What's odd about this picture ?

[johnh]

I'm assuming we are wearing red stockings so no clash of colour as Everton would be wearing blue.

Is that JohnH in the crowd wearing a half & half scarf

I presume it was a Saturday afternoon. If so, I would have been playing. I played for Ossett Town in the Yorkshire League in 1968. I do remember mixed emotions though.
I remember that Old Trafford didn't host many semi-finals, Main Road and Villa Park were popular venues.

[BrighouseWhite]

That '40,000 capacity' has to be a typo, no? Even with drastic segregation in place, OT was in 60k + capacity I would've thunk.

Think that is correct Man utd average home attendance for the 67/68 season was 57,000.

According to the Wiki page the attendance was 63,000

[NottinghamWhite]

First semi-final venues for me were Hillsborough, Villa Park & Burnden Park.

[rigger]

That '40,000 capacity' has to be a typo, no? Even with drastic segregation in place, OT was in 60k + capacity I would've thunk.

Think that is correct Man utd average home attendance for the 67/68 season was 57,000.

This is the actual article :

“Is there a specific reason Old Trafford hosted so few FA Cup semis prior to 1996?” inquires Patrick Walton. “For such a historically large ground to only be first pick three times in 50 years seems odd.”

“I suspect the reason Old Trafford became a regular semi-final host was a mixture of an increasingly commercial attitude at clubs and the FA, combined with the growth in the capacity at Old Trafford to vastly outstrip the competition,” writes Dave Boyle.

“Until 1996, Old Trafford’s capacity was around 40,000, before the enormous North Stand opened taking capacity to 56,000. At the same time, the post-Taylor report conversion of grounds to all-seater at most clubs led to a decline in capacities, so that by 1996, Old Trafford had a capacity around 17,000 seats bigger than any other ground in England. That made it a banker for a semi-final, allowing more fans in (and more money for the FA, obviously). That explains why it was chosen after this time, but doesn’t explain why it was host for so few times before.

“Prior to 1996, most English grounds were roughly comparable – the biggest divergence between capacities in 1988, for example, among regular semi-final venues was between Arsenal at 57,000 and Villa Park at 48,000. As the semi-final venues were chosen after the draw for that round had taken place, the FA would contact eligible clubs, who would have a few weeks to get things ready. If a club couldn’t be bothered, they’d simply not volunteer; conversely, if a club hosted a semi-final and the FA or the competing clubs found fault, they’d be less likely to be invited. So my suspicion would be a general feeling at Manchester United that they couldn’t be bothered, perhaps matched by a feeling from the FA (a smashing lunch, perhaps?) that there was some reason they preferred other clubs.”

[Another Northern Soul]

That '40,000 capacity' has to be a typo, no? Even with drastic segregation in place, OT was in 60k + capacity I would've thunk.

Think that is correct Man utd average home attendance for the 67/68 season was 57,000.

This is the actual article :

“Is there a specific reason Old Trafford hosted so few FA Cup semis prior to 1996?” inquires Patrick Walton. “For such a historically large ground to only be first pick three times in 50 years seems odd.”

“I suspect the reason Old Trafford became a regular semi-final host was a mixture of an increasingly commercial attitude at clubs and the FA, combined with the growth in the capacity at Old Trafford to vastly outstrip the competition,” writes Dave Boyle.

“Until 1996, Old Trafford’s capacity was around 40,000, before the enormous North Stand opened taking capacity to 56,000. At the same time, the post-Taylor report conversion of grounds to all-seater at most clubs led to a decline in capacities, so that by 1996, Old Trafford had a capacity around 17,000 seats bigger than any other ground in England. That made it a banker for a semi-final, allowing more fans in (and more money for the FA, obviously). That explains why it was chosen after this time, but doesn’t explain why it was host for so few times before.

“Prior to 1996, most English grounds were roughly comparable – the biggest divergence between capacities in 1988, for example, among regular semi-final venues was between Arsenal at 57,000 and Villa Park at 48,000. As the semi-final venues were chosen after the draw for that round had taken place, the FA would contact eligible clubs, who would have a few weeks to get things ready. If a club couldn’t be bothered, they’d simply not volunteer; conversely, if a club hosted a semi-final and the FA or the competing clubs found fault, they’d be less likely to be invited. So my suspicion would be a general feeling at Manchester United that they couldn’t be bothered, perhaps matched by a feeling from the FA (a smashing lunch, perhaps?) that there was some reason they preferred other clubs.”

Wasn't doubting you, Rigsby .

[zigzag]

Was our player who is off balance fouled and we were awarded a penalty?

Now that would be unusual