Wembley Stadium

Wembley Stadium is the 7th biggest football stadium in the world as well as 2nd in Europe. The stadium is located in Wembley, London. The first opening was in 2007, on the site of the original Wembley Stadium which was demolished in 2003. 

What Matches Does the Arena Host?

The stadium hosts major football events including home matches of the England national football team, and the FA Cup Final. 

In addition to England home games and the FA Cup final, the stadium also hosts other major English Football events. It includes the season-opening FA Community Shield, the League Cup final, the FA Cup semi-finals, the Football League Trophy, the Football League play-offs, the FA Trophy, the FA Vase and the National League play-offs. 

What Football Club Owns Wembley?

The Wembley Stadium is reserved for the English National Football team. This means that there is no Wembley Stadium club from EPL that owns Wembley as their home arena.

The stadium is owned by the English football authority and the Football Association (the FA). The FA headquarters are located on the stadium territory. 

The stadium was also the temporary home arena of Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur. From August 2017 when White Hart Lane was being deconstructed and March 2019 when their new stadium was built. 

Major Wembley Stadium Events

Wembley is one of the most iconic stadiums in football history. It hosted the 2020 UEFA Euro Cup semi-finals and finals. The tournament was postponed by one year due to the coronavirus pandemic and took place in 2021. Wembley hosted the 2011 and 2013 UEFA Champions League Finals. It is planned that Wembley will host the UEFA Champions League Final in 2023. 

Olympics and More

Wembley held the Gold medal football matches of the 2012 Olympics. It also regularly hosts the rugby league’s Challenge Cup final, NFL London Games and various music concerts. 

World-famous artists like Ed Sheeran, Eminem, Beyonce, Michael Jackson, Muse, Oasis and The Queen have rocked the Wembley stadium with their performances and turned the public into the epic choir.

Wembley Stadium Capacity

The maximum capacity is 90,000 seats. It is the biggest football stadium in the UK and the second-largest stadium in Europe. However, due to the pandemic, the capacity at Wembley is limited by the UK government to 75% of the maximum occupied space in response to the covid pandemic. That means that nearly 60,000 fans are allowed to attend the particular game.

Wembley Dimensions and Size

• Wembley has a circumference of 1 kilometre.
• Playing Area Dimensions is 105 (length)x69(width) metres. The total game space is 7,245 square metres.
• The modern Wembley confines 4,000,000 m³ inside. This is comparable to 25,000 double-decker buses or around 7 billion pints of beer.
• The total length of the escalators is like a 400-metre running track.

New Wembley

New Wembley was Designed by Populous and Foster and Partners. The 134 metres high Wembley Arch is installed on top of the stadium. It serves as a spotlight to London and is one of the main constructions that support over three-quarters of the whole roof load. 

The stadium was built by Australian company Multiplex. The official cost is £798 million. Opposite from popular belief, Wembley does not have a retractable roof that covers the field from rainfall or snow. Two partially retractable roof constructions are located at the east and west end. Both can be opened to allow sunlight and maintain grass growth. 

Old Wembley

The original Wembley Stadium was broadly known as the Empire Stadium. It was constructed as the centre of a British Empire Exhibition at the end of WWI. Its name originates from the north London suburb in which it is located. 

It had served as the central point of English football until it was demolished in 2003 and made way for the new venue. Old Wembley was nearly four times the height of the new building, occupying half the area of the modern arena. 

In 1966, Wembley hosted the World Cup final. This was the first and only time that the Three Lions lifted the world trophy over their heads.

Interesting Facts about Wembley

• At Wembley, teams are getting awarded in the Royal Box. The Royal Box is in the traditional position – in the centre of the North Stand – similar to the old Wembley.
• Each of the two giant screens in the new stadium is the size of 600 TV sets.
• The Stadium has 34 pubs, 8 restaurants, 98 kitchens and 688 food and drink service points.
• Approximately forty thousand pints of beer can be served during halftime in a football/rugby league match.
• Almost 40,000 people come through Wembley Park station on the current match day

Sponsors

In 2014, Wembley Stadium entered into a six-year sponsorship agreement with mobile provider EE Limited, under which it provides technology and infrastructure services for the venue. Under the agreement, the facility is officially referred to as “Wembley Stadium connected by EE”.

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