South coast fans face a long day's travelling to and from this year's two FA Cup semi-finals following the announcement of the venues by the FA.
Southampton will play first division Watford at Villa Park in Birmingham while Sheffield United will play either Chelsea or Arsenal at Manchester United's Old Trafford ground.
The Southampton v Watford game would logically have had a London venue but the FA said there were no suitable stadiums.
With the London marathon also being held in the capital on the same day - April 13th - police resources would have been stretched.
A Midlands venue for the other semi-final also appeared geographically logical but the FA said that Old Trafford, the biggest league ground in the country, would enable more fans from both teams to attend.
With major delays on the main west coast railway line, the M1 and M6 motorways will be places to avoid as anything up to 80,000 fans head to the matches.
"Clearly, in an ideal world, we would have preferred to stage the Watford-Southampton tie at a London venue," spokesman Paul Barber said on the FA website.
"Unfortunately, there is not a London venue available to us on semi-final day this year that can accommodate the fans with a 50/50 equal split.
"The Arsenal or Chelsea v Sheffield United semi-final might have been better suited geographically to Villa Park.
"However, we are very aware of the huge numbers of fans that support each of these clubs and who will want to see this game live."
Chelsea and Arsenal, who drew 2-2 at Highbury on Saturday, will replay their quarter-final on March 25th.
The Cup final will be held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on May 17th.