Former England and Manchester United midfielder David Beckham reckons that FA Cup semifinals should not be held at the Wembley since it diminishes the importance of the competition.

Beckham has a lot of experience of playing at Wembley, but his experiences are largely limited to the old Wembley. Since the construction of the new stadium incurred a lot of debt to the English Football Association, they have been using the Wembley stadium for a number of purposes other than the FA Cup final and the England national team games. Previously, the stadium used to hold a very limited number of games.

This enhance the appeal of playing at Wembley immensely. It has slowly dissipated in recent years with games like the play-offs from the three divisions below the Premier League, FA Cup semifinals and finals, League Cup finals, and several musical concerts being held on a regular basis. The Wembley is now used for much of the year for these aspects. Beckham has even gone on to describe Wembley as a sacred place and the FA Cup is all about playing at this ground and winning the title.Despite being immensely successful in terms of the Premier League and the Champions League, Beckham managed to lift only two FA Cup titles.

During Beckham’s career, the FA Cup semifinals were usually played at Villa Park or Old Trafford. “Wembley is a sacred place, Wembley is for finals.There shouldn’t be semi-finals at Wembley. The FA Cup is about reaching the final and it’s about being in a final at Wembley. We had played in a couple of semi-finals at Villa Park, I remember scoring the winning goal against Chelsea in one of my first games as a Man Utd player. Those atmospheres are so special when you travel around. Those occasions are what football is all about,” said Beckham.