Voices in Football - Wembley: A Loss of History

If you thought that the above was a definition of the word Identity from the Collins English Dictionary and Thesaurus then you were right, but what the hell has it to do with Wembley Stadium? Lets cut to the crux of the argument here. The new Wembley that opened in 2007 is a mere shadow of its former self and an insult to the memory of the former ground. Its true identity and glorious history fell into disrepair and ultimate loss when the old Wembley with twin towers was demolished. Discuss.

An appropriate way to answer such an assumption can be done through contrasting the contemporary ground with the historical evidence that we have in existence. In the 1880s, Wembley Park Leisure Grounds had football and cricket pitches on it, a running track, fountains and waterfalls, walkways and flowerbeds. Then in 1889, in a bid to encourage more people to use the railways, the Chairman of the Metropolitan Railway - Sir Edward Watkin - decided to build a main attraction at this site and link it to central London by a railway line.

He embarked upon a grand project to build a huge four-legged tower, 350m (1,150 ft) high within the Leisure Grounds. Watkin's Tower was though never completed. During construction of the first stage, the foundations moved and the project ran out of money. It had reached only 61m (200 ft) high and work was abandoned. It became known as 'Watkin's Folly' and stood overlooking the Leisure Grounds where it became a curious tourist attraction in its own right until it was dynamited out of existence in 1907. At the end of the Great War in 1918, the Government began planning a British Empire Exhibition with a stadium as a National Sports Ground as its centrepiece. The Wembley Park Leisure Ground, which by then had evolved into an 18-hole golf course, was selected as the ideal site.

The original Wembley Stadium was then a football stadium located in north-west London and was first known as the British Empire Exhibition Stadium and or the simply the Empire Stadium. The original stadium was built in 1923 over 300 days, at a cost of £750,000. Originally intended to be demolished at the end of the Exhibition for which it was built, it was saved due to a recognition that it could be used for footballing purposes for the game that was growing in popularity. Prior to the 1923 Wembley stadium, international football games had been played by England at two other notable stadia. Most early internationals were played at the cricketing Oval which had been built in 1845. Some Internationals were also played at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

The stadium's distinctive Twin Towers became its trademark from then on. Also well known were the thirty nine steps named thus as it was needed to be climb these to reach the Royal box and collect a trophy and winners' or losers' medals on cup final day. Its most famous early day was the so called White Horse FA Cup final of 1923 between Bolton and West Ham. At the time the FA had not considered admission by ticket to such a game and grossly under-estimated the number of fans turning up to the 104 gates on match day. A White Horse with a policeman a top Billy became the symbol of the final as an estimated 200,000 crammed through turnstiles and overflowed onto the pitch with no room being left on the terraces.

Possibly the most famous horse in the history of the Metropolitan Police, Billy and PC George Scorey saved King George V and the first Wembley Cup Final in 1923 when the crowd invaded the pitch. Scorey led Billy to clear the pitch, and thereafter both were famous, their presence requested at many events. Billy the horse died in 1930, and Sir Percy Laurie, head of the Mounted Branch, presented Scorey with one of his hooves, polished and mounted.

Police Constable George Scorey and his white horse, Billy, had slowly pushed the masses back to the sides of the field of play for the FA Cup Final to start, just 45 minutes later than hoped. Thus, although the game was started and the official attendance figure never fully known the final of 1923 is thought to be the highest ever unofficial sports attendance in the world for a football match. Bolton Wanderers player David Jack scored the first goal of the final and in doing so was said to have knocked out a supporters who watched the match behind the goal with his faced pressed against the net.

Another famous historical event was the Matthews final of 1953 when a 38year old Stanley Matthews gave an outstanding wing performance for Blackpool. The FA Cup final was played at the old Wembley in April or May until 2000. It also held the final of various trophies such as the European Cup; the League Cup and play off matches. European Cup finals included Barcelona v Sampdoria; Ajax v Panathiniokos and Manchester United v Benfica. As teams walked out onto the pitch they entered not from the side but from a tunnel at the end of the pitch led by the team manager. Once at the end of the tunnel both teams were greeted by a wall of noise, colour and passion as thousands of fans waved flags to greet teams.

As the home of the England national football team it was the stage for the 1966 final when England overcame West Germany 4-2. For decades it held the bi-annual Scotland versus England International challenge match the oldest International football fixture in world football. In 1977 thousands of Scotland fans celebrated a win over England in Jubilee year by invading Wembley and smashing the crossbar. The image of thousands of drunken Scotland fans sprayed all over the turf, digging chunks of turf out has long been immortalised as one of the great moments in Scottish football fan folklore.

Thirty years on from 1966 the older Wembley was the principal venue of UEFA Euro 1996 hosting all of the England matches as well as the tournament's final, where a reunified Germany won the cup for a third time with the first international golden goal in football history. The penultimate crucial competitive games played at the older stadium resulted in 0-1 defeats for England to its two greatest rivals Scotland and Germany respectively.

When Pele called Wembley a 'cathedral of football' few could disagree. Images of the great Hungarian side of the 1950's, Hidegkuti and the Puskas dragback will forever be associated with the old Wembley. Club football's greatest moments at the old Wembley range from George Best winning the European Cup for Man Utd in 1968 via some dazzling footwork and for Kenny Dalglish jumping over the advertising hoardings to greet Liverpool fans after his goal had won the 1978 European Final against Club Brugge. The old Wembley had a track behind the goal, with photographers crouched by the goal areas behind adverts.

Outwith the football Wembley hosted a multitude of memorable events. On 31 May, 1975, in front of 90,000 people, Evel Knieval crashed his bike while trying to land a jump over thirteen single decker city buses. Old Wembley was the main athletics venue for the 1948 Olympics where Fanny Blankers-Koen and Emil Zatopek earned a place in athletic history. Outwith sport Wembley was a famous music venue playing host to a number of concerts and events. Most notable was the British leg of Live Aid on July 13^th 1985, with the background of Wembley behind Bob Geldolf as he demanded money for the dying Africans.

Its near 90,000 capacity makes it the second largest in Europe but still puts it somewhat behind the 100,000 who used to cram into the older ground. Though the original structure was closed in 2000 after the final game against Germany it was not demolished until 2003. Construction then began on the new stadium with it originally intended to open in 2006. Crisis after crisis ensued during construction with many questioning the need for such a construction with so many top class stadia already in operation from Manchester to London. Construction of the new Wembley was occuring at the same time as the newer Arsenal stadium at Ashburton Grove was also ongoing. Meantime Old Trafford was also growing at a fast pace making it one of Europe's largest grounds. Then there was the London issue with many feeling the stadia should be somewhere in the middle of England or in Birmingham. Construction went ahead though and was later delayed, until early 2007 it was announced the ground was almost finished. The final completion date of the stadium was 9 March 2007, when the keys to the stadium were handed over to the FA.

Wembley was designed by architects Populous and Sir Norman Foster and Partners. Its funding came from the FA, Sport England, London Development Agency and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. An Australian company had responsibility for construction. It is the most expensive stadium ever built at a cost of £800 million. Compared to the 750,000 it cost to build the original, the figure is astronomical. A similar creation in France, the Paris located Stade de France, cost around £250 million to construct. An almost identical figure of £200 million was spent creating the new Olympic Stadium in Berlin from the former ground, a stadium that somehow managed to retain the feel of the older ground.

Gone now is the sand track around the pitch edge and in has come a smaller pitch and areas behind each goal that sit closer to the goal areas than previous. It can also be adapted as an athletic stadium by erecting a temporary platform over the lowest tier of seating. Gone also are the 39 steps climbed to receive a trophy. To enter the Royal Box and collect a trophy today means 107 stairs have to be climbed.

A newer statue of Booby Moore was unveiled to co-incide with the opeing of the new ground on May 11 2007. A bridge to the ground meanwhile was named after a public vote the 'White Horse' bridge after the work done by Billy at the 1923 final. The new stadium has facilities unmatched at any other ground in the United Kingdom. It contains 2,618 toilets and hundreds of bars offering catering facilities. More like a shopping mall the total length of escalators amounts to 400 m (¼ miles). To cope with the modern digital age there are 56 km (35 miles) of heavy-duty power cables in the stadium. To replace the older electronic scoreboards each of the two giant screens in new stadium is the size of 600 domestic television sets. Seating in the new ground has an unobstructed view at every angle. The rows of seating, if placed end to end, would stretch 54 kilometers. There is more leg room in every seat in Wembley Stadium than there was in the Royal Box of the old stadium. Whilst the Towers of the old ground have gone a newer Arch sits on the ground. With a span of 315 metres, the arch is the longest single span roof structure in the world.

Many famous managers including Alex Ferguson and Croatia coach Slaven Bilic have savaged the quality of the pitch at Wembley. Bilic commented on it being "no good" and "not in the condition that Wembley used to be known for". Despite the grass being re-laid five times since the stadium re-opened in 2007 and is to be re-laid again each summer and criticism has still been widespread. Arsene Wenger described the pitch as a 'disaster' and 'laughable'. David Moyes of Everton also has publicly stated the disappointment that almost everything about Wembley bar the pitch was right. In response David Saltman, formerly in charge of the Millennium Stadium pitch and now the managing director of www.pitchcare.com, said Wembley would never be as good as a Premier League club's surfaces and this was something managers 'had to live' with. He backed this up by mentioning how Wembley was a host of multiple events outwith football unlike other grounds.

Outside, Wembley has changed and so has an area of north-west that surrounds the ground. The area though has failed to take off as was hoped but is today known as the most ethnically diverse area of London with all nationalities living in the area. The new Wembley's iconic symbol is the huge lattice arch designed by Lord Foster and HOK Sport but stadium officials have been eager to emphasis smaller details. Marketing punchlines tell of 30 per cent extra legroom, modern acoustics and hamburgers made from 100 per cent Scottish beef . Beer meanwhile is dispensed from pumps capable of disgorging four pints in 16 seconds. What they do not tell fans though is that beer is not of the best quality; the fish and chips with a small soft drink costs £8.50. The Hamburger meanwhile with the same small coke costs £7.70. A beer sets each and every customer back £4 whilst a large coke itself costs £3-00.

At the new Wembley the spectators are much closer to the pitch but the world watching on and players who reach Wembley now miss the long walk on to the pitch from behind the goal and the massive crescendo of noise as they came out in the old stadium. The FA say that all the feedback they have had had been positive with people impressed by the scale of facilities and the comfort value of the ground. However, what has also happened at the new Wembley is the creation of a stadia beaucracy and associated red tape. Stadium security and management verges on the obsessive from stewarding teams, senior stewarding teams to response management teams. Stadium Rules and regulations, CCTV reminders and unfriendly stadium managers stand domineeringly around the ground at every exit and entry point with the threat of ejection for the most minor of offences all postered around the ground. Gone is being called 'mate' and in has come the customer oriented 'sir'. Also gone are men shouting directions and in has come information points with customer care teams.

Ticket collection points now are numerous with up to 20 points available to fans picking up tickets, but with that has come the need for fans picking up tickets to have intricate reference numbers and credit cards at the ready. Ticket prices meanwhile have went up and booking resembles a Ryanair booking experience with numerous add ons and payment additions on top of the price of a ticket. There are £2 booking fees and in many cases a ticket 'pick up' fee of £2 meaning that any ticket booked can see an additional £4 placed on the basic entry price.

For fans, tales of being treated poorly inside Wembley have been increasing after each event held. Fans found inside the stadium in wrong areas to stated seat have been ejected without negotiations. Fans have been denied access to the stadium despite being no where near drunk or agressive. At every corner stadium management complete with name badge and folder patrol the stadium checking on poorly paid stewarding staff and supporters. Obsessive information sharing agreements and scrutinising CCTV camera points share a dialogue between stadium security and police meaning that even the smallest of offences are clamped down on.

At many grounds you can feel history and see past events even though change and development has occured. However, the new Wembley looks and feels completely different to the older stadium meaning that this rich history is hard to imagine and has been all but lost. Sitting at the new Wembley is like being at the new Centre Court at Wimbledon only 10 times the size. Its more strawberries and cream than pie and bovril. In an effort to capture the past stadium development has seen many famous events being captured in imagery within the stadium above the catering and bars areas. But this in itself looks cheap, cosmetic and poorly done. A key mistake was made in dispensing with the tunnel from where players appeared on cup final day. It is truly hard to imagine the newer Wembley being able to create something similar.

Giant plasma screens in the new Wembley capture reply and incidents but they lack the nostalgia of the older electronic scoreboards both in shape, image projection and location. If you are in the new Wembley gone are the images of the past from Ferenc Puskas in 1953 to Bobby Moore lifting the World Cup in 1966 this is because the new Wembley looks and feels completely different to the older creation.

Everyone knows that Wembley needed to change to meet the demands of a more modern technicological age. But what those behind the changes failed to do was retain the older feel of Wembley stadium in the newer creation. Wembley had unique identifying characteristics like no other in the towers, a tunnel and its bowl like shape. The failure to integrate these unique characteristics into the new stadium is a crying shame. Wembley 2009 may feel like the real thing but its inability to retain its past identity has seen its glorious history (and memories of it) all but disappear.


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