Alan Brazil: FA and SFA must move around from Wembley and Hampden to avoid apathy

WEMBLEY Stadium should be a special place.

That’s why selling it could be a good move by the FA.

Let’s be honest, the 11 years since the stadium reopened after it was rebuilt have taken their toll on football fans.

The old Wembley was only used for really big occasions.

FA Cup Finals, England versus Scotland games, important qualifiers, World Cup and European Championships matches, and the odd gig.

These days, there’s no escaping the place – and not just because Tottenham Hotspur are playing there while White Hart Lane is a building site.

The FA have made Wembley the venue for just about every game they possibly can over the last decade.

England friendly? Wembley. Cup semi-final? Wembley.

I reckon that has taken away the magic of the place.

Even the fans are getting sick of it – and that should never be the case for a national stadium.

I understand why the FA have made Wembley destination No. 1 for every game going.

They still owe more than £100m for its construction, and the interest on that means the stadium still runs at a loss.

The deficit would be even greater with fewer games taking place there.

But once the fans start to grumble about a place that should be their spiritual home, you’re in trouble.

The SFA have a similar problem when it comes to Hampden.

When the famous old place was modernised, all of a sudden there were more games taking place there than ever before.

You had Scottish Cup semi-finals, which would before have packed out a neutral club ground such as Tynecastle, Dens Park or Easter Road, being played in a half-empty Hampden.

The same thing goes for Scotland games, where we’ve seen gates of 20,000 on a midweek evening, and punters from the north having to shell out for hotels in Glasgow.

It has led to a feeling that the Tartan Army are sick of the place.

And I can understand their frustrations because, like England fans, they should not have been forced to go there as regularly as they have been.

So now Murrayfield has been flagged up as an alternative option.

Now, I’m biased when it comes to Hampden because I grew up in its shadow.

But if going there turns into a chore, folk are going to start calling for an alternative.

While the SFA are investigating their options on that front, the FA have been handed one.

They will rake in a reported £800m should they sell Wembley to Fulham owner Shahid Khan.

The US car parts billionaire has his reasons for buying the place – namely bringing an American football “franchise” to London.

But he has made all the right noises about respecting the home of English football.

Without Wembley as a millstone, the FA will be able to take the national team around the country, do likewise with FA Cup semi-finals, and continue to use the national stadium for showpiece events.

They would also be able to pay off their debts with plenty to spare.

From there, if they could invest in the grassroots game, paying for better community facilities and better coaching for kids, I think it would be for the good of the game.

History should always be respected. But so should the future.

And that’s where both the FA and the SFA should be facing.