Wembley Stadium : Ask Biography

Home | Stadium | Wembley Stadium

Wembley Stadium (often referred to simply as Wembley, -enˈwɛmblipron, or sometimes as the New Wembley) is a football stadium located in Wembley Park, in the Borough of Brent, London, England. It opened in 2007 and was built on the site of the previous 1923 Wembley Stadium. The earlier Wembley stadium, originally called the Empire Stadium, was often referred to as "The Twin Towers" and was one of the world's most famous football stadiums until its demolition in 2003.

It is a UEFA category four stadium. The 90,000-capacity venue (105,000 combined seating and standing) is the largest stadium in Europe, and serves as England's national stadium. It is the home venue of the England national football team, and hosts the latter stages of the top level domestic club cup competition, the FA Cup. It is owned by English football's governing body, The Football Association (The FA), through their subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL).

Designed by Foster and Partners and Populous (then HOK Sport), it includes a partially retractable roof. A signature feature of the stadium, following on from the old Wembley's distinctive Twin Towers, is the 134 m (439.6 ft) high Wembley Arch. With a span of 317 m (1040 ft), this steel arch is the longest single span roof structure in the world and, uniquely for a stadium, requires beacons for low flying aircraft. The stadium was built by Australian firm Multiplex at a cost of £798 million. The old Wembley closed in October 2000, with demolition originally intended for that December and the new stadium due to open in 2003. After delays to the project, with demolition first started in September 2002, the old Wembley was not completely demolished until February 2003, with the new stadium scheduled to open in time for the 2006 FA Cup Final. After further delays, the stadium was delivered nearly a year late, leading to legal disputes between WNSL and Multiplex, who ultimately made a significant loss on the project. The stadium was handed over on 9 March 2007, in time to host the 2007 FA Cup Final.

In international football, the stadium was a central component of the English 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bids. In 2012 it will host the football finals of the London Olympics. In club football, in addition to the FA Cup the stadium also hosts the showpiece season opening game the FA Community Shield match, played in August between the winners of the FA Cup and the top-level Premier League. In mid-season it also hosts the finals of the Football League Cup and Football League Trophy. At the end of the domestic season the stadium also hosts the latter stages of the Football League play-offs. In European football, it hosted the 2011 Champions League Final. In friendly tournaments, since 2009 it has been the venue of the summer Wembley Cup. Outside of football, the stadium also hosts major rugby league games, such as the Challenge Cup. The stadium is also an annual regular season venue for the American National Football League's International Series, the first such venue outside North America. Non-sporting uses include large concerts by artists such as Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Green Day, Muse, Oasis, Foo Fighters, Take That, Metallica, U2 and Madonna as well as hosting in July 2007 the Concert for Diana and Live Earth concert.