Wembley Stadium is the cathedral of modern football. Wembley Stadium, London Wembley Stadium capacity after reconstruction

Address: Great Britain, London
Start of construction: 2003
Completion of construction: 2007
Capacity: 90,000 (2017)
Home team: England national football team
Coordinates: 51°33"22.1"N 0°16"46.1"W

The legendary Wembley Stadium, where the English national football team plays all its home games, is known to every fan of this most popular game.

It is located in the north-west of the UK capital London. The final matches of the Champions League, the central matches of English clubs, take place at this stadium. In addition to the most significant football matches, American football and rugby matches are held at Wembley.

Bird's eye view of the stadium

Surprisingly, thanks to the architects' plan and its successful implementation, it is possible to hold sports car races in this luxurious stadium. Naturally, Wembley is also a wonderful concert venue where the most famous stars of show business dream of performing and enjoying the applause of 90,000 spectators.

"Ancient history

The first Wembley Stadium, or “Old Wembley” as Londoners call it, was built in 1923 in record time. Thanks to the efforts of 3,000 people, a huge building rose from concrete in 12 months, intended for the British Empire Exhibition, which was to be held in 1924. The grand opening of Wembley on April 28, 1923 was personally attended by the King of Great Britain, George V.

View of the stadium at night

According to the plans of the architects Maxwell Ayrton and John William Simpson, the concrete building was to be dismantled immediately after the end of the main exhibition of Foggy Albion. Back then, no one even imagined that the stadium would exist for exactly 80 years and become one of the main attractions of London. This happened thanks to Arthur Alvin, who decided to buy the abandoned pavilions after Wembley was declared economically unprofitable.

April 28, 1923 is not only the opening date of the world famous stadium. On this day, the FA Cup final took place at the old Wembley, which later became known as the “white horse final”. Not everyone knows why this match got such a strange name.

View of the stadium from Olympic Way

The thing is that even during the construction of the stadium, the English Football Association carried out an advertising campaign in which it presented the new stadium as the greatest and most comfortable sports arena in the whole world. Naturally, such loud words could not help but interest the British, and, according to conservative estimates, more than 250,000 people came to the match between the West Ham United and Bolton Wanders teams. And this despite the fact that the stands were designed for “only” 125,000 fans. Tickets were sold to everyone right at the entrance to the stadium, the organizers did not calculate their number, and in a matter of minutes Wembley Stadium was overcrowded: spectators began to sit right on the playing field. A stampede began, and it was decided to introduce mounted police into the stadium. One of the particularly active police officers pranced among the crowd of indignant football fans on a light-colored horse.

View of Wembley Arch

She was remembered most of all by Londoners that day, which is why the match received such a strange name. Speaking of names, Wembley was called by many names: Twin Towers, the sacred lawn. The stadium received its name Twin Towers due to two unique, like two peas in a pod, similar to each other, towers that were located at its entrance. The legendary player Pele, whose name is known even to a person unfamiliar with football, called Wembley Stadium nothing less than a cathedral built in honor of the most popular game in the world.

At the old Wembley, throughout the history of its existence, a lot of different sports competitions were held, but from the moment of its opening until the 60s of the last century, its main “cashier” was, no matter how strange it may sound, greyhound racing.

View of the stadium from Royal Route

These four-legged competitions, during which spectators had the opportunity to place bets, attracted a huge number of visitors to the stadium. But since 1966, Wembley has become the main football arena in England, which is appreciated not only by London residents, but also by legendary players from all over the world. In 1966, England hosted the FIFA World Cup, and Wembley became the stadium where the final games were held. As you know, everything in this world is subject to the inexorable passage of time: it was decided to destroy the old Wembley, and in its place to build a new stadium that meets all modern requirements for the comfort and safety of spectators. The last game on the old stadium's field took place on October 7, 2000. Then the teams of England and Germany met in an uncompromising match.

View of the football field

Recent history

The new Wembley Stadium was planned to be built on the site of the old one by 2003. However, problems with financing extended the reconstruction of the legendary football arena until 2007. The new stadium was designed by two reputable architectural firms dedicated exclusively to the development of sports facilities, Populous and Foster and Partners. The official opening of the new Wembley, which is now rightfully considered one of the best stadiums in the world, took place on May 19, 2007. On this day, probably following the good old tradition, the final match for the FA Cup between the Chelsea and Manchester United teams was held at the newly opened stadium. The cup then went to Chelsea, a team currently owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. A little earlier,

Stadium grandstand

On 11 May 2007, a monument to 1966 England captain Bobby Moore was unveiled outside Wembley.. The new stadium hosted the final match of the Olympic teams of Brazil and Mexico in 2012. Unexpectedly for everyone, the Olympic gold was won by the Mexicans, for whom the field at New Wembley became a happy one.

At the new Wembley

The modern stadium in the form of a huge bowl, designed for 90,000 people, amazes with its developed infrastructure: escalators, comfortable seats for fans, 2618 toilets, VIP boxes for distinguished persons, a lot of restaurants, bars, conference rooms and a museum - just a few that can see visitors to the new Wembley. If the symbol of the old stadium was rightly considered the two twin towers, then at New Wembley the main attraction is a huge arch 315 meters long, rising above the arena at a height of 133 meters.

View of the stadium stands

By the way, this arch is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest roof structure without fastenings. Amazingly, this loose arch supports the weight of the entire north roof of the stadium. It also bears just over 60% of the weight of the retractable south roof. When developing the stadium project, the architects provided for the possibility of holding athletic competitions there. Thanks to a huge system of platforms, additional space is freed up where athletics competitions can take place. True, at the same time, the number of spectators that the stadium can accommodate will immediately decrease by 30,000. In fairness, it is worth noting that to date, athletic competitions have not been held at the new Wembley, and are unlikely to be held in the future.

Location London, Great Britain Built 2003-2007 Open Construction cost £798m (2007) Architect Foster and Partners
Populous Owner Football Association Developer Brookfield Multiplex[d] Capacity 90 000 Home team (since 2007)
Tottenham Hotspur (2017-2019) Field dimensions 105×69 m Coating Desso GrassMaster Website wembleystadium.com (English) Media files on Wikimedia Commons

The new Wembley has a capacity of 90,000 and is the second largest stadium in Europe after Camp Nou. The England national football team plays their home matches there. The owner of the stadium is the governing body of English football, the Football Association of England (FA).

The authors of the stadium project were Foster and Partners and Populous. The new stadium has a retractable roof. Compared to the old Wembley, which featured white twin towers, the new stadium is known for its 134 m high Wembley Arch. This steel arch is the longest single-span roof structure in the world. The stadium was built by an Australian company Multiplex; construction costs amounted to £798 million. The old Wembley was closed in October 2000, and in December of the same year it was planned to demolish it and open a new stadium in 2003. However, for a number of reasons the project was delayed, and the old Wembley was completely dismantled only in February 2003. The new Wembley opened on 19 May 2007 when it hosted the FA Cup final.

In 2012, the stadium hosted the football finals of the 2012 Summer Olympics. In addition to national team matches, Wembley hosts FA Cup semi-finals and finals, FA Super Cup matches, Football League Cup and Football League Trophy finals, and Football League play-off matches. In 2011, the stadium received. In 2013, Wembley again hosted the UEFA Champions League final. In addition to football, the stadium hosts rugby league matches and American football matches. Wembley also hosts concerts.

Stadium

The new Wembley was designed by the architectural firms Foster and Partners and Populous. The construction was undertaken by the Australian company Brookfield Multiplex, and the investors were Sport England, WNSL (Wembley National Stadium Limited), the Football Association of England, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, as well as the London Enterprise Development Agency. Wembley has become one of the most expensive stadiums in the world: its construction costs amounted to £798 million. The stadium also has the largest number of spectator seats under the roof among all stadiums in the world. Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners also participated in the preparation of design documentation for the new Wembley.

The design of the new 90,000th Wembley is based on a “bowl” shape with a retractable roof. It can also be used as an athletic stadium: for this purpose, the project provides for the possibility of erecting a temporary platform on the lower tiers. A distinctive feature of the stadium is a lattice arch with a circular cross-section with a diameter of 7 meters and a length of 315 meters, rising at a height of 133 meters. The arch supports the entire weight of the north roof and 60% of the weight of the retractable roof on the south side. The stadium arch is the longest unsupported roof structure in the world. Compared to the original Wembley's 39 steps leading to the Royal Box, the new stadium has 107 steps.

The stadium also has a platform system that can be used if the stadium needs to be used for athletes' performances. Using this system would reduce the stadium's capacity to 60,000 seats. To date, no athletic competition has taken place at the new Wembley.

Construction

The original Wembley redevelopment plan called for the demolition of the old stadium before Christmas 2000 and the construction of a new one by 2003. However, due to financial and legal difficulties, the start of work was delayed. In 2004, the Mayor of London announced plans for the regeneration and regeneration of Wembley, which included the redevelopment of the stadium and surrounding areas over the next two or three decades.

On 30 March 2006, developers announced that Wembley would not be ready until 2007. Scheduled sports matches and concerts were moved to other locations. On June 19, 2006, it was announced that turf would be laid at the stadium. On 19 October it was announced that the stadium would be operational in early 2007, as all differences between the FA and Multiplex had been resolved. The total cost of building the stadium (including reconstruction of transport infrastructure) amounted to £1 billion (about 1.97 billion US dollars).

Stadium opening

The new stadium was commissioned and handed over to the FA on 9 March 2007. A message appeared on the stadium's official website that Wembley would be open to visitors on March 3, but in fact this happened 2 weeks later, on March 17.

Structure

Football field

The new football pitch is 4 meters (13 ft) lower than the old stadium's pitch. The pitch measures 105 by 69 metres, slightly narrower than the old Wembley. After the opening of the new Wembley, the quality of the turf on the football field was repeatedly criticized. Following the FA Cup semi-finals in April 2009, when the quality of the turf at Wembley was criticized by Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and David Moyes, the FA admitted that the football pitch surface needed improvement. After the stadium opened, the pitch was changed several times before important matches.

March 2010 saw the tenth resurfacing of the pitch since Wembley opened in 2007. In April of the same year, the quality of the pitch was again criticized after the FA Cup semi-finals. Thus, players complained that it was difficult for them to stand on the lawn, despite the lack of precipitation. Tottenham Hotspur head coach Harry Redknapp called the pitch a "disgrace" after their semi-final defeat to Portsmouth. At the end of the 2010 FA Cup final, Chelsea captain John Terry said: "The football pitch ruined the final. This might be the worst course I've played on this year. It's not good enough for Wembley." The turf was replaced before the 2010 FA Super Cup match. From then on, Wembley used the Desso GrassMaster grass surface, which combines natural grass with artificial fibers. Michael Owen, who had previously criticized the Wembley pitch because he suffered an injury on it, said that the quality of the pitch had improved significantly since then.

Roof

The stadium's roof area is 40,000 m², of which 13,722 m² are movable parts. The main reason for using a retractable roof was to avoid shade on a football field, as grass requires direct sunlight to grow effectively. Angus Campbell, the stadium's chief architect, also said his aim was to provide natural sunlight to the football ground for matches from early May to late June, from 3pm to 5pm, when FA Cup and World Cup matches are played. The retractable roof design minimizes shadows cast on the football field as the roof can be moved to the east, west and south. However, it was not possible to achieve a complete absence of shadow on the football field from 15 to 17 hours in the FA Cup finals: for example, in the 2007 final there was a shadow from the roof on part of the field, which was noted by BBC commentators.

The stadium's roof is 52 meters above the level of the football field and is supported by an arch that is 133 meters above the level of the external concourse. The length of the arch is 315 meters, making it the longest single-span roof structure in the world.

Music

Past concerts

date	Artist(s)
9, 10 June 2007	George Michael
June 16, 17, 2007	Muse
July 1, 2007	Concert for Diana
July 7, 2007	Live Earth
July 8, 2007	Metallica
June 6, 7, 2008	Foo Fighters
September 11, 2008	Madonna
June 26, 2009	AC/DC
July 1, 3, 4, 5, 2009	Take That
July 9, 11, 12, 2009	Oasis
August 14, 15, 2009
September 18, 19, 2009	Coldplay
June 6, 2010	Capital FM's Summertime Ball
June 19, 2010	Green Day
September 10, 11, 2010	Muse
30 June, July 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 2011	Take That
June 22, 2013	The Killers
June 30, July 2 and 5, 2013	Robbie Williams
June 6, 7, 8, 2014	One Direction
June 21, 2014	Miley Cyrus
July 11, 12, 2014	Eminem
July 2015	Ed Sheeran
July 2, 3, 2016	Beyoncé
September 10, 2016	Billy Joel
June 28, 29, 2017	Adele
July 24, 2017	Electric Light Orchestra
June 1, 2, 2019	BTS

Football matches

The first match at the new Wembley was between the Multiplex teams and the stadium staff; it took place without spectators. The first official match with professional football players at Wembley took place on March 24, 2007: it was a game between the England youth team and the Italian youth team, which ended with a score of 3:3.

On May 19, 2007, the first FA Cup final was held at the new Wembley: Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 in extra time. On June 1, 2007, the first match at the new Wembley was played by the England national team: it was a friendly match with the Brazilian national team.

On May 28, 2011, the final of the 2010/2011 UEFA Champions League was held at Wembley, in which the Spanish Barcelona and the English Manchester United played. In May 2013, Wembley once again hosted the final match of the UEFA Champions League, in which two German clubs, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, met. This final took place only 2 years after the previous one in connection with the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the existence of the Football Association of England.

Since August 2016, Tottenham Hotspur have played their UEFA Champions League home matches at Wembley. For the 2017/18 season, Tottenham will play all of their home matches (league, domestic cup and European competition) at Wembley.

Notes

Gates" Microsoft Becomes Wembley Stadium Backer(English) . Forbes (20 October 2005).
Wembley kick-off: Stadium is ready and England play first game in fortnight(English) . Daily Mail(9 March 2007).
Belson, Ken New Stadium, a Football Palace, Opens Saturday With Lacrosse(English) . The New York Times (8 April 2010).
Projects: National stadium, Wembley(English) (unavailable link). Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners. Archived from the original on September 14, 2007.
Wembley Stadium Uses Archived from the original on September 24, 2010.
Wembley arch due for completion(English) . BBC News (16 February 2004).
Guinness Book of Records 2006
A beautiful new home for the beautiful game(English) . Soccernet.espn.go.com (31 May 2006).
London 2012. Football(English) . InsideTheGames. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012.
Stadium delay hits Wembley gigs(English) . BBC News (31 March 2006).
Footballing legend Bobby Moore returns to Wembley Archived March 9, 2008.
Footballing legend Bobby Moore takes his place at Wembley(English) . Wembley National Stadium. Archived from the original on June 30, 2007.
Wembley's Moore statue unveiled(English) . BBC News (11 March 2007).
Doors finally open at new Wembley(English) . BBC News (17 March 2007).
Presspack: Facts and Figures(English) . Wembley National Stadium Limited. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008.
Building Wembley: Construction facts(English) . Wembley National Stadium Limited.

Location:

London, England

Opening:

Home team:

England team, Tottenham

Field dimensions:

Capacity:

"Wembley"– one of the most expensive stadiums in the world. Owned by the Football Association of England, it began its life on the site of the old arena of the same name.

Old Wembley was built in 1923. Over its 80-year history, it managed to host the 1948 Olympic Games football matches, five KEC finals, two KOC finals, 1966 World Cup matches, including the scandalous England-West Germany final, Euro 96 matches, and many FA Cup and League Cup finals.

The name of the stadium comes from the name of the area in which it is located. The stadium was also known as Empire Stadium ( Empire Stadium).

Nickname Twin Towers Wembley got its name thanks to its famous Twin Towers.

The stadium's maximum capacity was 127,000 seats.

In addition to football matches, Wembley has repeatedly hosted concert events.

The last match at the old stadium took place on October 7, 2000 - England lost 0:1 to Germany. After this, Wembley was closed.

Construction

The new Wembley project was developed by architectural companies Foster and Partner, Populous and engineers Mott Stadium Consortium.

The construction work was carried out by an Australian company Brookfield Multiplex.

Work on the construction of the arena began only in 2003, because due to financial problems, the demolition of the old Wembley was delayed until December 2002.

The arena was originally scheduled to open in 2006, but several force majeure events during construction led to significant delays.

During construction work, up to 3,500 workers were involved at a time. There are 4,000 piles driven into the foundation of the arena, the deepest of which lie at a depth of 35 meters. 90,000 cubic meters of concrete and 23,000 tons of steel were used for construction.

The new stadium was commissioned and handed over to the FA on 9 March 2007.

Despite this, the stadium has since started hosting games, with its official opening taking place on 19 May with the FA Cup final match.

And shortly before this, on May 11, a monument to the famous 1966 England captain Bobby Moore was unveiled in front of the entrance to Wembley. Symbolically, the monument was opened by Moore’s teammate and no less famous football player Bobby Charlton.

The height of the monument together with the pedestal is 6 meters, and its weight is 2 tons. The most prestigious VIP box at the new Wembley is also named after Bobby Moore.
The cost of constructing the stadium was 757 million pounds, which makes Wembley the third most expensive stadium in history after the American " Metlife Stadium"and the Russian "St. Petersburg Arena". And together with the reconstruction of transport infrastructure, the cost of the work reaches £1 billion.

Structure

The stands at the new Wembley are designed to 90,000 spectators. There are 166 individual boxes, skyboxes.

The stadium's spectators are provided with food and drinks by 110 different food outlets, ranging from buffets to cool restaurants. The arena has 98 kitchens and 9 banquet rooms, one of which, located next to the Bobby Moore box, can accommodate 1,100 people and is the largest ballroom in the world among those located in stadiums.

The perimeter of Wembley is 1 km, and the volume of its bowl is 1,139,100 m3.
The total length of the escalators at Wembley is 400 meters. The stadium also boasts a record 2,618 toilets, more than any other sports venue.

Arena roof is located at a height of 52 meters and is supported by a giant arch that has a larger cross-sectional diameter than the Channel Tunnel. The arch is 133 meters high and 315 meters long, making it the longest single-span roof structure in the world. The total roof area is 40,000 square meters, about a third of which is movable parts.

The stadium is equipped with a system of platforms on its lower tier, which allows the arena to be transformed for holding athletics competitions. True, then the capacity of the stadium is reduced to 60,000 people.

The new Wembley football pitch is 13 feet (4 meters) lower than the old one. And it is one of the arena's biggest problems. The ill-fated lawn had to be replaced more than once. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, there is insufficient sunlight on the field, even though the Wembley roof is partially retractable. Secondly, frequent concerts, the holding of which noticeably spoil the lawn.

The situation with the acoustics of the arena is also not very good - due to the huge size of the bowl, the sound from opposite stands is out of sync, which can be clearly heard during the performance of anthems, when the sound from the speakers does not coincide with the choral singing of the stadium.

Wembley is mainly used for football matches, being the home arena of the England team. But there are plenty of other events taking place at the main UK stadium. In addition to numerous concerts, boxing and rugby matches, and even American football, take place here.

The new Wembley has already hosted the Champions League finals twice.

The 2012 Olympics football matches also took place here.

In the 2017/18 season, Tottenham temporarily moved here while their new stadium was being completed.

In 2020, Wembley will host the semi-final and final matches of the European Football Championship.

Location and transportation

There are several ways to get to the stadium. There are two metro stations nearby - Wembley Park And Wembley Central. There are also two railway stations near Wembley - Wembley Central And Wembley Stadium.
Several bus routes pass nearby - No. 83, 92, 182, 206, 223, 224, 297.

Wembley Stadium (UK) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.

Last minute tours to the UK

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One of the largest stadiums in the world, London's Wembley, was built in 2007 on the site of the legendary arena, opened in 1923. The new stadium amazes with its scale and level of technical equipment. The first thing that catches your eye as you approach Wembley Stadium is the graceful openwork arch that supports the roof, which in turn boasts the ability to extend in three directions. Fans can get to their place in the stands using one of the escalators or steps.

However, where else if not in England, where football is a sport of national importance, a stadium should have appeared, which even those who are far from calling themselves football fans would strive to get into. There is even a special tour of Wembley for them, including a visit to the gift shop and press conference room.

In addition, Wembley Stadium often hosts concerts of world stars. For example, U2, Madonna, George Michael, Take That appeared at the stadium. So there are plenty of reasons to visit the famous stadium.

Wembley Stadium

Figures and facts about Wembley Stadium

Home team: England national team.

The stadium seats 90,000 spectators.

The height of the arch is 134 m.

The stadium has 2,618 toilets.

There is a monument to Bobby Moore at the entrance to the stadium.

Address: HA9 0WS, London, Wembley.

Ticket price for the excursion: 19 GBP, children (under 16 years old): 12 GBP, family: 54 GBP.

Prices on the page are as of November 2018.

Wembley's history begins in 1920. In the 1920s, Wembley Park was chosen as the site of the 1923 Imperial Exhibition. Wembley, or Empire Stadium, was built between 22 January and 23 April. Its capacity was 126 thousand people. The 1922 FA Cup final at Stamford Bridge was attended by "only" 53,000 spectators. In this regard, London authorities were concerned that spectators would not fill the new 126,000-seat Wembley Stadium next year. But the fears were in vain, on April 28, when Bolton and West Ham met in the final, the stadium was literally besieged by a crowd of 200,000 people. The match did take place (Bolton won 2:0), largely due to the fact that in the presence of King George V the fans behaved quite restrained. Wembley opened.

In 1966, at this stadium, the British became world champions, defeating Germany with a score of 4:2, and Geoffrey Hurst, for the first time in football history, scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final. And two years later, Manchester United became the first English team to win the European Cup. The fact that these events took place at Wembley is especially important for the British.

Over the years the stadium has changed. The nearby exhibition center was rebuilt as part of the stadium's £60 million redevelopment in the 1980s. When it was decided to replace standing areas with seats, the stadium's capacity was reduced from its original 100,000. Then, under the roof canopy, the Olympic Gallery was completed, and the stadium began to accommodate 80,000 people. Naturally, the renovated Wembley became the main arena of the 1996 European Championship.

However, over time, the stadium began to need updating to meet international standards. As a result of long discussions, it was decided not to reconstruct the old Wembley, but to build a new beautiful stadium in its place. Germany international Dietmar Hamann's free-kick made him the last player to score at the old Wembley Stadium before it was demolished. It happened on October 7, 2000, when the guests defeated representatives of Foggy Albion in the 2002 World Cup qualifying match with a score of 1:0. In the fall of 2002, demolition of the stadium began in order to build a new modern arena in its place. Parts of old Wembley were sold off at auction, with the turf, nets and goal frames sold piecemeal. There were a huge number of people who wanted to keep a piece of their memories for themselves; it was a legendary stadium!

DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW WEMBLEY STADIUM

The new Wembley was designed by Foster and Partners and Populous. The construction was undertaken by the Australian company Brookfield Multiplex, and the investors were Sport England, WNSL (Wembley National Stadium Limited), the Football Association of England, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, as well as the London Enterprise Development Agency. Wembley has become one of the most expensive stadiums in the world: its construction costs amounted to £798 million. The stadium also has the largest number of spectator seats under the roof of any stadium in the world. Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners also participated in the preparation of design documentation for the new Wembley.

On May 11, 2007, the opening ceremony of the Bobby Moore monument, installed in front of the stadium entrance, took place. The bronze monument by sculptor Philip Jackson was unveiled by Sir Bobby Charlton. Bobby Moore captained the England team that won the 1966 World Cup. The official opening ceremony of the stadium took place on 19 May 2007, when the FA Cup final was held at the new Wembley.

In 2012, the stadium will host the football finals of the 2012 Summer Olympics. In addition to national team matches, Wembley hosts FA Cup semi-finals and finals, FA Super Cup matches, Football League Cup and Football League Trophy finals and Football League play-off matches. In 2011, the stadium hosted the final match of the UEFA Champions League. In 2013, Wembley will once again host the UEFA Champions League final. In addition to football, the stadium hosts rugby league and American football matches. Wembley also hosts concerts; Green Day, Muse, Oasis, Take That, Metallica, U2 and Madonna have already performed there.

FOOTBALL FIELD. The new football pitch is 4 meters (13 ft) lower than the old stadium's pitch. The pitch measures 105 by 69 metres, slightly narrower than the old Wembley. Since the opening of the new Wembley, the quality of the turf on the football ground has been criticized many times. Following the FA Cup semi-finals in April 2009, when the quality of the pitch at Wembley was criticized by Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and David Moyes, the FA admitted that the pitch needed to be improved. After the stadium opened, the pitch was changed several times before important matches.

March 2010 saw the tenth resurfacing of the pitch since Wembley opened in 2007. In April of the same year, the quality of the pitch was again criticized after the FA Cup semi-finals. Thus, players complained that it was difficult for them to stand on the lawn, despite the lack of precipitation. Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp branded the ground a "disgrace" after their semi-final defeat to Portsmouth. At the end of the 2010 FA Cup final, Chelsea captain John Terry said: “The pitch ruined the final. This might be the worst course I've played on this year. It's not good enough for Wembley." The turf was replaced before the 2010 FA Super Cup match. From then on, Wembley used the Desso GrassMaster grass surface, which combines natural grass with artificial fibers. Michael Owen, who previously criticized the Wembley pitch after he suffered an injury on it, said the quality of the pitch had improved significantly since then.

ROOF. The stadium's roof area is 40,000 m2, of which 13,722 m2 is movable. The main reason for using a retractable roof was to avoid shade on the football field, as grass requires direct sunlight to grow effectively. Angus Campbell, the stadium's chief architect, also said his aim was to provide natural sunlight to the football ground for matches from early May to late June, from 3pm to 5pm, when FA Cup and World Cup matches are played. The retractable roof design minimizes shadows cast on the football field as the roof can be moved to the east, west and south. However, it was not possible to achieve a complete absence of shadow on the football field from 15 to 17 hours in the FA Cup finals: for example, in the 2007 final there was a shadow from the roof on part of the field, which was noted by BBC commentators.

The stadium's roof is 52 meters above the level of the football field and is supported by an arch that is 133 meters above the level of the external concourse. The arch is 315 meters long, making it the longest single-span roof structure in the world.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT WEMBLEY STADIUM IN LONDON

The stadium has 2,618 toilets, more than any other sports venue in the world.
The perimeter of the stadium is 1 km.
The stadium's bowl volume is 1,139,100 m³, slightly less than Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, but with a larger seating capacity.
3,500 workers were simultaneously employed in the construction of the stadium.
There are 4,000 isolated piles installed at the base of the stadium, the deepest lying at a depth of 35 m.
The stadium has 56 km of power cables.
90,000 m³ of concrete and 23,000 tons of steel were used to build the stadium.
The total length of the escalators at the stadium is 400 m.
The Wembley Arch has a larger cross-sectional diameter than the Channel Tunnel.