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The White Horse Bridge is a footbridge that crosses the tracks at Wembley Stadium railway station leading up to Wembley Stadium in Wembley Park, England. It was designed by Steve Chilton[citation needed] for architects Marks Barfield and engineered by Halcrow.[1] It replaced an old concrete footbridge which was probably built for the British Empire Exhibition. The project also included the construction of a public square.
The bridge's name was chosen in May 2005 after a BBC Five Live poll. It is named after a Metropolitan Police horse named 'Billy', that was used to restore order after the huge numbers of spectators (estimated at between 200,000 and 300,000) who turned up to witness the 1923 FA Cup Final, the first to be held at the old Wembley Stadium,[2] spilled onto the pitch before kick off. Although grey in colour, the horse appears as white in contemporary black-and-white photographs and films.
Unlike the old footbridge, the new structure was designed to cope with up to 12,000 people an hour, the estimated number of users during match days.[1] The bridge and square opened in 2008. They now give easy access from the Chiltern Line to London Designer Outlet.