There is no doubt in saying that Wembley is one of the most famous stadiums in the world. It has a very interesting history and people have witnessed many historic football games in this arena. So if you are a football fan and want to learn some additional info about Wembley, this piece may shed some light on the subject. In this article, you will get to know about the historic Wembley Stadium. Along with this, some fun and interesting facts about Wembley will also be mentioned.
The first Wembley Stadium was constructed in 1923. It was built for the British Empire Exhibition and the plans were made that once the exhibition ended, the stadium would be demolished. But somehow, the demolition of the stadium didn’t happen. After that, the original Wembley remained in use for 77 years. But unfortunately, after being used for 77 years, Wembley was demolished and all the activities in the stadium halted. After two years, the reconstruction started again but due to some legal hurdles and financial obstructions, it was delayed. Finally, after four years of delay, the construction of the New Wembley completed in March 2007. The only difference was that the old stadium was owned by the Wembley Company but when it was reconstructed, the Football association owned it.
When the stadium was first built, it had a capacity of 125,000 people. The first opening of the original Wembley was completed by King George V on 28 April 1923. At the opening, over 30,000 people appeared to enjoy the exhibition.
Coming to the Wembley Stadium events, White Horse’ FA Cup Final was the first event that was enjoyed at the New Wembley FC. For the first events, the Football Association did not sell tickets, which caused a chaotic situation in which more than 250,000 people were held inside the stadium. The interesting thing is that the capacity was only for 120,000 people and due to the lack of capacity, around 60,000 people were left outside. However, a police officer on a white horse controlled the situation and that’s the reason why the walkway to the new arena is called White Horse Bridge. If you look at the beginning of the New Wembley, then you will see that it was started with some controversy. People were very unhappy that the Twin Towers had been demolished and when the FA released that Twin Towers would not play any role in the new stadium design, people were outraged. To fill the void of the Twin Towers, a retractable roof was constructed.
However, it is very evident that Wembley has faced a lot of setbacks since the beginning, but still, the new arena has shown a very decent growth. Over the past years, many new events have been hosted in the New Wembley. Bon Jovi was supposed to be the first event but due to some reasons, George Michael took the honour.
Even after facing so many troubles, once again it became the national football team home and hosted the final of FA cup. Apart from this, all the opening and ceremonies of the 2010 Olympics were held in this stadium and it played a very important role. Since its reopening, many new sports have been organized in this venue. Some of them include rugby union, rugby league, NFL events, etc. The fun part is that not only sports but music have also once again become one of the attractions of this stadium. Many artists hosted their live events such as the Live Earth concert. The main purpose of this music concert was to raise awareness of environmental issues.
Wembley is one of the oldest football stadiums and in this stadium many football records have been made and broken. If you talk about history, then Wembley is known for different historical football matches that changed the football world. Most of the legendary football players have played in this stadium and it is still the most loved football stadium in the world. All the important information regarding the history of Wembley is mentioned above. Hope this article will clear some of your queries and give you some valuable information.
