Que Sera Sera, Whatever Will Be Will Be. I Went To Wem-berlee Que Sera Sera (Wembley Stadium (London))

Member Name: funzo

Product:	Wembley Stadium (London)
Date:	02/03/09 (404 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Impressive stadium, Modern and Good facilities

Disadvantages: Can be a pain to get to and away from and not for those suffering Vertigo

Its the morning after the day before.........Yesterday I was at Wembley seeing my beloved Spurs lose on penalties to Manchester United in the Carling Cup Final and to make sure good comes from yesterday's disappointment I thought I will write a review of Britains largest stadium, the home of football....Wembley Stadium.


History

The original Wembley Stadium was built in 1923. The Empire Stadium as it was known then was built at a cost of £750,000 holding an official capacity of 127,000 people. The first FA Cup final, famously known as the White Horse Final attracted an estimated quarter of a million people. As well as hosting Cup finals, it also played host to the World Cup finals in 1966 and countless music concerts and events, probably the most notable being Live Aid way back in the 80's. In 2007, at an overwhelming cost of £798,000,000, the famous Twin Towers were dismantled and the stadium rebuilt by the Football Association adding a retractable roof,endless corporate facilities and an arch that can be seen from most of North West London. The current capacity is now set at 90000.

Location and Getting There

Now Wembley is not in the greatest location. The original leafy suburb of Wembley is not as leafy as it was back in the 1920's.Situated in the densely populated multi-cultural Borough of Brent, parking restrictions apply all around the area, making parking an absolute nightmare should you wish to take the North Circular Road to get there. This forces you to use the Tube via the Jubilee Line or one of the scores of Red Buses that slowly labour through the busy high streets to get you near the stadium. The underground station is only a few minutes walk down wembley way from the stadium and the station itself has been updated and upgraded to compliment the new stadium. Having been to Wembley a few times, I take the tube from Stanmore, which is just a few stops to get to Wembley and I would recommend not driving right up to Wembley for anyone with a car as it really isnt a car and parking friendly place.

My experience.

Putting aside the saddening feelings of the loss against Man Utd, I had a great day - as they would say on Bullseye..... I' came with nothing, return with nothing but had a great day out Jim'. I've been to the old and new Wembley a few times; FA Cup 1987, League Cups 1999 and 2008 and also to watch England in Euro '96 and be it in defeat or in victory there is always something magical about a visit to the 'hallowed turf'. As you walk down Wembley way there is huge tribal gratification on seeing 30/40 thousand of your fellow Spurs Supporters resplendent in Blue and White all excited all walking towards what is an impressively striking and magnificent structure, with its unbridled views across all of North West London. The area has been sanitised a great deal of late with the traditional burger vans and scarf sellers all controlled and limited by the council and restricted to particular area. The monopoly means that prices are high and expect to pay anything from a fiver upwards for a burger both inside and outside the stadium.
Its good to take a walk around the ground to soak up the atmosphere and gaze upon the structure, all glass, concrete and steel it has a very modern feel about it and despite the crazy costs involved it does indeed look impressive and although my preference would have been to keep and incorporate the Twin Towers into the structure, in all honesty it isn't missed.
The turnstiles are barcode operated and once inside there are no shortage of bars, toilets, betting facilities and eateries for you to visit. Although I wouldn't recommend the food or drink inside because of taste and cost. The £4 pint of Carling, tasted as though it had been taken straight from the toilet and I have seen Albinos with more colour than that.
Plenty of stairs to tackle too. If like me, you had a ticket 'Up in the Gods' be prepared for a good ol' thigh workout as the stairs to my seat seemed endless. In fact it was so high up they had Sherpa's not stewards taking you to your seat. For those in the very back rows, you were issued with an oxygen mask and a small flashing light to put on your head to warn low flying aircraft. For vertigo sufferers, a seat at the back is not big and not clever and last year I witnessed someone having a panic attack whilst navigating their way to their seat. Nothing to do with the price of a pie and a pint inside I'm sure, but cant have helped.

There is undoubted good acoustics in the stadium and the fans are serviced by two giant TV screens at either end. I havent been in the ground when the roof is on and the pitch covered and I would only think that would aid the acoustics in there.

Getting out was a pain. Once the final Manchester penalty went in. I and 32000 other Spurs fans were unsurprisingly keen to make a exit faster than a lady on a blind date with John Leslie. The lack of exits make the journey slow, arduous and frustrating and this is only made worse with the police trying to control the entrance into the tube station. Herded like cows down Wembley Way, it can take 30/40 mins to get into the station and onto a train. This when, you are being goaded by ungracious Manchester fans getting their trains back to Surrey, can make things a bit tense but with a heavy police presence I haven't witnessed anything other a bit of banter and a few insults, BUT I can see a potential for trouble flaring up and so I would be wary when leaving the ground.


Criticisms

Apart from the obvious cost to the taxpayer, which like the olympics now spiralled out of control. Opened in March 2007. A lot of the immediate area still is a building site, this coupled with the already run down area of Brent takes a little of the gloss off the stadium, an impressive structure in itself. There needs to be some regeneration of the area and it feels as though there is still a lot more to do.

There is too much focus of corporate facilities and the need to get the money back as soon as possible. With a capacity of 90000, Spurs and Man Utd only had an allocation of 32000 each. The remaining 26000 goes to corporate and it was disappointing to see a few thousand empty seats in those areas that could and should have gone to the many true fans that miss out.

As mentioned previously the high prices, high seats and highly frustrating wait to get back to the station do detract from the experience, not to mention the actual defeat to Man Utd as well. But in fairness i seemed to notice it more this year than last year when we actually won....coincidence??? probably not.


Overall

I defy anyone not to be impressed with Wembley and the whole Wembley experience. It is indeed a great day out and the buzz felt walking up to the stadium and the seeing 32000 spurs fans waving our flags in the ground is fantastic, it really is. I would recommend for anyone to go there, either for a concert or a sports event and the joy of seeing your team win there will stay with you for life. To make sure you enjoy your time there follow these simple tips

Don't drive expecting to park up close to the stadium. - It ain't gonna happen!

Take your own food - Or take the deeds to house so you can negotiate a loan to buy pie and and a pint.

Get some basic hillwalking and mountain climbing practice in beforehand. - There are limited number of Sherpas there and you may have to make your own way to your seat. I read Chris Bonnington's autobiography beforehand to prepare myself.

And thats it. Thanks for reading and allowing some good to come from a disappointing day at Wembley....There's always next year :)

Summary: Wembley Stadium - The Home Of Football.