BBC · Mar 30, 2025
FA Cup 'sparkle' returns - but will there be a 'fairytale ending'?
The FA Cup "seems to have its sparkle back" but could Manchester City be party poopers and prevent a "fairytale ending"?
Seven-time winners City will be aiming to reach a third consecutive final when they face Nottingham Forest at Wembley on the weekend of 26-27 April - as part of an intriguing last-four line-up without most of the cup's traditional heavyweights.
City are the only team in the semi-finals with any recent record of success in the oldest national football competition in the world.
Forest last got to the final in 1991 and have not won the trophy since 1959, while Aston Villa have been beaten finalists twice since they tasted success for a seventh time back in 1957.