Wembley Stadium – stadium description

What is the location of Wembley Stadium?

The temple of English football is located in the principal town of the borough of Brent in north west London. The stadium is serviced by two subway lines (Metropolitan and Jubilee) with the Wembley Park Station located under 700 metres to the north. There's also a light rail station around 300 metres to the south, serviced by Chiltern Railways.

What is the history of Wembley Stadium?

New Wembley was built on the site of the old stadium that existed in the years 1923-2002. The original plan was to start demolition of the old arena by Christmas 2000 and finish construction by 2003. Unfortunately, the works were delayed due to financial and legal turmoil.

On September 30, 2002, the ground was finally broken, and the actual construction work was carried out between 2003 and 2007. It was accompanied by numerous scandals: the opening was delayed more than 4 years in relation to the initial plans and the cost more than doubled during implementation.

The venue was put into operation on March 9, 2007, thanks to which the first official game could be played 15 days later (England U21 - Italy U21). On May 11 of the same year, a statue of Bobby Moore was unveiled, located right in front of the main entrance.

What are the features of Wembley Stadium?

Wembley is the second largest stadium in Europe, right after Camp Nou. Its most characteristic feature is the 133-metre steel arch, which is an icon of the ground, just like it was with the two towers of its predecessor. At night the arch is lighted up and can be seen from many kilometres. Its internal diameter is 7 metres and the span - 315 metres. This structure collects most of the roof load, which is partially retractable.

At its highest point, the canopy of the facility rises 52 metres above the playing field and has a total area of 40,000 square metres, of which 13,772 are movable. This solution is to enable effective turf growth.

Before the foundations of the arena were laid, 4,000 piles were driven, the longest of which is as much as 35 metres. In addition, 90,000 cubic metres of concrete and 23,000 tonnes of steel were used. The circumference of Wembley is approximately 1 kilometre. The total length of the escalators is 400 metres and the number of toilets is 2,618 (the most in the world).

What is the capacity of Wembley Stadium?

Wembley can accommodate 90,000 spectators. The seating is divided into 3 tiers, middle one of which is dedicated solely to business clients on long-term contracts. The lowest tier has 34,303 seats, the middle - 16,532, and the highest - 39,165.

Which sports and non-sports events are taking place at Wembley?

The arena hosts the most important matches of the England team, the semi-finals and the FA Cup final, as well as play-offs for participation in the highest divisions. The venue hosted the 2011 and 2013 Champions League finals. In 2012, the final of the football tournament of the Olympic Games took place at the facility. Tottenham played home games at Wembley between 2017 and 2019 as they waited for their stadium to be finished.

During Euro 2020, as many as 8 fixtures took place at the facility (including the semi-finals and the final). In the past, the stadium organised American football matches, boxing fights and numerous music events.