Jim Murphy

Going to the Champions League Final?

The English Premiership is today undoubtedly the most successful league in the world. If anyone was in doubt before, the all English Champions League final proves it once and for all. With another semi-finalist this year, Premier League clubs in the final for the past three years and Liverpool's great win in 2005 England really can claim to have the best League in Europe. I hope that we will all stick to celebrating this rather than looking for negatives. One complaint we hear is that there aren't enough English players in English teams and that is true. It is, I'm sure, a reason why no Home Nation has qualified for the European Championships. But on this occasion it was Paul Scholes who got Manchester United to the final, and the final could feature eleven top English players (Ashley Cole, Ferdinand, Brown, Terry, Neville, Bridge, Scholes, Hargreaves, Carrick, Joe Cole and Rooney - ok, one of them would have to go in goal!).

All in all there have been reasons for celebration in British football more generally this season. Scottish and Welsh teams have also had successful seasons (Rangers in the UEFA Cup Final, Celtic were only knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona and Cardiff are in the FA Cup final) and Northern Ireland's David Healy has broken the record for goals in Euro qualifiers. So there's plenty for us all to celebrate.

This week I did a lot of TV interviews about the Champions League final, and emphasised that if fans follow the advice of the Foreign Office (www.fco.gov.uk/championsleague) and act sensibly, as the vast majority of them always do, they should have a fantastic time. I know the Moscow authorities are thrilled to have this showcase game and are looking forward to laying on a warm welcome. We have been in contact with the Russian authorities over this game and they have been very helpful. And staff at our Embassy in Moscow have also been preparing for weeks, making sure that they have everything in place to provide information for fans and consular support for anyone unfortunate enough to need it (at a minimum, there's always a lost passport or two).

One of the questions I was asked in the interviews was why not move the final to Wembley? I don't agree. First of all it would not work logistically - Russia has been gearing up for months. But, just as importantly, travelling to another European city is part of the magic of the event. Players and fans love the occasion. Wembley is a great venue (I know, I've played there!) but it is the home of the FA Cup Final. To move a European final after the semis is unworkable and diminishes the magic of the occasion. Besides if we were to have such a policy the City of Manchester stadium wouldn't be the venue for the UEFA Cup Final - after all that final is between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg. If we were to simply pick somewhere in between these two cities it wouldn't be in Manchester it would be in Oslo!

Posted at 09:54 02 May 2008 by Jim Murphy  |  Comments[1]