Empty seats all round as Wigan and Hull set out on the road to Wembley

03 January 2010 11:29
They normally have to find room on the touchlines when their teams take part in the most famous competition in football. [LNB]But on Saturday Wigan mascot Stripey and Hull City counterpart Roary could take their pick of the best seats at the DW Stadium for an FA Cup third-round tie that attracted only 5,335 fans despite being an all-Premier League affair. And it was not only at Wigan that the magic of the Cup was in desperately short supply. [LNB]Only 7,621 watched Preston North End thrash Colchester United 7-0, Sheffield Wednesday's gate of 8,690 against Crystal Palace was nearly 14,000 down on their average and Portsmouth, who are desperate for funds and could have done with a bumper turn-out against Coventry City, saw a mere 11,214 supporters go through the Fratton Park turnstiles. [LNB] Funeral atmosphere: Only 5,335 fans turned up for Wigan's FA Cup clash against Hull [LNB]Wigan's average home attendance in the Premier League this seasonhas been around 18,000 but they got nowhere near those dizzy heightsfor yesterday's clash with fellow relegation strugglers Hull. [LNB]Wigan ran out 4-1 victors but, having had pitiful ticket sales ahead of the game, the club opted to close the South Stand. [LNB]The funeral atmosphere did little to improve the mood of under-fireHull manager Phil Brown. 'I was a bit surprised the crowd was so low,'he said.[LNB] Comical: The mascots have the pick of the seats as Wigan take on Hull[LNB] Atrocious weather all week and more snow falling before kick-offprompted Wigan manager Roberto Martinez to say: 'I don't blame anyonefor not taking the risk. [LNB]'The Premier League is the best in the world but can be expensivefor fans and you can understand people not coming after our game withManchester United earlier in the week.' [LNB]The wintry weather was a major reason for the low crowds around thecountry, with many fans not even arriving at games as snow and ice madetravelling hazardous. [LNB]Coachloads of Manchester City fans had to be turned back as theyattempted to cross the snow-blown Pennines on the M62 heading forMiddlesbrough. And terrible conditions on the same motorway almostcaused Stoke's tie with non-league York to be called off. [LNB]Empty seats all round: Wigan comfortably beat Hull [LNB][LNB]Most of York's fans arrived at the Britannia Stadium in time but theBlue Square Premier side's team bus was less fortunate as it got caughtup in heavy traffic caused by deteriorating weather. [LNB]They were given an ultimatum by match officials to be at the groundby 3pm for a kick-off half-an-hour later or the match would have beenpostponed.Thanks to the efforts of local police, the bus arrived at the stadium in the nick of time. [LNB]'We were still about 25 miles away shortly after 2pm and themotorway had ground to a halt,' said York secretary Nick Bassett. 'Itdidn't look good.' [LNB]There were also problems faced by Lincoln fans as they made theirway to Bolton and Carlisle's supporters on their journey to Everton,but both games managed to start on time. [LNB]The bitter weather did claim the televised tie between Championshiprivals Bristol City and Cardiff, which failed an early-morning pitchinspection, and the matches between Accrington and Gillingham andBrentford and Doncaster soon followed. [LNB]Referee Peter Walton, who had been due to take charge of the tie atAshton Gate, said: 'The groundstaff have made a great effort to get thegame on,[LNB]'Three-quarters of the pitch was totally playable, but I wasn't prepared to gamble.'[LNB]Accrington were forced to call off their game as four inches of snowfell at the Fraser Eagle Stadium throughout the morning, while frostaccounted for the tie between League One side Brentford andChampionship team Doncaster. [LNB]All three matches will be played on Tuesday, January 12. Fittingly,on a day when the magic of the FA Cup disappeared, there wasn't asingle upset, with Coventry's draw at Portsmouth the closest thing to agiant-killing.[LNB] Wigan 4 Hull 1: Sub N'Zogbia does the trick but magic of the Cup lost on fansDoes the FA Cup still matter? Here's what football's big names are sayingWIGAN FC

Source: Daily_Mail