During our third trip to London, we found ourselves wondering which landmarks to visit. To be honest, we had grown a bit tired of taking pictures in front of Big Ben. The next idea that popped into our minds was to check out Wembley Stadium.
That morning, we decided to look up Wembley Stadium events today to see when is the earliest Wembley Stadium concert (in hopes of getting last-minute tickets). To our delight, we stumbled upon 10 amazing facts about Wembley Stadium, many of which we had never heard before
Wembley Stadium Hosted the Final When England Last Won the World Cup
Imagine if England had won the World Cup at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium instead of where it actually happened! But nope, the last time England clinched the World Cup trophy was way back in 1966. Just to give you an idea of how far back it was, back then, football players used to puff on cigarettes and work side gigs – an unbelievable concept for millennials and Gen Z.
If you are curious about that historic 1966 World Cup win and want to check out some neat stuff from that era, you can swing by Wembley Stadium. They offer free tours if you’ve got a London Pass.
There Were High Hopes for England to Win Euro 2020
As we now know, those hopes didn’t come through. The good news at least, though, is that Wembley hosted the final match. Southgate’s young squad was pretty awesome and exciting. Remember how they surprised everyone at the last World Cup? Except for that nail-biting penalty shootout against Colombia (they really should’ve sealed the deal sooner), they managed to beat Sweden convincingly. But then, they got knocked out in the semi-finals by Croatia.
If you missed the epic game that year, can you guess who crushed England’s dreams? – Italy! And it’s a shame because some British fans got pretty nasty and took it out on the champion
Wembley Stadium Has Put On Gigs by World’s Famous Musicians
Just like other national stadiums, Wembley Stadium isn’t just about sports. It’s also been graced by some of the world’s biggest music stars. Queen rocked the stage in 1986, and Adele set a record with an astounding 98,000 fans (an impressive number even for Wembley stadium capacity) at her 2017 show. And if you ask us what is the most iconic Wembley stadium concert, well, to be honest, we can’t decide between Madonna and U2, who have both performed here. Even the world-famous rock bands like The Killers were so thrilled about performing here that they wrote a song about it and played it live.
To this day, the stadium continues to host major concerts. We browse through the stadium’s official website, where you can check Wembley stadium events today and upcoming events, and guess who’ll be performing for Londoners at this stadium in 2024? It’s the Fearless queen – Taylor Swift!
This is Not the First Wembley Stadium
This might surprise you, but today’s Wembley Stadium isn’t the first; there was an older venue with the same name built before it. They decided to replace the old Wembley stadium in 2002. The current Wembley, which opened to the public in 2007, is owned by the Football Association and can hold up to 90,000 fans. The original Wembley was founded exactly a century ago, in 1923. The original facility had its own glory days, historically speaking. It was actually the main location for the Olympic games of 1948.
Interestingly enough, when younger generations hear the word ‘Wembley’, they think of the stunning arch, while older generations recall the iconic twin towers. Sadly, they demolished the old one in 2003, towers and all, which caused quite a stir in British society.
Both New and Old Wembley Stadium are at the Heart of English Football
Wembley has been the soccer heart of England since 1923, hosting the epic FA Cup Final. Winners get to strut up to the Royal Box and hoist their trophy high, while the not-so-lucky ones take the same walk for their medals. Back in the old Wembley stadium days, there were the famous 39 steps that meant either triumph or defeat. Today, in order to get to the presentation area, one has to walk 107 steps!
Besides the FA Cup, Wembley now hosts a bunch of other football events like the FA Community Shield, League Cup finals, FA Cup semis, and more. It’s also been home to big shots like the UEFA Champions League Finals and even some UEFA Euro 2020 matches. Also, let’s not forget the fact that, since 2007, every NFL London game has been a full house, and that’s amazing given the Wembley stadium capacity.
The Wembley Arch is Massive
Let’s now talk about the venue’s architectural features: the Wembley Arch. The structure is gigantic, standing at an incredible 134 meters tall. To give you an idea, you could easily slide the London Eye under it (well, we better don’t try that because the folks in Brent wouldn’t be too thrilled). It stretches a massive 315 meters across the sky and is super strong; it basically holds up most of the stadium’s roof. Amazingly, people from all over England contributed to the construction of this arch, and you can spot this remarkable structure from just about anywhere in London city.
Wembley is One of the Largest Stadiums in Europe
Wembley isn’t just big; it’s colossal! Wembley stadium seating plan, as mentioned earlier, has 90,000 seats. It’s the UK’s largest stadium and the second largest in Europe, just a tad smaller than Barcelona’s Camp Nou, which squeezes in about 99,354 seats. Imagine if they crammed in an extra 10,000 seats, but it would be too expensive given that they’re already spending £800 million on the current size of the stadium.
We could easily fit 25,000 double-decker buses inside, and they’d probably all be honking at each other so, again, that’s a bad idea. Alternatively, you could fill it with a mind-boggling seven billion pints of beer (or any drink, really). And speaking of size, you won’t be caught short on toilets – there are 2,618 of them.
The First Match Held at Wembley Stadium Has Gone Down in Footballing History
The very first football game at Wembley was the 1923 FA Cup Final between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United. Believe it or not, around 300,000 fans showed up. That’s more than double the old Wembley stadium capacity, which is 125,000.
They didn’t even bother with tickets, and the place was so jam-packed that people spilled onto the pitch. The police had to step in to clear the crowd, and one officer, elegantly riding a white horse, became quite the spectacle. It’s been known as the ‘White Horse Final’ ever since.
The New Wembley Has Been Scientifically Engineered
The designers of the new Wembley did not scrimp on engineering quality. They used audio recordings from the old Wembley, famous for the ‘Wembley Roar’, to recreate the acoustics in the new stadium. Plus, with that arch holding up the roof, and the well-thought-out Wembley stadium seating plan itself, there’s no need for obstructive pillars, so there isn’t a bad seat in the house. The architects also tiered the stands in a way that makes everyone feel close to the action.
A Bad Eiffel Tower Knockoff Was Uncovered Underneath Wembley Stadium
Despite how strange this may sound, there’s really something hiding beneath Wembley’s construction. And that’s the concrete foundation of something called Watkin’s Tower.
As far as we can tell, it was supposed to outdo the Eiffel Tower in height and style, but financial and safety issues prevented that from happening (which is probably a good thing). Ironically, it would have stood right under the Wembley pitch today, and that would have added a whole new layer of intrigue to football.
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Ken is an experienced online gambling writer whose passion for online gambling began at an early age. His love for poker led him to be fascinated with the strategies used by successful players and dedicated his writing career to understanding the inner workings of the online gambling industry. His years of experience in creating informative content made him into a sought-after expert on all things casino.
