Sixteen years after reopening, Wembley still does not feel like home but it gave the visitors an opportunity for expressionA recorded announcement plays on a loop on the approach to Wembley Stadium. “I’m Clive Tyldesley,” says the voice, for the voice is indeed Clive Tyldesley’s. “It is not allowed to drink alcohol on Olympic Way or the surrounding streets. This is due to a Public Space Protection Order. I’m sorry, it’s the law.”On Tyldesley goes, advising fans that anybody caught with an open container of alcohol will be dealt with by law enforcement officers, before warning that bags over a certain size will not be permitted into the stadium. “I’m sorry,” Tyldesley repeats, and to be fair he genuinely does...
Desperate perpetrators and drugs also blamed but report about day of ‘national shame’ cites collective failures“I am not in the business of individual blame. So if people are looking for a report that tries to make scapegoats of individuals you won’t find that.” So said Louise Casey of her comprehensive report into the events in and around the Euro 2020 final at Wembley Stadium on 11 July. “There were collective failures that I identify and were clear. There are also mitigating factors that I describe in the report, in hindsight, as a ‘perfect storm’ that made that final so difficult to manage.”As the 129 pages are picked over, it seems unlikely Lady Casey’s words will stop people looking to hold...
Saturday’s qualifier against Bulgaria may not have been the most high-profile game but surely you can expect a little more atmosphere from 82,000 people watching the national teamI was raised in Kingsbury, north London. In case you’ve never been, it’s one of those places that you would describe as perfectly fine. Shops and houses, decent transport links and decent schools, people of different backgrounds living side by side; nothing to shout about but nothing much to moan about either.Every so often, however, it is hit by a wave of visitors. They stream out of the underground station, take over the pavements and drink in the local Wetherspoon’s. Why? Because Kingsbury is next door to Wembley and thus the perfect place...
Price is not right but more relevant than the lack of control over the stadium’s future is can we really trust football’s governing body to oversee the reinvestment into the grassroots game?It takes some doing to sell a piece of London property for less than it cost you 10 years ago, a decade in which house prices in the capital have risen, according to the Office of National Statistics, by an average of 100%. Yet this magic trick is what the Football Association seems to be on the brink of pulling off, in selling a home that cost more than £800m to the Pakistani‑American billionaire Shahid Khan for around three-quarters of that sum.No wonder Ken Bates was apoplectic. “You never sell...
The rebuilt stadium cost £757m in 2007, far less than the £600m on offer, but the proposed deal makes sense - especially for grassroots footballOf all the questions prompted by the Football Association’s announcement that it is considering selling Wembley for about £600m to the car parts and NFL billionaire Shahid Khan, one, bluntly, was whether that is actually enough money. Related: FA promises £600m Wembley windfall will go to grassroots football Related: FA holds talks to sell Wembley to Fulham owner Khan in £900m deal Continue reading...