The first Wembley Stadium (), originally known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, London, England. It opened in 1923 and was demolished in 2002 to make room for the new Wembley Stadium.
Wembley hosted the FA Cup final annually, the first in 1923, which was the stadium's inaugural event, the League Cup final annually, five European Cup finals, the 1966 World Cup final, and the Euro 1996 final. Brazilian footballer Pelé once said of the stadium: "Wembley is the cathedral of football. It is the capital of football and it is the heart of football", in recognition of its status as the world's most famous football stadium.
The stadium also hosted many other sports events, including the 1948 Summer Olympics, rugby league's Challenge Cup final, and the 1992 and 1995 Rugby League World Cup finals. It was also the venue for numerous music events, including the 1985 Live Aid charity concert,Qué fue el Live Aid? at rockfm.fm as well as SummerSlam 1992, the first major professional wrestling pay-per-view to take place outside of North America.Se cumplen 30 años de SummerSlam '92 en el mítico estadio Wembley by Vicente Beltrán on marca.com, 29 Aug 2022
History
The stadium's first turf was cut by King George V and it was first opened to the public on 28 April 1923. Much of Humphry Repton's original Wembley Park landscape was transformed in 1922–23 during preparations for the British Empire Exhibition of 1924–25.Sunday Tribune of India (newspaper) Article on exhibition (2004)British Pathe (agency) Film of British Empire Exhibition, reel oneBritish Pathe (agency) Film of British Empire Exhibition, reel twoBritish Pathe (agency) Film of British Empire Exhibition, reel threeBritish Pathe (agency) Film of British Empire Exhibition, reel four First known as the "British Empire Exhibition Stadium" or simply the "Empire Stadium", the construction was carried out by Sir Robert McAlpine.
The stadium cost £750,000 (equivalent to approximately £49.81 million in 2023) and was constructed on the site of a folly called Watkin's Tower. The architects were Sir John Simpson and Maxwell AyrtonSutcliffe, Anthony (2006). London: An Architectural History. Yale University Press. . p. 172 (via Google Books). Retrieved 4 February 2009. and the head engineer Sir Owen Williams. The original intention was to demolish the stadium at the end of the Exhibition, but it was saved at the suggestion of Sir James Stevenson, a Scot who was chairman of the organising committee for the Empire Exhibition. The ground had been used for football as early as the 1880s.. Wembley Stadium.
At the end of the exhibition, which proved to be a financial disappointment, the site at Wembley was considered by many to be a vast 'white elephant'. It was bought by a property speculator, James White, who planned to sell off the buildings for redevelopment, including the stadium which had been the centrepiece of the exhibition. Arthur Elvin, an ex-RFC officer who had worked in a tobacco kiosk at the exhibition and had previous experience working for a scrap metal firm, was employed by White to oversee the sale of the buildings and the clearance of the Wembley site.
The stadium had gone into liquidation after it was pronounced "financially unviable". After nine months, having earned a good sum from selling various buildings on the site, Elvin agreed to buy the stadium from White for a total of £127,000 as a £12,000 downpayment and the balance plus interest payable over ten years.Jacobs, N and Lipscombe, P (2005). Wembley Speedway: The Pre-War Years. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. .
Facing personal bankruptcy, White killed himself at his home, King Edward's Place, in 1927. This caused financial complications for Elvin, requiring him to raise money within two weeks to buy the stadium before it too was demolished. He was able to finance this by forming the 'Wembley Stadium and Greyhound Racecourse Company'. He raised the money to buy the stadium at the original price he had agreed with White, then immediately sold it back to the company, leaving him with a healthy personal profit. Instead of cash, he received shares in the company, which gave him the largest individual stake in Wembley Stadium, and subsequently became chairman.
Elvin was able to make a considerable profit with the introduction of greyhound racing from 1927 and is credited with saving the stadium from closure and demolition.
The electric scoreboard and the all-encircling roof, made from aluminium and translucent glass, were added in 1963.
In 1977 fences were erected around the pitch following the England vs Scotland match when Scotland fans invaded the pitch and vandalised the pitch and goalposts. These fences were taken down following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.
The stadium's distinctive Twin Towers became its trademark and nickname. Also well known were the 39 steps needed to be climbed to reach the Royal box and collect a trophy (and winners'/losers' medals). In 1934, the Empire Pool was built nearby. The "Wembley Stadium Collection" is held by the National Football Museum. The stadium closed in October 2000 and demolition commenced in December 2002, completing in 2003 for redevelopment. The top of one of the twin towers was erected as a memorial in the park on the north side of Overton Close in the nearby Saint Raphael's Estate.
The cities of Birmingham and Coventry launched bids to become the new home of England's football team following disputes and a political row regarding the new Wembley's construction. These bids were ultimately unsuccessful as the FA chose in 2002 to keep the national team at the new Wembley once completed.
Football Wembley is best known for hosting football matches, having hosted the FA Cup Final annually as well as numerous England International fixtures.
White Horse Final
The Empire Stadium was built in exactly 300 days at the cost of £750,000. Described as the world's greatest sporting arena, it was ready only four days before the "White Horse" final in 1923. The FA had not considered admission by ticket, grossly underestimating the number of fans who arrived at the 104 gates on match day. However, after this match, every event apart from the 1982 replay was ticketed.
The first event held at the stadium was the 1923 FA Cup final on 28 April between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United. This is known as the White Horse Final. Such was the eagerness to attend the final at the new national stadium that vast numbers of people crammed through the 104 turnstiles into the stadium, far exceeding its official 127,000 capacity. The crowds overflowed onto the pitch as there was no room on the terraces. Estimates of the number of fans in attendance range from 240,000 to well over 300,000.
It was thought that the match would not be played because of the number of spectators inside the stadium that had spilled onto the pitch, until mounted police, including Police Constable George Scorey and his white horse, Billy, slowly pushed the crowds back to the sides of the field of play to allow the match to kick off just 45 minutes late. In honour of Billy, the footbridge outside the new Wembley Stadium has been named the White Horse Bridge. The official attendance is often quoted as 126,047. The match saw a 2–0 victory for Bolton Wanderers, with David Jack scoring the first ever goal at Wembley.
Matthews Final
The 1953 FA Cup final between Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers was dubbed the "Matthews final" after Blackpool's winger Stanley Matthews. At age 38, he was making his third and ultimately his final attempt at winning an FA Cup medal. In the previous six years, he failed to earn a winner's medal against Manchester United in 1948 and Newcastle United in 1951. It featured a hat-trick by Blackpool's Stan Mortensen in his side's 4–3 win, with Matthews almost single-handedly turning the match around for Blackpool, who had trailed 3–1 to Bolton Wanderers before fighting back to win the match. It remained the only hat-trick ever scored in an FA Cup Final at the original Wembley.
The FA Cup final was played there in April or May until 2000 (excluding the 1970 replay when Chelsea beat Leeds United at Old Trafford). It was also the venue for finals of the FA Amateur Cup, League Cup (except for the early years when this was settled on a home and away basis) and in later years the Associate Members' Cup and the Football League promotion play-off finals (in the early years of play-offs they were home and away fixtures). The 1988 final of the Middlesex Charity Cup was also played there.
International fixtures
Prior to the 1923 Wembley stadium, international football games had been played by England at various stadia. Most early internationals (including the first ever international football match (1870)) were played at The Oval, which opened in 1845 as the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club and would in 1880 host the first Test match played in England. For the first 27 years, the only International England games played at Wembley were fixtures against Scotland, with other games played elsewhere until 1951. The first team other than Scotland to face England at the venue was Argentina. In 1956 and 1971, it was the venue of the home matches of the Great Britain national football team for the qualification matches to the Summer Olympic Games against Bulgaria.
In 1966, it was the leading venue of the FIFA World Cup. It hosted nine matches, including the final, where tournament hosts England won 4–2 after extra time against West Germany."Hurst the hero for England in the home of football". FIFA. Retrieved 11 November 2014 Seven years later, Wembley was the venue for a specially arranged friendly between teams called "The Three" and "The Six" to celebrate the United Kingdom joining the European Economic Community. The match finished 2–0 to "The Three".
In 1996, it was the principal venue of UEFA Euro 1996, hosting all of England's matches, as well as the tournament's final, where Germany won the UEFA European Championship for a third time after defeating the Czech Republic 2–1 with the first international golden goal in football history. Germany had earlier defeated England on penalties in the semi-final after a 1–1 draw, with Gareth Southgate having his penalty saved against England in the shoot-out.
England's final two competitive matches played at the stadium resulted in 0–1 defeats for England to Scotland and Germany respectively. The first defeat was in the play off for the Euro 2000 qualifiers in November 1999, but England still went through as they won the other leg 2–0 at Hampden Park. However, the final match at Wembley was the opening qualifier for the 2002 World Cup, and defeat prompted the resignation of England manager Kevin Keegan at the end of the match after 18 months in charge.
1966 World Cup
DateTime(BST)Team #1ScoreTeam #2RoundAttendance11 July 196619:30 0–0 Group 187,14813 July 196619:30 1–1 69,23716 July 196619:30 2–0 92,57019 July 196616:30 0–0 61,11220 July 196619:30 2–0 98,37023 July 196615:00 1–0 Quarter-finals90,58425 July 196619:30 2–1 Semi-finals94,49328 July 196619:30 2–1 3rd place match87,69630 July 196615:00 4–2 Final96,924
Euro 1996
DateTime(BST)Team #1ScoreTeam #2RoundAttendance8 June 199615:00 1–1 Group A76,56715 June 199615:00 0–2 76,86418 June 199619:30 1–4 76,79822 June 199615:00 0–0 (2–4 pen.) Quarter-finals 75,44026 June 199619:30 1–1 (6–5 pen.) Semi-finals75,86230 June 199619:00 1–2 Final73,611
Club football
In all, the stadium hosted five European Cup finals, a record for the continent's top football tournament until the inauguration of the new Wembley Stadium in 2007. The first two were 1963 final between Milan and Benfica, and the 1968 final between Manchester United and Benfica. In 1971, it again hosted the final, between Ajax and Panathinaikos, and once more in 1978, this time between Liverpool and Club Brugge, another in 1992, when Barcelona played Sampdoria.