages of the campaign.

On a final note Runcorn2wembley will hopefully be at the FA Cup Trophy Tour when it visits Chelsea on Friday 9th April.