The FA are out of their minds, I knew it before and they have proved it again. They want to spend £600+ million on a new stadium which is purely for football. The Millennium stadium cost a mere £165 million and anyone who has been there will say it is worth every penny. Even those miserable Arsenal supporters, and believe me coming from a North London family I know, praised it with much more heart than they ever showed for Ian Wright or Tony Adams.
Being a loyal Welsh rugby supporter I have had the pleasure of visiting the stadium on numerous occasions. The atmosphere is surreal and the view of the pitch is unimaginable wherever you are in the stadium, no viewing blockages! Many would have said that the atmosphere in the old stadium was unbeatable, and I to up to a point thought the same, now I am willing to disagree. The stands are all but vertical which means that not only is everyone closely compacted together creating a wonderful atmosphere, but unlike Wembley nobody is far away from the action below.
One of the most treasured memories I have of the old Cardiff Arms Park was the thundering yet sweet single voice that was 60,000 Welshmen and women singing the National Anthem. A sound that would strike inspiration in any young sportsman's heart. It was this that Welsh Rugby had thought it had truly lost forever, yet again we were mistaken and the new stadium has delivered.
One small squabble that a lot of the football supporters had with the stadium was that they found it difficult to get to. Now, I could understand this if those concerned had the IQ of a 3 year old. OK the police do close off the centre of the city for big matches, such as the FA cup, but this is for the supporters advantage. If those complaining really cannot walk an extra mile because they are subject to a mysterious illness which stops them from walking more than 10 feet to the bathroom, most likely laziness, then Cardiff Central station is situated less than 5 minutes wa
lk from the stadium. To add to this, there are pubs a plenty on the return journey, whether they be used to celebrate a great victory or drown sorrows of a close loss.
I am a firm believer that this stadium is, at this moment in time, the very best in Europe. There is no need to spend the annual income of Microsoft to build something that will astonish and impress all those that have the luck to see it. From the day it was opened to the day it is knocked down, I am sure that the Millennium stadium will remain a pillar in the world of sport.