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Watch our Youth Cup semi-final at Emirates Stadium

FA Youth Cup semi-final U18 v Man City

Having reached the final four of the FA Youth Cup, our under-18 side will host Manchester City at Emirates Stadium in the semi-finals on Tuesday, April 4, kicking off at 7pm (UK).

As they did in the previous round, our young Gunners will once again take to the Emirates Stadium pitch to face City, hoping to book a place in the final against either West Ham United or Southampton.

You can buy your tickets now to support Jack Wilshere's side, which are priced at just £4 for adults and £2 for concessions.

Wilshere's men made it this far by thrashing Millwall 6-0 in round three, before beating Newcastle United 3-2 and then overturning a two-goal deficit to beat Watford at Vicarage Road.

They then found a last-minute winner to overcome Cambridge United in the quarter-finals to set up a meeting with Ben Wilkinson's City side, who last lifted the trophy in 2020 - relive our run to the final four.

To get to this stage, they have knocked out Blackburn Rovers, Brighton & Hove Albion, Fleetwood Town and Oxford United, scoring at least three times in each tie.

Full ticket details

Sales phases

Tickets will go on general sale at 10am on Friday, March 17. Tickets will be £4 for adults and £2 concessions*. Supporters will be able to purchase up to six tickets per transaction - booking fees apply.

*Concessions for this fixture are seniors 65+ and juniors 16 and under.

For enquires about Disability Access please contact The Disability Team on 0207 619 5000 (Option 2).

How to book your seat

You can purchase seats online now in all available areas of the stadium.

If you are purchasing tickets for other Arsenal Members, please ensure that each additional Member is assigned to your Network prior to your transaction (how to manage your network).

Once a successful booking within the members period has been made, your membership card will be activated and you will be sent a confirmation email which will include the seat details of the tickets purchased. All supporters are requested to bring their membership card to locate their seat and gain access to the stadium.

Please note, we are unable to activate membership cards once the general sale has commenced and Ticketfast (PDF) tickets will be emailed to the lead client email address to gain entry to Emirates Stadium. The Ticketfast tickets will arrive in a separate email to the confirmation email.

Important booking information

Children who are under 14 years of age must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over when attending fixtures at Emirates Stadium, while those aged between 0-3 are not permitted to sit in the following rows:

  • Lower Tier - Rows 1-20
  • Club Level - Row 1
Feature

When Wilshere beat Man City in the Youth Cup semis

Jack Wilshere in action for the under-18s against Manchester City in 2009

Next week sees us host Manchester City in the FA Youth Cup semi-final at Emirates Stadium, with Jack Wilshere aiming to inspire his side into the final from the touchline.

On Tuesday, April 4 his mind will fondly rewind back 14 years to when he was playing his part on that same pitch against the same opposition at the same stage of the competition, in the year we last got our hands on the famous trophy.

Get your tickets for our FA Youth Cup semi-final now

Back in the 2008/09 season, we reached the last four by knocking out Aston Villa, Wolves, Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur, thanks to a squad that would go on to amass over 3,000 professional appearances including Kyle Bartley, Francis Coquelin, Luke Ayling and Henri Lansbury.

However it was Jack who was the most exciting member of that side, having already debuted for Arsene Wenger’s first-team in a Premier League match against Blackburn Rovers in September 2008 and continuing to feature fairly regularly up to the start of the cup run.

Jack Wilshere in action for the under-18s against Manchester City in 2009

And that experience gained at the highest level would stand him - as well as his teammates - in good stead by the time City pitched up in N5 in April 2009, skippered by Kieran Trippier and featuring future internationals Dedryck Boyata and John Guidetti in their ranks.

We had inflicted City’s first defeat all season by beating them 2-1 at the City of Manchester Stadium in the first leg the month before thanks to goals from captain Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Gilles Sunu, but boss Steve Bould didn’t look to send his side out under instruction to protect their advantage - they looked to wrap up a final spot in style.

Arsenal and Manchester City line up ahead of kick-off in 2009

Our stall was set out in just the first minute when Sanchez Watt raced onto a long ball by Emmanuel-Thomas and fired home, and the striker’s pace caused issues again on 20 minutes when he was brought down by visiting keeper Joe Clegg, allowing Wilshere to tuck home our second from the penalty spot.

Relishing playing in front of nearly 10,000 supporters, the hosts were thriving and added a third nine minutes later when Bartley rose highest to head home a corner, and that was swiftly followed up when Watt pounced on some hesitation in the City defence to add a fourth.

Kyle Bartley scores against Manchester City in the 2009 FA Youth Cup

The visitors pulled one back just before half-time through Ahmad Benali, but nothing could prevent Wilshere and co from setting up a final meeting with Liverpool where another emphatic 4-1 success would clinch the cup.

Now 14 years on, Wilshere the coach has helped set the stage for our latest crop of young hopefuls to follow in his footsteps, as they dream of clinching silverware themselves in our colours.

Our team against City: James Shea, Craig Eastmond, Thomas Cruise, Kyle Bartley, Luke Ayling, Francis Coquelin, Emmanuel Frimpong, Jack Wilshere, Gilles Sunu, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Sanchez Watt.

Head to Emirates Stadium to see the next step of our cup journey against Manchester City in the semi-finals, with tickets available now priced at just £4 for adults and £2 concessions.

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