the size of a football field

stamford bridge (chelsea)

History

18th century maps show a ‘Stanford Creek’ running along the route of what is now a railway line at the back of the East Stand as a tributary of the Thames.

The stream had two local bridges: Stanford Bridge on the Fulham Road (also recorded as Little Chelsea Bridge) and Stanbridge on the Kings Road, now known as Stanley Bridge. Stanford Creek, Stanford Bridge and Stanbridge no doubt all contributed in some uncertain way to the eventual name of Stamford Bridge, which must have been further suggested by the well known Battle of Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire, a famous victory by King Harold Godwinson over King Harald Hardråde of Norway in 1066, which took place shortly before Harold’s defeat at the hands of the Normans at the Battle of Hastings.

Early history

The brand New Stamford Bridge stadium in Chelsea, West London, in August 1905

Chelsea beat West Brom at Stamford Bridge in September 1905

Middlesex play the ‘Original’ New Zealand All Blacks in October 1905 at the new Stamford Bridge

Stamford Bridge opened in 1877 as a home for the London Athletics Club and was used almost exclusively for that purpose until 1904, when the lease was acquired by brothers Gus and Joseph Mears, who wanted to stage high-profile professional football matches there. However, previous to this, in 1898, Stamford Bridge played host to the World Championship of shinty between Beauly Shinty Club and London Camanachd. Stamford Bridge was built close to Lillie Bridge, an older sports ground which had hosted the 1873 FA Cup Final and the first ever amateur boxing matches (among other things). It was initially offered to Fulham Football Club, but they turned it down. They considered selling the land to the Great Western Railway Company, but ultimately decided to found their own football club instead, Chelsea, to occupy the ground as a rival to Fulham. Noted football ground architect Archibald Leitch, who had also designed Ibrox, Celtic Park, Craven Cottage and Hampden Park, was hired to construct the stadium.

As originally constructed, Stamford Bridge was an athletics track and the pitch was initially located in the middle of the running track. This meant that spectators were separated from the field of play on all sides by the width of running track and, on the north and south sides, the separation was particularly large because the long sides of the running track considerably exceeded the length of the football pitch. The stadium had a single stand for 5,000 spectators on the east side. Designed by Archibald Leitch, it is an exact replica of the Johnny Haynes stand he had previously built at the re-developed Craven Cottage (and the main reason why Fulham had chosen not to move into the new ground). The other sides were all open in a vast bowl and thousands of tons of material excavated from the building of the Piccadilly Line provided high terracing for standing spectators exposed to the elements on the west side.

Stamford Bridge had an official capacity of around 100,000, making it the second largest ground in England after Crystal Palace, the FA Cup final venue. Stamford Bridge itself hosted the final for the first three years after the First World War from 1920 to 1922, after which it was replaced by Wembley.

Results of FA Cup Finals at Stamford Bridge

Year	Attendance	Winner		Runner-up
1920	50,018	Aston Villa	1	Huddersfield Town	0
1921	72,805	Tottenham Hotspur	1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0
1922	53,000	Huddersfield Town	1	Preston North End	0

Expansion

In 1930, a new terrace was built on the south side for more standing spectators. Only part of this was roofed and it became known as “The Shed End”. This became the most favoured spot for the loudest and most die-hard support, until the terrace was demolished in 1994 (when all-seater stadiums became compulsory by law as a safety measure in light of the Taylor Report following the Hillsborough disaster). The seated stand which replaced it is still known as the Shed End (see below).

In 1939, a small two storied North Stand including seating was erected. It was originally intended to span the entire northern end, but the outbreak of World War II and its aftermath compelled the club to keep the stand small. It was demolished and replaced by open terracing for standing supporters in 1975. The North Terrace was closed in 1993 and the present North Stand of two tiers (the Matthew Harding Stand) was then constructed at that end.

In 1964-65, a seated West Stand was built to replace the existing terracing on the west side. Most of the West Stand consisted of rising ranks of wooden tip up seats on iron frames, but seating at the very front was on concrete forms known as “the Benches”. The old West Stand was demolished in 1998 and replaced by the current West Stand.

A vast new East Stand was built in 1973, originally intended as the start of a comprehensive redevelopment of the stadium which was abandoned when the football club ran into financial difficulties. The East Stand essentially survives in its 1973 three tiered cantilevered form, although it has been much refurbished and modernised since.

Crisis

The cost of building the East Stand escalated out of control after shortages of materials and a builders’ strike. The increase in the cost, combined with other factors, sent the club into decline. As a part of financial restructuring in the late 1970s, the freehold was separated from the club and when new Chelsea chairman Ken Bates bought the club for £1 in 1982, he didn’t buy the stadium. A large chunk of the Stamford Bridge freehold was subsequently sold to property developers Marler Estates. The sale resulted in a long and acrimonious legal fight between Bates and Marler Estates. Marler Estates was ultimately forced to bankruptcy after a market crash in the early 1990s, allowing Bates to do a deal with its banks and re-unite the freehold with the club.

The re-building of the stadium commenced again and successive building phases during the 1990s have eliminated the original running track. The construction of the 1973 East Stand started the process of eliminating the track. All stands, now roofed and all-seater, are immediately adjacent to the pitch. This structure has the effect of concentrating and capturing the noise of supporters. Paradoxically, the noise sounds louder now than when supporters were dispersed at a distance from the pitch on open terraces, although the stadium capacity is approximately half of what it was. The pitch, the turnstiles, and the naming rights of the club are now owned by Chelsea Pitch Owners, an organization set up to prevent the stadium from being purchased by property developers again.

Miscellaneous

Stamford Bridge speedway team operated from the stadium from 1929 until 1932, winning the Southern League in their opening season. Initially open meetings were held there in 1928. A nineteen year old junior rider, Charlie Biddle, was killed in a racing accident. In 1931, black cinders were laid onto the circuit suitable for use by speedway and athletics.

Greyhound racing was first held at the stadium on 31 July 1937 and continued until 1 August 1968. A midget car meeting reportedly attracted a crowd of 50,000 people in 1948.

In 1945, Stamford Bridge staged one of the most notable matches in its history. Soviet side FC Dynamo Moscow were invited to tour the United Kingdom at the end of the Second World War and Chelsea were the first side they faced. An estimated crowd of over 100,000 crammed into Stamford Bridge to watch an exciting 3-3 draw, with many spectators on the dog track and on top of the stands.

The stadium was also one of the home venues for the London XI team that played in the original Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, today called the UEFA Cup. Having played at various other stadia in London in the group and knockout stages, the team played the home leg of the two-legged final at Stamford Bridge, drawing 2-2 with FC Barcelona; they lost the away leg 6-0, however.

The ground was used in 1980 for the first major day-night floodlit cricket match between Essex and West Indies (although organised by Surrey) which was a commercial success; the following year it hosted the final of the inaugural Lambert & Butler county cricket competition. It, however, failed and the experiment of playing cricket on football grounds was ended.

Stamford Bridge also briefly hosted American football – despite not being long enough for a regulation-size gridiron field – when the London Monarchs were based there in 1997.

The nearest tube station is Fulham Broadway tube station.

Current stands

Matthew Harding Stand

Capacity: 10,884

The Matthew Harding Stand

The Matthew Harding Stand, previously known as the North Stand, is along the north edge of the pitch. It is named after former Chelsea director Matthew Harding, who transformed the club in the early 1990s before his death in a helicopter accident on October 22, 1996. His considerable investment in the club enabled construction of the stand which was completed during the 1997-98 season. It has two tiers and accommodates most season-ticket holders, giving it an enthusiastic atmosphere, especially in the lower tier. Any proposal to enlarge the facility would necessitate demolition of the adjacent ‘Chelsea World of Sport’ museum.

For some Champions League matches, this stand operates at reduced capacity, some entrances being obstructed by the presence of TV outside-broadcast vehicles.

East Stand

The East Stand

Capacity: 10,925

The oldest stand, the East Stand is located along the east side of the pitch. Previously it was the home to away supporters on the bottom tier, however at the start of the 2005/2006 season then-manager José Mourinho requested the move of the family section to this part of the stand to boost team morale. The stand has three tiers and is the heart of the stadium, housing the tunnel, dugout, dressing rooms, conference room, press centre, AV and commentary box. The middle tier is occupied by facilities, clubs, and executive suites. The upper tier provides spectators with one of the best views in the stadium.

View from East Stand

Shed End

The Shed End

Capacity: 6,831

The Shed End is located along the south side of the pitch. The stand has two tiers. The lower tier used to be home to the family centre, however for the 2005/2006 season and beyond the club has moved the away fans to the East corner of the stand (Gates 1-3 of the Upper Tier and around half of the Lower). The Shed also contains the centenary museum and a memorial wall where families of deceased fans are able to leave a permanent memorial of their loved ones indicating their eternal support for the club.

This stand was built during the mid 1990s and along with the Matthew Harding Stand is an area of the ground in which many vocal fans congregate.

West Stand

The new Stamford Bridge West Stand – Entrance.

Capacity: 13,500

The West Stand, recently updated, is located along the west side of the pitch. It has three tiers, in addition to a row of executive boxes that stretches the length of the stand.

The construction of the stand was almost responsible for Chelsea’s financial crisis, which would’ve seen the club fall into administration but for the intervention of Abramovich. In borrowing some £70m from Eurobonds to finance the project, Ken Bates put Chelsea into a perilous financial position, primarily because of the repayment terms.

Now complete, the stand is the main external ‘face’ of the stadium, being the first thing fans see when entering the primary gate on Fulham Road. The Main Entrance is flanked by the Spackman and Speedie hospitality entrances, named after former Chelsea players Nigel Spackman and David Speedie. The stand also features the largest concourse area in the stadium.

The aforementioned executive boxes are also known as the Millennium Suites and are the home of the majority of matchday hospitality guests. Each box is also named after a former Chelsea player (names in brackets):

• Tambling Suite (Bobby Tambling)
• Clarke Suite (Steve Clarke, Ex-Assistant Manager at Chelsea)
• Harris Suite (Ron Harris)
• ‘Drakes’ (Ted Drake)
• Bonetti (Peter Bonetti)
• Hollins (John Hollins)

Other features

An aerial shot of the stadium

When Stamford Bridge was redeveloped in the Ken Bates era many additional features were added to the complex including two hotels, apartments, bars, restaurants, the Chelsea Megastore, and an interactive visitor attraction called Chelsea World of Sport. The intention was that these facilities would provide extra revenue to support the football side of the business, but they were less successful than hoped and before the Abramovich takeover in 2003 the debt taken on to finance them was a major burden on the club. Soon after the takeover a decision was taken to drop the “Chelsea Village” brand and refocus on Chelsea as a football club. However, the stadium is sometimes still referred to as part of Chelsea Village or “The Village”.

Centenary Museum

2005 saw the opening of a new club museum, known as the Chelsea Museum or the Centenary Museum, to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the club. The museum is located in the former Shed Galleria. Visitors are able to visit the WAGs lounge and then watch an introductory video message from the vice-president Richard Attenborough. They are then guided decade by decade through the club’s history seeing old programmes, past shirts, José Mourinho‘s coat and other memorabilia.

The future

Under Roman Abramovich‘s control, the club has announced that it wants to extend Stamford Bridge to around 55,000 seats however, its location in a heavily built-up part of Inner London near a main road and two railway lines makes this very difficult. The dispersal of an additional 13,000 fans into the residential roads of the Moore Park Estate would undoubtedly create congestion and conflict.

Alternative possibilities include moving from Stamford Bridge to a location such as London Olympic Stadium, the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, White City, Battersea Power Station, the Imperial Road Gasworks (off the Kings Road on the Fulham and Chelsea border) and the Chelsea Barracks. But, under the Chelsea Pitch Owners articles of association, the club would relinquish the name ‘Chelsea Football Club’ should it ever move from Stamford Bridge.

Bramall Lane (Sheffield United)

History

Bramall Lane shown in Sheffield

Cricket at the Lane

Bramall Lane opened as a cricket ground in 1855, having been leased by Michael Ellison from the Duke of Norfolk at an annual rent of £70. The site was then away from the town’s industrial area, and relatively free from smoke. It was built to host the matches of local cricket clubs and originally had six clubs playing there. It was managed by an umbrella organisation for these clubs; the Sheffield United Cricket Club.

Bramall Lane opened on 30 April 1855 as a cricket ground with a match between “The Eleven” and “The Twenty Two”, The Eleven, despite being the senior team, lost by an innings and 28 runs.

A team representing Yorkshire played the first county match at the ground on 27 August 1855, against Sussex but lost by an innings and 117 runs.

Although the first county game had been played eight years earlier, the official Yorkshire County Cricket Club was not formed until 1863. The idea came from Ellison, who was using his own finances to support the club, in order to improve Bramall Lane’s financial position as the county’s headquarters. It was the club’s headquarters until 1893, when they moved to Headingley in Leeds.

In 1897, Jack Brown and John Tunnicliffe recorded a first wicket score of 378 against Sussex—a ground record that has never been beaten. Brown’s score of 311 and Yorkshire’s innings of 681 for 5 declared were also records when the cricket ground closed. Other notable scores include the 681–5 declared Yorkshire scored against Sussex in 1897, the 582 for 7 declared they piled up against Surrey in 1935 and the 579 posted against the touring South Africans in 1951. 6 other scores in excess of 500 were made. In contrast there were a host of scores under 100, mainly in the 19th century, although Derbyshire’s paltry total of 20 in 1939 remains the lowest ever score. Nottinghamshire were dismissed for 24 in 1888 but Kent showed the Yorkshire batsmen up in 1865, bowling them out for 30. Many of the low totals were made on rain affected, uncovered wickets.

The ground hosted a single Test match in 1902, against Australia, which England lost by 143 runs. Australia won the game by 143 runs thanks to a century by Clem Hill and the bowling of Saunders and Noble, who both took 5 wickets in England’s first innings of 145 and Noble and Trumble who took 6 and 4 wickets respectively to bowl the home team out for 195 second time around. The defeat was blamed on the poor light at the ground; a product of smoke emitted by local factories. Attendances were poor, and the experiment was never repeated.

In addition Jack Brown’s triple century 10 double centuries were scored on the ground, Sir Len Hutton scored unbeaten two double tons, an 280* against Hampshire in 1939 and 271* against Derbyshire in 1937. W Barber posted 255 against Surrey in 1935 while the great Indian batsman VS Hazare scored 244 not out for the Indian tourists in the first season after World War Two.

Among many notable partnerships W Barber and Maurice Leyland amassed 346 for the second workcet against Middlesex in 1932 and the aforementioned VS Hazare and Vinoo Mankad put on 322 for the Indians against Yorkshire for the 4th wicket in 1946. Only one century was scored in list A one day cricket at Bramall Lane, John Hampshire‘s 108 against Nottinghamshire in 1970 in the Sunday League.

Three bowlers took all ten wickets in an innings at Bramall Lane, the feat being more common in the annals of first class cricket than many imagine. The great Australian leg spinner Clarrie Grimmett took 10 for 37 for the tourists in 1930 while TF Smailes took all 10 for 47 for Yorkshire against Derbyshire in 1939. G Wootton took 10 for 54 for an All England Eleven v Yorkshire in 1865 while 9 other bowlers took 9 wickets in an innings there, including a haul of 9 for 12 by the great Yorkshire slow left armer Hedley Verity.

The best match bowling figures at the ground, 16 for 114, were recorded by G Burton of Middlesex against Yorkshire in 1888 while Hedley Verity took an incredible 15 for 38 against Kent in 1936. Len Braund took 15 for 71 for Somerset in 1902 while the immortal W. G. Grace showed his youthful talent with the ball with a haul of 15 for 79 for Gloucestershire in 1872.

D Hunter of Surrey dismissed caught 5 batsmen and stumped another in one innings in 1891 while Yorkshire stalwart Jimmy Binks completed 5 dismissals in an innings 3 times.

The two ends of the ground were known as the Pavilion End and the Football Ground End. Between 1863 and 1973, Yorkshire played 391 first class matches, including 339 County Championship matches at Bramall Lane. Yorkshire’s last match at the ground took place on 4, 6 and 7 August 1973, a drawn game against Lancashire. The construction of the South Stand began soon after, over the cricket square, finally enclosing the football pitch on all four sides. Yorkshire’s cricket games in Sheffield moved to Abbeydale Park.

Football at the Lane

Bramall Lane, Sheffield, 1992 vs Man. United. The old John Street terrace may be seen (left)

The ground hosted its first football match on 29 December 1862, between Sheffield F.C. and Hallam F.C. The game was played to raise money for the Lancashire Distress Fund and ended 0–0.

As Sheffield’s main sporting stadium it held all the most important local matches. The world’s first football tournament, the Youdan Cup, held its final at Bramall Lane in March 1867 with Hallam beating Norfolk. This was followed by the Cromwell Cup a year later, which was won by a newly formed team called The Wednesday. By 1877, a crowd of 8,000 watched The Wednesday beat Hallam in the Sheffield Challenge Cup. Bramall Lane effectively became The Wednesday’s permanent home between 1880 and the opening of their new stadium at Olive Grove in 1887.

Bramall Lane, Sheffield, 1992.

The first inter-association match, between the FA (often referred to as the London FA) and Sheffield FA, was also held at Bramall Lane on 2 December 1871. It was won 3-1 by the home side, who also arranged a number of games with other Associations including regular fixtures against Glasgow.

On 22 March 1889, six days after 22,688 people paid to watch the FA Cup semi-final between Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion, it was decided to create a home football team to play at Bramall Lane. It was named Sheffield United after the cricket team.

International matches

Bramall Lane was regularly used for international matches before the construction of a national stadium in London. The worlds first ever floodlit football match took place at Bramall Lane on 14 October 1878 in front of an attendance of 20,000. England’s match against Scotland on 10 March 1883 was the first match between these two countries outside London or Glasgow. It makes it the oldest football venues still capable of hosting international matches in the world.

Date		Result		Competition
4 October 1883	England	2–3	Scotland	Friendly
5 February 1887	England	7–0	Ireland	British Home Championship
29 April 1889	England	4–0	Wales	British Home Championship
4 April 1903	England	1–2	Scotland	British Home Championship
20 October 1930	England	5–1	Ireland	British Home Championship

Milestones

Bramall Lane in 1989. The old John Street Terrace (left) and Kop Terrace (right) are visible

• 1855: The ground at Bramall Lane built for cricket.
• 1878: First floodlit game played between “Reds” and “Blues”
• 1896: A new John Street Stand built with room for 6000 both seated and standing.
• 1897: A new Shoreham Street Stand built.
• 1900: A new cricket pavilion built.
• 1901: Cycle track removed.
• 1911: Roof added to the Bramall Lane End.
• 1935: Roof added to the Kop. Running track built in front of John Street Stand.
• 1940: The ground damaged in Sheffield Blitz. John Street was badly affected and the Kop roof damaged.
• 1953: Floodlights installed.
• 1966: Bramall Lane Stand opened.
• 1975: South Stand opened.
• 1981: Cricket pavilion demolished.
• 1991: Seats installed in Kop.
• 1994: John Street demolished. Seats added to lower tier of Bramall Lane End.
• 1995: New pylon-less floodlights installed.
• 1996: New John Street Stand opened.
• 2001: New corner stand holding 1,000 fans opened between shoreham st & John street.
• 2002: Blades Enterprise Centre is built between John Street and Bramall Lane.
• 2005: Wooden seats removed from South Stand.
• 2006: New corner opens between Cherry Street and Bramall Lane. Bramall Lane end cantilevered.
• 2008 : New hotel built on the corner of the south stand and Bramall lane end.

The ground today

Plan view of the Lane, with the stand names and nearby roads

The stands

The ground has been an all-seater stadium since 1994 and is now made up of four main stands and two corner infill stands in the North-East and South-West corners. The North-West corner (as well as a lot of the land under the John Street Stand) contains the Blades Enterprise Centre, and the South-East corner is still open, although there are plans to fill it with seating as part of the strategy to build a leisure complex at the back of the South Stand.

Bramall Lane Stand

The Bramall Lane End, with the Blades Business Centre (right)

Now sponsored by Halliwell’s, this is the oldest existing stand at Bramall Lane, this two-tiered structure was opened in 1966 behind the goal at the Bramall Lane end, opposite the Kop. From the 2006–2007 Premiership Campaign, the bottom tier is occupied by away fans whilst the upper tier, which links into the South-West corner infill stand, is given to home fans (although part of the upper tier may be offered to away fans for cup fixtures if demand is sufficient). This is in contrast to previous seasons, when away fans had the upper tier (and hence the best view in the ground) much to the annoyance of home fans. During the 2005–2006 season, the outside of the Bramall Lane Stand was reclad in red-and-white, with the stand sponsors and the club crest on the outside of the stand, while the wooden seats of the upper tier were replaced with newer plastic seats with the words “BLADES” written into them. When the corner infill stand was built during the closed season, the roof over the Bramall Lane Stand was extended toward the pitch to provide better cover for the lower tier and to remove the supporting pillars from the upper tier. There are approximately 2700 seats in the upper tier, and 2990 in the lower, giving a total capacity of 5680. This stand has for many years housed a basic LCD scoreboard and clock between the upper and lower tiers, however at the start of the 2006–2007 season both were replaced by a modern colour video scoreboard.

The South Stand

The South Stand, showing the new seats with sword emblems.

The South Stand is also known as the “Main Stand”, however some fans still refer to it as the “Laver Stand” (after the stand’s long-term sponsors in the 1990s) or even the “New Stand” by many older fans since there was no stand on the South end of the pitch until 1975, where previously it was used as the cricket pitch‘s outfield. Opened in August 1975, the South Stand is situated alongside the pitch and is for home fans who wish to have a side-view when watching the match (the John Street Stand is for families only). During the 2005–2006 season, this stand was renovated, with a re-clad of the outside of the stand and the old wooden seats replaced by newer plastic seats forming an emblem of two swords written. The box-seats were also upgraded, and it was named the Global Windows Stand in a sponsorship deal, although from the season 2007–2008 the club has gained sponsorship from an Australian property development company resulting in this stand being renamed the “Valad stand”. This stand holds approximately 7,500 fans, and most of the ground’s amenities, including the Box office, newly expanded and renovated for the 2006–2007 season Blades Superstore, Platinum Suite, “Legends of the Lane” museum, “1889” award winning restaurant (formerly known as Bosworth’s of Bramall Lane), the former police control centre (now relocated to the Blades Enterprise Centre between the Bramall Lane and John Street Stands), newly refurbished reception, Press box, players entrance, administrative offices and television gantry attached to the roof of the stand.Plans have been made to add a extra tier of 6,000 seats. No time scale has been set.

The Kop Stand

The Kop

Seated since 1991, this is the area in which the most boisterous home fans sit, such that former assistant manager (1999–2003) and now manager (2008–present) Kevin Blackwell named the noise coming from this stand as the “Bramall Roar” after the 2003 play-off semi-final second-leg against Nottingham Forest, which the Blades won 4–3, coming from 0–2 down. The stand is currently sponsored by Fraser Property and, was formally sponsored by Hallam FM. The stand itself is built into a hillside situated behind the goal, at the east end of the stadium. This places the stand along Shoreham Street, hence the often-heard chant of “Hello! Hello! We are the Shoreham Boys” coming from this stand on matchdays. It has the club’s initials “SUFC” written into the seats, and holds 10,221 fans, making this the largest stand at Bramall Lane. The facilities are of lower quality in the Kop because there is no indoor concourse, although an outdoor bar was completed in September 2007 to complement the fast-food takeaway, but in spite of this it is still a firm favourite amongst the fans, and usually full on matchday. At a Shareholders meeting in November 2007 the club announced that it intends to expand the Kop by 3,500 ( making it the largest ‘kop’ in the country ) and to upgrade all the facilities and cover the concourse areas. Work is now scheduled to start before the Summer of 2010.

John Street Stand

John Street Stand

The John Street stand, completed in 1996, is used as a family enclosure for home fans and is situated along the north side of the pitch, boasting great views of the playing action. Sponsored by the Maltese Tourist Board , in a combined stand and shirt sponsorship deal, it has the word “BLADES” written in the seats, and holds just under 7000 fans. This is also where the home disabled supporters may sit. The stand is home to a small club shop as well as the Marstons & Malta Executive Suites and the newly opened “Tunnel Bar”. There is also a row of 31, individual executive boxes with private facilities and their own balconies along the back of the stand.

Kop Corner

The Streetwise Corner, with Kop (right) and John Street Stand (foreground)

Also called the Northeast Corner or Evolution Corner after its sponsorship deal, this stand was completed in 2001 and is between the Kop and the John Street stand. It is fully linked to the John Street Stand, and is also used as a family enclosure holding around 900 fans (after the installaton of new restricted-view seats after the 2006–07 campaign. The plans for the redevelopment and extension of the Kop also show a row of executive boxes running behind this corner stand

Westfield Health Stand

The new Westfield Health Stand, with South Stand (left) and Bramall Lane End (right)

Also known as the “new” corner infill, this stand is in the South-West corner of the stadium, between the Bramall Lane Stand and the South Stand and is sponsored by Westfield Health. It is linked to the Bramall Lane stand (upper tier), sharing its facilities, turnstiles and exits. It is always used by home fans, and reputedly has the best views of the ground, although season tickets are not available in this stand. The stand holds approximately 2000 fans.

Blades Enterprise Centre

The North-West corner is filled in by rentable offices, known as the Blades Enterprise Centre, one of many examples of United diversifying their off-the-field activities to maximise income streams. The Enterprise centre provides office space for smaller and new companies in the block between the John Street and Bramall Lane stands, and also underneath the John Street stand itself. Built in 2002, the facility is highly successful, and is the only business location in Sheffield to be signposted from the train station. The club intend to build another much larger business centre in between the Kop stand and South stands with work to begin during the Summer 2008. However this has been delayed.

Current and ongoing work

The stadium has an enviable central location close to the city centre. In order to maximise the earnings potential of the land around the stadium in June 2007 work began to build a 158 bedroomed 4 star Millennium and Copthorne Hotel behind the new Westfield stand. The new hotel is scheduled to open its doors in November 2008.

At the Shareholders meeting in November 2007 the club announced that it intends to extend the back of the Kop stand with an additional 3,200 seats and remove the pillars holding up the roof. As the revised stand capacity is likely to be about 13,400, it will overtake Anfield to become the largest single tiered Kop stand in British football.

The club also plan a major upgrade to the Kop facilities and covering of the concourse areas. The club is conscious of creating non football related income streams therefore they also plan to build student accommodation at the back of the Kop and a large business centre (office block) between the Kop and South stand. A planning application is to be submitted in October 2008 with work scheduled to begin during the back end of the 2008/09 season. However this has been delayed.

In the same meeting the club announced that its long term ambitions are to add an additional 6,000 seats to the main South (Valad) Stand with the intentions of taking the overall stadium capacity to just over 44,000, however this expansion would depend on demand in the Premiership and any potential 2018 World Cup venue bid. United PLC Chairman Kevin McCabe has stated that he would build Bramall Lane’s extensions to any specifications laid down by the FA with a view to the ground hosting matches should England be successful in winning their World Cup bid. However on 16 December 2009, the FA announced that Hillsborough Stadium (home of rivals Sheffield Wednesday) would be Sheffield’s venue in the event that a World Cup is awarded to England and Sheffield is named a host city.

Attendance

The record attendance stands at 68,287 for the Sheffield United v Leeds United F.A. Cup fifth round tie, played on 15 February 1936.

The record attendance since the 1994 introduction of all spectators being seated is 32,604 at the Sheffield United v Wigan Athletic game in the Premier League, on 13 May 2007.

Average league attendances

This is the average league attendances stretching back over ten years for Sheffield United home matches at Bramall Lane. Sheffield United away games and any home cup matches are excluded. For more details on this topic, see Sheffield United F.C. seasons.

• 1998–1999: 16,243
• 1999–2000: 13,718
• 2000–2001: 17,211
• 2001–2002: 18,020
• 2002–2003: 20,069
• 2003–2004: 21,646
• 2004–2005: 19,594
• 2005–2006: 23,650
• 2006–2007: 30,684
• 2007–2008: 25,631
• 2008–2009: 26,023 (prior to playoff 2nd leg)

• In season 2007–2008, Sheffield United had the best average attendance in the Coca Cola Championship.
• In the 2008–2009 season Sheffield United had the second best average attendance of 26,073 in the Coca Cola Championship.

stadium giuseppe meazza

Club career

At the age of 13, Meazza admired AC Milan, but was rejected by them for being too skinny. However, he was received with open arms by Internazionale. He was randomly observed juggling a rag ball in the street by an Inter scout and quickly signed. They fed him steaks so he would get bigger and stronger. At first he was used to fill a gap in defense instead of being allowed to follow his attacking instinct, but luckily Inter’s junior coach later corrected the mistake. He scored two goals on his debut in a 6-2 win against Milanese Unione Sportiva in the Coppa Volta di Como.

Meazza still holds the record for the most goals scored in a debut season in Serie A, with 31 goals in his first season (1929-30). The year before, when Serie A did not exist, and the Italian Championship was composed of 2 leagues (North and Central-South) with playoffs, Meazza played 29 matches, scoring 38 goals at the age of 18 years. He scored 5 goals in a single game, twice in one season: 6 January 1929 Inter against Pistoiese 9-1 and 17 March 1929 Inter v Verona 9-0. That same season (1928/29) on 12 May 1929, he scored six goals as Inter against Venezia beat 10-2. April 27 1930 was the first time Inter ever played AS Roma in Milan. Inter won 6-0 and Meazza scored four goals, scoring his first three within three minutes of the game.

With Meazza on the squad, Inter (re-christened Ambrosiana while under Fascist law) won 3 national championships in 1930, 1938 and 1940, and helped win the team’s first Coppa Italia in 1939. The 1930 championship was Inter’s first since 1920 and they were considered underdogs to teams like Bologna, Torino, Juventus and Genoa. It was Meazza’s dazzling form that clinched the inaugural Serie A title. In the deciding game, he scored a second half hat-trick to tie the game against Genoa after Inter had been down 3-0. He was top-scorer of Serie A 3 times (1930, 1936, 1938), top-scorer in the pre-Serie A year of 1929 and top scorer of the Mitropa Cup three times: 1930 (7), 1933 (5) and 1936 (10).

During the 1933 season, Meazza made a bet with Giampiero Combi, goalkeeper of Juventus and captain of the 1934 World Champion Italian National Team. Combi challenged Meazza, claiming that nobody, not even Meazza, could sidestep him to score a goal. Meazza accepted the challenge. Combi also made another bet with Meazza. A few weeks earlier, while training with the national team, Meazza scored a splendid bicycle kick against the Juventus goalkeeper. Combi wagered that he could not repeat it in an official game. The next game between Ambrosiana Inter and Juventus was played in the Arena Civica of Milan on May 25 1933. Meazza managed to score two stupendous goals. The first goal was an identical overhead kick to the one he had scored against Combi in practice. For the second goal he dribbled through a series of defenders, before faking out Combi, dribbling past him, and scoring a tap-in goal. Combi immediately got up and shook Meazza’s hand.

In 1937, it was the day of the game against Juventus in Milan with only an hour before the game and Meazza had still not shown up. The directors became nervous and sent a masseuse and another trainer in a car to find him. They found him in bed, sleeping profoundly and snoring. Without even washing his face, they dragged him up and rushed him to the stadium. While lying down in the back seat Meazza told them of love filled night and said he felt like a lion. The Lion Meazza entered the dressing room and without any squabbling, they quickly gave him his number 9 jersey. He scored two goals that game and was the best on the field. Inter won the game 2-1 and beat Juventus for the Serie A scudetto by two points.

When Ambrosiana beat Bari in the 1937/38 championship, he scored five goals in a 9-2 victory. The next week he scored a hat-trick against Lucchese. Along with fellow Inter players Ferraris II, Ferrari, and Locatelli, Meazza was involved in the Azzurri set-up that wins the 1938 World Cup in Paris. The same year, Inter won their fourth Scudetto, while the clubs first Coppa Italia success came in 1939.

An injury put him out of action for most of 1938/39, and after having devoted the best part of his career to Inter, Meazza transferred to AC Milan on November 28 1940. In almost a century of rivalry, Meazza is the only man who has ever come close to bridging the chasm between the two clubs. The next February 9, before the derby with Inter, Meazza cried in the dressing room, but then he scored the equalizer for Milan in a 2-2 draw. He wore the red and black shirt from 1940-1942. Later in his career he also played for Juventus, A.S. Varese 1910 and Atalanta Bergamo.

His debut for Juventus, October 18th 1942, took place in the derby against Torino. It was not a happy debut. Meazza was untrained, looked overweight and slower in movement. When he entered the game with the number eight jersey and came face to face with goalkeeper, the crowd waited for one of its famous “goal by invitation only,” but he did not have the necessary speed of motion and he ended up losing the ball ignominiously. The game was eventually won by Torino 5 to 2. Things went better when he was moved to the center of the attack, where he contributed ten goals, even scoring two against his old club Ambrosiana.

In 1946 he was recalled to Inter as a player-coach. He played seventeen games, scoring the last two goals of his career to help an Inter team that was in danger of relegation.

National team career

Meazza played for Italy in the 1934 and 1938 World Cups, both of which Italy won. Apart from being on and captaining the first team to win a World Cup when not the host in 1938, Meazza, along with Giovanni Ferrari, Guido Masetti and Eraldo Monzeglio, also set a record for being the first players to win two World Cups (consecutive ones). Up until today, they are still the only Europeans to have achieved this record.

His debut with the Azzurri was in Rome on February 9, 1930 against Switzerland. Still only nineteen years old, Meazza scored twice that game (in the 37th and 39th minutes) to help Italy to a 4-2 victory after they had been down by two goals in only 19 minutes. The next game Italy played was on March 2, 1930 against Germany in Frankfurt, where Meazza scored a goal in a 2-0 win. A few months later, May 11, 1930, he scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 game as Italy beat the Hungary of Larcos, Hirzer and Pál Titkos for the first time ever while playing in Budapest. Meazza helped Italy win the Dr. Gero Cup (the forerunner to the European Championship) that year, a cup was a 3 year international tournament between the strongest national teams of central and eastern Europe.
On January 25 1931, Meazza scored another three goals in a 5-0 win against France.

During the Dr. Gero Cup game against Austria on February 22, Meazza helped Italy to victory after overcoming an early deficit when Horvath had scored in the 4th minute. While dribbling the ball in attack, he noticed two defenders closing down on him. He stopped the ball with the sole of his shoe, making both defenders fall to the ground, before racing towards goal, faking Josef Smistik, dribbling around Roman Schramseis, drawing out the keeper Rodolphe Hiden, faking and dribbling around him, making the off balance keeper crash into Schramseis, before tapping the ball into the net for the equaliser and one of the most beautiful goals in soccer history. Italy won 2-1.

His first fifteen caps were at center-forward, but in 1933, he showed his versatility during a 3-1 victory over Germany in Bologna, when he was moved to an inside-right position by the Italian coach Vittorio Pozzo, to accommodate teammate Angelo Schiavio, a switch that would help Italy win the World Cup the next year as the goals flowed in. During the tournament, Meazza once again demonstrated his adaptability when he was switched to an inside-left, when needed.

In the 1934 World Cup, which was hosted by Italy, Meazza appeared in every game for the Azzurri. On March 25 1934 in Milan, Italy beat Greece 4:0 in a qualifying match with two goals coming from Meazza. He then scored the final goal in their 7-1 victory over the United States in the 89th minute in their World Cup opener. In the game against Spain, Giovanni Ferrari scored a goal against Ricardo Zamora after the latter was supposedly fouled by Meazza. Meazza was himself almost knocked unconscious by a collision of heads with Jacinto Quincoces during the game. The game ended 1-1 and had to settled the next day. Meazza scored from a corner sent in by Raimundo Orsi in the 11th minute. Meazza took another nasty hit when he crashed into the desperate keeper. It was the only goal of the game. There were claims that the replacement Spanish goalkeeper, Juan José Nogués, who was replacing the injured Zamora after he was hurt in a clash with Schiavio in the first game, was fouled by Meazza in the play. However, footage exists that exonerates the Italian of any wrong doing. Meazza only ever scored one time against Zamora, in a friendly match.

The semi-final was against Austria. A deluge a few hours before kick-off left the San Siro pitch resembling a bog, but Meazza, who knew this ground better than anybody on the Italian team, made light of the conditions to book his country’s place in the final. Playing his fourth game in a week, Meazza out-played an Austrian forward, dribbled past him, then collided into the grounded Austrian goalkeeper, Peter Platzer, who had pounced on the ball to quell the attack. The ball came loose, hit the post and bounced to Enrique Guaita, to score the only game of the match.

55,000 fans turned out to see the final against Czechoslovakia in Rome’s Stadio Nazionale PNF. Italy suffered badly after Meazza was injured in a tackle. He soldiered on though. Cries of a conspiracy were heard in the 54th minute after Meazza, who was playing in the final even though carrying an injury from the semifinals, punched Rudolf Krcil in the back in retaliation for a hard foul, without being disciplined by referee Ivan Eklind, who had also officiated the semi-final. After ninety minutes the two teams were 1-1. Italy, though, was in far more trouble as the game went into extra time, until Meazza became the inspirer again. The Czechs did not bother to mark him and he made them rue that decision. In the 96th minute, Eraldo Monzeglio sent a long ball to the hobbled Meazza from the right side of the Italian defense. Meazza, who was being left alone on the wing to drift in and out of the match, recovered sufficiently enough to send a slicing pass to Guaita that unlocked the Czech defense, and then went about setting a series of blocks to free up his strikers. The Roma midfielder slid the ball to Schiavio, who hit a snap-shot past Frantisek Planicka, another legendary goalkeeper of the era, for the winner five minutes into the extra period. Meazza was elected into the All-Star Team of the tournament.

After the World Cup victory, Meazza represented Italy against England in the infamous “Battle of Highbury“, the Azzurri’s first game since winning the World Cup five months earlier. England and Italy had drawn, 1-1, 18 months earlier in Rome, in their only previous meeting. They game started terribly for the Azzurri. After losing Monti to a broken foot in the 2nd minute, England were leading three goals to nil by the 12th with two goals from Eric Brook and one from Ted Drake. With no substitutes allowed in those days, the Italians had to play the rest of the game with 10 men. They lost the game, however Meazza salvaged some pride by scoring two goals four minutes apart, in the 58th and 62nd minute in very heavy rain to make it 3-2. The first was the result from a skillful move by Guaita that set Meazza free to crown the straggling raid with a fine rocket shot that beat the goalie. The second on a header after he made the most of a free-kick from Attilio Ferraris. He was only denied an equalizer by the woodwork and by some fine saves by England’s goalkeeper, Frank Moss who playing in what was to be his last international.
On December 9, 1934 against Hungary, Meazza scored his 25th goal (in 29 games) with the blue jersey, to tie Adolfo Baloncieri as top goalscorer for the national team. In the next game against France he had another two goals, which allowed him to jump in command of the ranking. In 1935 he claimed the Central European International Cup again.
In the 1938 World Cup hosted by France, Meazza captained Italy to another victory, again playing in every match. After what turned out to be their toughest game of the tournament in the opener against Norway (Italy won 2-1 in extra time) he petitioned Vittorio Pozzo, to allow the team a night off to relax. In his wisdom, Pozzo saw that his players needed to unwind after having trained for so long in preparation of the tournament and allowed the players a night of indulgence. Meazza was reported to have spent the night with two beautiful French girls.

Another of his memorable moments in that tournament was the goal he scored against Brazil in the semi-final. Italy were awarded a penalty after Silvio Piola, the team’s new center forward, was chopped down in the box by “the Divine Master”, Domingos da Guia. The Brazilian goalkeeper Walter, who was famous for hypnotizing his opponents and for saving penalties back in Brazil, arrogantly claimed he was certain he would save the shot. Meazza made no fuss, but as he stepped up to take the kick, his shorts fell down because the elastic around the waist had earlier been pulled and ripped by a defender. Meazza, without letting this stress him, pulled up his shorts with one hand and shot past the confused Walter, who was still busy laughing. His celebrating team-mates surrounded him until a new pair of shorts were produced. The goal sent Italy into their second consecutive World Cup final. It was his last goal for Italy.

In Italy’s 4-2 win over Hungary in the final, Italy’s dynamic inside-forward partnership of Meazza and Giovanni Ferrari, took hold of the game. Meazza set up goals for Silvio Piola and Gino Colaussi before halftime. The first assist he gave came after a quick exchange with Colaussi, who put Italy up 1-0. The next assist came after he faked a shot, making his defender jump past him, and dribbled past another defender, before sending in a quick pass on the ground for Piola to slam home. Ten minutes before half, after another quick exchange between Ferrari and Meazza, the latter found the unmarked Colaussi with an illuminating pass, and winger netted his second of the game to make it 3-1 at the break. After the tournament, Piola, who scored five goals in France, paid his colleague the compliment of being responsible for his own good performance: “At the FIFA World Cup, I mainly lived off Meazza and Ferrari”.

He played his last match for the national nine years after his debut, on the 20 July 1939 at the Olympiastadion in Helsinki when he captained Italy to a 3-2 win over Finland.
He played 53 times with Italy, losing just 6 matches and scoring 33 goals.

Career records

Serie A record

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Italy			League		Coppa Italia		League Cup		Europe		Total
1927-28	Internazionale Milano	Serie A	33	12
1928-29			29	33
1929-30			33	31
1930-31			34	24
1931-32			28	21
1932-33			32	20
1933-34			32	21
1934-35			30	18
1935-36			29	25
1936-37			26	11
1937-38			26	20
1938-39			16	4
1939-40			0	0
1940-41	Milan	Serie A	14	6
1941-42			23	3
1942-43	Juventus	Serie A	27	10
1945-46	Atalanta	Serie A	14	2
1946-47	Internazionale Milano	Serie A	17	2
Total	Italy		443	268
Career Total			443	268

Meazza is still today the third top-scorer ever in the Italian Championship.

National team record

Cap	Goals	Total goals	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Competition
1	2	2	9 February 1930	Rome	Switzerland	4-2	Friendly
2	1	3	2 March 1930	Frankfurt	Germany	2-0	Friendly
3		3	6 April 1930	Amsterdam	Netherlands	1-1	Friendly
4	3	6	11 May 1930	Budapest	Hungary	5-0	Central European International Cup
5		6	22 June 1930	Bologna	Spain	2-3	Friendly
6	3	9	25 January 1931	Bologna	France	5-0	Friendly
7	1	10	22 February 1931	Milan	Austria	2-1	Central European International Cup
8		10	29 March 1931	Bern	Switzerland	1-1	Central European International Cup
9		10	19 April 1931	Bilbao	Spain	0-0	Friendly
10	1	11	20 May 1931	Rome	Scotland	3-0	Friendly
11		11	15 November 1931	Rome	Czechoslovakia	2-2	Central European International Cup
12	1	12	20 March 1932	Vienna	Austria	1-2	Central European International Cup
13		12	8 May 1932	Budapest	Hungary	1-1	Central European International Cup
14		12	28 October 1932	Prague	Czechoslovakia	1-2	Central European International Cup
15	1	13	27 November 1932	Milan	Hungary	4-2	Friendly
16	1	14	1 January 1933	Bologna	Germany	3-1	Friendly
17	2	16	12 February 1933	Brussels	Belgium	3-2	Friendly
18	1	17	2 April 1933	Geneva	Switzerland	3-0	Central European International Cup
19		17	13 May 1933	Rome	England	1-1	Friendly
20	1	18	3 December 1933	Florence	Switzerland	5-2	Central European International Cup
21		18	11 February 1934	Turin	Austria	2-4	Central European International Cup
22	2	20	25 March 1934	Milan	Greece	4-0	World Cup Qualifier
23	1	21	27 May 1934	Rome	United States	7-1	World Cup
24		21	31 May 1934	Florence	Spain	1-1	World Cup
25	1	22	1 June 1934	Florence	Spain	1-0	World Cup
26		22	3 June 1934	Milan	Austria	1-0	World Cup
27		22	10 June 1934	Rome	Czechoslovakia	2-1	World Cup
28	2	24	14 November 1934	London	England	2-3	Friendly
29	1	25	9 December 1934	Milan	Hungary	4-2	Friendly
30	2	27	17 February 1935	Rome	France	2-1	Friendly
31		27	28 October 1935	Prague	Czechoslovakia	1-2	Central European International Cup
32		27	24 November 1935	Milan	Hungary	2-2	Central European International Cup
33		27	5 April 1936	Zürich	Switzerland	2-1	Friendly
34		27	17 May 1936	Rome	Austria	2-2	Friendly
35	1	28	31 May 1936	Budapest	Hungary	2-1	Friendly
36	1	29	25 October 1936	Milan	Switzerland	4-2	Central European International Cup
37		29	25 April 1937	Turin	Hungary	2-0	Central European International Cup
38		29	23 May 1937	Prague	Czechoslovakia	1-0	Central European International Cup
39	1	30	27 May 1937	Oslo	Norway	3-1	Friendly
40		30	31 October 1937	Geneva	Switzerland	2-2	Central European International Cup
41		30	5 February 1937	Paris	France	0-0	Friendly
42	1	31	15 May 1938	Milan	Belgium	6-1	Friendly
43	1	32	22 May 1938	Geneva	Yugoslavia	4-0	Friendly
44		32	5 June 1938	Marseille	Norway	2-1	World Cup
45		32	12 June 1938	Paris	France	3-1	World Cup
46	1	33	16 June 1938	Marseille	Brazil	2-1	World Cup
47		33	19 June 1938	Paris	Hungary	4-2	World Cup
48		33	26 March 1939	Florence	Germany	3-2	Friendly
49		33	13 May 1939	Milan	England	2-2	Friendly
50		33	4 June 1939	Belgrade	Yugoslavia	2-1	Friendly
51		33	8 June 1939	Budapest	Hungary	3-1	Friendly
52		33	11 June 1939	Bucharest	Romania	1-0	Friendly
53		33	20 July 1939	Helsinki	Finland	3-2	Friendly

(Italy’s score shown first)

Playing Honours

A.S. Ambrosiana / A.S. Ambrosiana-Inter (F.C. Internazionale Milano)

• Serie A (3)
  • Winner: 1929-30, 1937-38, 1939-40
  • Runner-Up: 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35
• Coppa Italia (1)
  • Winner: 1939
• Mitropa Cup
  • Runner-Up: 1933

A.C. Milan

• Coppa Italia
  • Runner-Up: 1942

Italy

• FIFA World Cup (2)
  • Winner: 1934, 1938

• Dr. Gero Cup (2)
  • Winner: 1927/1930, 1933/1935

Trivia

• Meazza was one the first Italians to coach abroad, coaching Besiktas J.K. of Turkey in 1947-1948.

• While serving as a youth coach for Inter, he met Sandro Mazzola. Understanding the boys pain at losing a father while so young and recognizing his skills, Meazza took young Sandro under his wing, and convinced him to sign for Inter.

• Meazza is a FIFA Hall of Champions Inductee and Italian Hall of Fame Entrant. He was selected by IFFHS/FIFA as the 2nd Best Italian player as one of the best 25 World Players of the 20th Century.

• With 33 goals, Meazza is still the the Italian national team‘s second highest scorer. His record stood until Gigi Riva tied and eventually broke it on June 9th 1973, also in a game against Brazil.

wembley stadium

Building

Wembley Stadium.

Wembley was designed by architects Foster + Partners and Populous (formerly HOK Sport) and with engineers Mott MacDonald, built by Australian company Brookfield Multiplex and funded by Sport England, WNSL (Wembley National Stadium Limited), the Football Association, the Department for Culture Media and Sport and the London Development Agency. It is the most expensive stadium ever built at a cost of £798 million (roughly US$1.57 billion) and has the largest roof-covered seating capacity in the world. Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners was appointed to assist Wembley National Stadium Limited in preparing the scheme for a new stadium and to obtain planning and listed building permission for the development.

Construction of the new Wembley, looking east, taken January 2006

The all-seater stadium is based around a bowl design with a capacity of 90,000, protected from the elements by a sliding roof that does not completely enclose it. It can also be adapted as an athletic stadium by erecting a temporary platform over the lowest tier of seating. The stadium’s signature feature is a circular section lattice arch of 7 m (23 ft) internal diameter with a 315 m (1,033 ft) span, erected some 22° off true, and rising to 133 m (436 ft) tall. It supports all the weight of the north roof and 60% of the weight of the retractable roof on the southern side. The archway is the world’s longest unsupported roof structure. Instead of the 39 steps climbed, in the original stadium, to enter the Royal Box and collect a trophy, there are now 107.

A “platform system” has been designed to convert the stadium for athletics use, but its use would decrease the stadium’s capacity to approximately 60,000. No athletics events have taken place at the stadium, and none are scheduled.

The stadium is linked to Wembley Park Station on the London Underground via Olympic Way, and Wembley Central via the White Horse Bridge. It also has a rail link—provided by the Wembley Stadium railway station—to London Marylebone and Birmingham.

The initial plan for the reconstruction of Wembley was for demolition to begin before Christmas 2000, and for the new stadium to be completed some time during 2003, but this work was delayed by a succession of financial and legal difficulties. It was scheduled to open on 13 May 2006, with the first game being that year’s FA Cup Final. However, worries were expressed as to whether the stadium would actually be completed on time. The new stadium was completed and handed over to the FA on 9 March 2007, with the total cost of the project (including local transport infrastructure redevelopment and the cost of financing) estimated to be £1 billion (roughly US$1.97 billion).

The stadium in its very early stages of construction, circa August 2003

New Wembley Stadium looking south, view from the new Wembley Way, January 2007

In October 2005, Sports Minister Richard Caborn announced: “They say the Cup Final will be there, barring six feet of snow or something like that”. However in December 2005, the builders admitted that there was a “material risk” that the stadium might not be ready in time for the Cup Final and in February 2006, these worries were confirmed by the FA moving the game to Cardiff‘s Millennium Stadium.

The delays started as far back as 2003. In December 2003, the constructors of the arch, subcontractors Cleveland Bridge, warned Multiplex about rising costs and a delay on the steel job of almost a year due to design changes which Multiplex rejected. Cleveland Bridge were removed from the project and replaced by Dutch firm Hollandia with all the attendant problems of starting over. On 20 March 2006, a steel rafter in the roof of the new development fell by a foot and a half, forcing 3,000 workers to evacuate the stadium and raising further doubts over the completion date which was already behind schedule. On 23 March 2006, sewers beneath the stadium buckled due to ground movement. GMB Union leader Steve Kelly said that the problem had been caused by the pipes not being properly laid, and that the repair would take months. A spokesman for developers Multiplex said that they did not believe this would “have any impact on the completion of the stadium”, which was then scheduled to be completed on 31 March 2006.

On 30 March 2006, the developers announced that Wembley Stadium would not be ready until 2007. All competitions and concerts planned were to be moved to suitable locations. On 19 June 2006 it was announced that the turf had been laid. On 19 October 2006 it was announced that the venue was now set to open in early 2007 after the dispute between The Football Association and Multiplex had finally been settled. WNSL, a subsidiary of The Football Association, is expected to pay around £36m to Multiplex, as well as the amount of the original fixed-price contract. This meant that the Wembley Stadium was ready for the 2007 FA Cup Final on 19 May 2007. The official Wembley Stadium website announced that the stadium would be open for public viewing for local residents of Brent on 3 March 2007, however the event was delayed by two weeks and instead happened on 17 March. The keys to the new Wembley stadium were finally handed over to the owners on 9 March 2007 ready to be open and used for upcoming FA Cup football matches, concerts and other events.

A short documentary of its redevelopment can be found on the Queen Live at Wembley ’86 DVD. The reconstruction of the stadium is part of the wider regeneration of Wembley.

Although not completed or opened at the time, EA Sports added Wembley Stadium into the video game FIFA 07.

A statue of Bobby Moore—the captain of the England national football team when they won the 1966 Football World Cup at Wembley—was unveiled outside the stadium on Friday 11 May 2007.

[edit] Structure

• The stadium contains 2,618 toilets, more than any other venue in the world.
• The stadium has a circumference of 1 km (0.6 mi).
• At its peak, there were more than 3,500 construction workers on site.
• 4,000 separate piles form the foundations of the new stadium, the deepest of which is 35 m (115 ft).
• There are 56 km (35 miles) of heavy-duty power cables in the stadium.
• 90,000 m³ (120,000 yd³) of concrete and 23,000 tonnes (25,000 short tons) of steel were used in the construction of the new stadium.
• The total length of the escalators is 400 m (¼ mi).
• The Wembley Arch has a cross-sectional diameter greater than that of a cross-channel Eurostar train.

Pitch

The new pitch is 13 ft (4.0 m) lower than the previous pitch. The pitch size, as lined for association football, is 115 yards (105 m) long by 75 yards (69 m) wide, slightly narrower than the old Wembley Since the completion of the new Wembley, the pitch has come into major disrepute when it was commented on being “no good” and “not in the condition that Wembley used to be known for” by Slaven Bilić before the game between England and the team he managed, Croatia. It was confirmed when the pitch was terribly cut up during the game, which was blamed by some as the reason England did not qualify for UEFA Euro 2008 despite previous results also being blamed by others. The Football Association admitted in April 2009 after the FA Cup semi-finals that improvements are needed to the Wembley pitch after criticism of the surface by Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger and David Moyes. The grass has been re-laid five times since the stadium re-opened in 2007 and was re-laid again in the summer of 2009, ahead of the 2009 Community Shield.

Roof

Detail of the arch

The new 6,350 tonne roof covers an area of over 45,000 square metres (11 acres), 4 acres (16,000 m²) of which are movable and rise to 52 m (170 ft) above the pitch. With a span of 317 m (1040 ft), the arch is the longest single span roof structure in the world and is 134 m (440 ft) above the level of the external concourse, and is designed not to cast a shadow on the pitch. Contrary to popular belief^{[citation needed]}, the stadium’s roof is not fully retractable, meaning it cannot cover the playing surface in inclement weather. In theory, the roof is more of an umbrella against the rain for spectators rather than a fully retractable roof which can cover the entire pitch. Many incorrectly believe^{[citation needed]} that it was designed to avoid a shadow across the pitch but since 2007 when the FA Cup final returned to Wembley, the match, held at 3pm, has been badly affected by a shadow covering approximately one third of the pitch at the start of the match.

Litigation

The Australian firm Multiplex, which was the main contractor on Wembley Stadium, made significant losses on the project . In an attempt to recoup some of those losses, the firm has initiated a number of legal cases against its sub-contractors and consultants. The largest of these – the largest legal claim in UK legal history – is a claim for £253 million against the structural engineering consultants Mott Macdonald. In preliminary hearings the two architecture practices which worked for Multiplex on the project have been ordered to allow Multiplex access to their records in order for them to build a case. The practices, Foster + Partners and Populous, estimate the costs of providing access and answering Multiplex’s queries at £5 million. The case is not due to be heard until January 2011. Mott Macdonald has issued a counter-claim for unpaid fees of £250,000.

Multiplex has also taken the original steel contractor, Cleveland Bridge, to court in order to claim up to £38 millioncompensation for costs resulting from Cleveland Bridge walking away from the job. Cleveland Bridge, in turn, claimed up to £15 million from Multiplex. The case was finally resolved in September 2008 with Cleveland Bridge ordered to pay £6.1 million in damages and 20% of Multiplex’s costs after the court found Cleveland Bridge was in the wrong to walk off site. The judge criticised both sides for allowing the case to reach court, pointing out that total costs were £22 million, including £1 million for photocopying. Multiplex’s ultimate bill is estimated to be over £10 million.

Multiplex is also contesting a claim from its concrete contractor, PC Harrington, that Multiplex owes £13.4 million to PC Harrington.

Tenants

Wembley Stadium during the 2007 Race of Champions

The English national football team is a major user of Wembley Stadium. Given the ownership by The Football Association as of 10 March 2007, the League Cup final moved back to Wembley from Cardiff following the FA Cup final and FA Community Shield. Other showpiece football matches that were previously staged at Wembley, such as the Football League promotion play-offs and the Football League Trophy final, have returned to the stadium, as has the Football Conference play-off final. Additionally, the Rugby League Challenge Cup final returned to Wembley Stadium in 2007. The new Wembley is a significant part of the plan for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London; the stadium will be the site of several games in both the men’s and women’s football tournaments, with the finals planned to be held there.

The Race of Champions staged their 2007 and 2008 events at the stadium.

Wembley has had a long association with American Football. Between 1986 and 1993 the old Wembley stadium hosted eight NFL exhibition matches featuring 13 different NFL teams. Since the new Wembley Stadium opened in 2007 Wembley has hosted matches of the NFL regular season. As a result of this, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stated in October 2009 that “he expects the NFL will start playing multiple regular-season games in Britain in the next few years, an expansion that could lead to putting a franchise in London.”

Music

The stage at the Live Earth concert held at Wembley on 7 July 2007.

Besides football, Wembley can be configured to hold many other events, particularly major concerts. The first concert at the new stadium was given by George Michael on 9 June 2007. U2 set the current attendance record for an event, selling 164,244 tickets over two nights on 14 & 15 August 2009. Muse became the first band to sell out the new stadium in 2007 and made a live DVD at the same time. Other acts to have performed at the stadium are, Metallica, Foo Fighters, Madonna, Coldplay. Oasis and AC/DC.

Two large charity concerts have been held at the new Wembley stadium, the Concert for Diana, a memorial concert ten years after the Death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Live Earth. Bon Jovi were scheduled to be the first artists to perform at the new Wembley but the late completion of the stadium saw the concerts relocated to the National Bowl and the KC Stadium.

American punk rock band Green Day are set to continue their world tour by playing the stadium on 19 June 2010. Muse will return to Wembley Stadium on 10 and 11 September 2010, having previously played there in June 2007.

Past concerts

Date	Artist
9, 10 June 2007	George Michael[43]
16, 17 June 2007	Muse[44]
1 July 2007	Concert for Diana[45]
7 July 2007	Live Earth[46]
8 July 2007	Metallica[47]
6, 7 June 2008	Foo Fighters
11 September 2008	Madonna
26 June 2009	AC/DC
1, 3, 4, 5 July 2009	Take That
9, 11, 12 July 2009	Oasis
14, 15 August 2009	U2
18, 19 September 2009	Coldplay

• On 16 June 2007, Muse became the first artist to sell out the new Wembley Stadium in just a matter of minutes .

• On 11 September 2008, Madonna performed to a sell-out crowd of over 74,000 fans and a gross of over $12 million and surpassed all previous grosses at both the old and the new Wembley Stadiums.

• In 2009, Take That sold out four dates for their Circus Live tour, on 1, 3, 4 and 5 July 2009, playing to over 80,000 fans each night. On two of those nights, tickets were sold at a lower price for seats with restricted view of the main stage, but with a view of the B-Stage in the centre of the stadium.

• U2 performed to a record 88,000 fans each night on 14 and 15 August 2009. The U2 360° Tour is designed to cater for fans positioned behind the stage.

Future concerts

Date	Artist
19 June 2010	Green Day
10, 11 September 2010	Muse[50]

Firsts at the new Wembley Stadium

Football

League Two Play-Off Final 2008

The first match at the stadium was a game played behind closed doors between Multiplex and Wembley Stadium staff. The first game in front of spectators was between the Geoff Thomas Foundation Charity XI and the Wembley Sponsors Allstars on 17 March 2007. The Geoff Thomas Foundation Charity XI won 2-0 (scorers Mark Bright and Simon Jordan). The first official match involving professional players was England U21s vs Italy U21s on 24 March 2007, which finished 3-3. Official attendance was 55,700 (although all of the 60,000 tickets that were made available were sold in advance). The first player to score in a FIFA sanctioned match was Italian striker Giampaolo Pazzini after 28 seconds of the same game. Pazzini went on to score twice more in the second half of the match making him the first person to score a hat-trick at Wembley Stadium since Paul Scholes for England in 1999. The first English player to score in a full-scale match was David Bentley with a free kick in the same game.

The first club game, competitive game, and cup final held at the new Wembley took place on 12 May 2007 when Kidderminster Harriers met Stevenage Borough in the FA Trophy final. Kidderminster striker James Constable was the first player to score a goal in a final at the new Wembley. Kidderminster became the first team to play at both the old and new stadium. Stevenage Borough were the first team to win a final at the new Wembley beating Kidderminster 3-2, despite trailing 2-0 at half time. The first players to play at both the old and new Wembley stadia were Steve Guppy (for Stevenage Borough) and Jeff Kenna (for Kidderminster Harriers). Ex-England international Guppy was the first player to win a final at both stadia (with Leicester City, Wycombe Wanderers and Stevenage)

The first penalty save and first red card came in the Conference National playoff final between Exeter City and Morecambe. The penalty was saved by Paul Jones of Exeter City from Morecambe striker Wayne Curtis. The red card was given to Matthew Gill of Exeter for a headbutt on Craig Stanley of Morecambe. Also, Morecambe were the first ever team to win at Wembley that play in a red home shirt.

The first Football League teams to play at Wembley in a competitive fixture were Bristol Rovers and Shrewsbury Town in the 2007 Football League Two play-off Final on the 26 May 2007. Shrewsbury Town became the first league team to score at Wembley and also the first league team to have a player sent off. Bristol Rovers won the game 3-1.

The first FA Cup Final at the new Wembley (between Manchester United and Chelsea) was on 19 May 2007. Chelsea won 1-0 with a goal by Didier Drogba, making him the first player to score in the FA Cup final at the new Wembley. Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Čech also became the first goalkeeper not to concede a goal in a competitive game at Wembley. Chelsea were the last winners of the cup final at the old Wembley and the first winners at the new.

The first game involving the full English national team was a friendly played on 1 June 2007, against Brazil. The match saw captain John Terry become the first England international goal scorer at the new stadium when he scored in the 68th minute. Diego became the first full international player to score for a visiting team when he scored in stoppage time, with the fulltime result being a 1-1 draw. The first competitive senior international was played on 8 September 2007 between England and Israel. This game ended 3-0. The first player to score international goals at both the old and new stadia was Michael Owen when he scored for England against Israel. On 22 August Germany beat England 2-1 to become the first team to beat them in the new Wembley Stadium England’s first competitive defeat at the new stadium was on 21 November 2007 when Croatia won 3-2. This match cost England qualification to Euro 2008 and head coach Steve McClaren his job.

Celtic were the first Scottish team to win a trophy at the new Wembley. Competing in the first year of the Wembley Cup in July 2009, against English side Tottenham, Egyptian side Al-Ahly and the current 2009 European Champions, Barcelona.

Rugby league

• The Rugby League Challenge Cup Final had previously been played annually at the old Wembley Stadium since 1929, when Wigan were the victors, and in 2007 the cup final returned to its traditional home after the re-building of Wembley.
• When Catalans Dragons played St Helens in the 2007 Challenge Cup Final on 25 August, they became the first non-English rugby league team to play in the final. The result saw St Helens retain the cup by a score of 30-8.
• The first Rugby League team to win a game at the new Wembley Stadium, were in fact Normanton Freeston. The West Yorkshire secondary school beat Castleford High School in the Year 7 boys Carnegie Champion Schools final, which was played immediately prior to the 2007 Challenge Cup Final.
• The first official try at Wembley was scored by James Roby of St Helens, although there had been several tries scored in the schools game that took place before the 2007 Challenge Cup final.

Rugby union

• The first rugby union International at the new Wembley stadium was between the Barbarians and Australia on 3 December 2008.
• The first rugby union match at the Wembley stadium was played as part of a school tournament before the first International. The match was won by East Barnet School from North London with a score of 25-0, and the first ever rugby union coach to win at the new Wembley was one Russell David Christie from Christchurch, New Zealand.

American football

• On 28 October 2007, the New York Giants defeated the Miami Dolphins by a score of 13-10 in the first NFL regular-season game to be played outside of North America, and first ever to be played in Europe in front of 81,176 fans.
• The first touchdown scored at Wembley was on a run by quarterback Eli Manning of the New York Giants.