Wembley Stadium

This article is about the stadium opened in 2007. For the original stadium which it replaced, see Wembley Stadium (1923). For the nearby indoor arena, see Wembley Arena. For the railway station, see Wembley Stadium railway station.

Wembley Stadium
"The Home of Football" [1]
New Wembley
100th anniversary logo (2023)
UEFA
Map
Full nameWembley Stadium connected by EE
AddressSouth Way
Wembley
HA9 0WS
LocationLondon, United Kingdom
Public transitJubilee Line Metropolitan Line Wembley Park
Bakerloo Line London Overground National Rail Wembley Central
National Rail Wembley Stadium
OwnerThe Football Association
OperatorWembley National Stadium Limited
Executive suites166
Capacity90,000[5] (association football, rugby union, rugby league, boxing)
75,000 to 90,000 seated and 25,000 standing (concerts)
86,000 to 87,000 (UEFA capacity)
86,000 (American football)
Record attendanceFootball: 89,874 (Cardiff City vs. Portsmouth, 17 May 2008)
Concert: 98,000 (Adele, June 2017)
Boxing: 98,128 (Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois, 21 September 2024)
NFL: 86,651 (New England Patriots vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, 20 October 2024)
Wrestling: 72,265 (AEW All In, 27 August 2023)[6]
Field size115 yd × 74 yd (105 m × 68 m)
SurfaceHatko Hybridgrass
Construction
Broke ground30 September 2002; 22 years ago (2002-09-30)[2]
Built2003–2007
Opened9 March 2007; 17 years ago (2007-03-09)
Construction cost£789 million[7]
(£1.51 billion today)
ArchitectHOK Sport, Foster and Partners, Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners (planning consultants)[3]
Project managerCapita Property and Infrastructure[4]
Structural engineerMott Stadium Consortium and Jimmy Higham– Mott MacDonald, Sinclair Knight Merz & Aurecon[4]
Services engineerJimmy Higham[4]
General contractorMultiplex[4]
Tenants
England national football team (2007–present)
Tottenham Hotspur (2017–2019)
Website
wembleystadium.com

Wembley Stadium (sometimes referred to as The New Wembley and branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which had stood from 1923 until 2003.[8][9] The stadium is England's national football stadium, and thus hosts the majority of the England national team home matches and the FA Cup Final – the final of England's primary domestic club football competition. It is widely regarded as one of the most iconic football stadiums in the world, and is considered a hub for the English game. Wembley Stadium is owned by the governing body of English football, the Football Association, whose headquarters are in the stadium, through its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL). With 90,000 seats, it is the largest stadium in the UK and the second-largest stadium in Europe, behind Barcelona's Camp Nou.[10]

Designed by Populous and Foster and Partners, the stadium is crowned by the 134-metre-high (440 ft) Wembley Arch which serves aesthetically as a landmark across London as well as structurally, with the arch supporting over 75% of the entire roof load.[11] The stadium was built by Australian firm Multiplex at a cost of £798 million (£1.51 billion today).[12] Two partially retractable roof structures over the east and west ends of the stadium can be opened to allow sunlight and aid pitch growth.

In addition to England home games and the FA Cup final, the stadium also hosts other major games in English football, including the season-opening FA Community Shield, the finals of lower tiered cup competition – the FA Trophy, the FA Vase, finals of the EFL Cup and EFL Trophy, the FA Cup semi-finals, and the promotion play-off finals of the tiers two, three, four, and five of the English football league system. The stadium also hosts the Women's FA Cup finals and an increasing number of home games of the England women's national football team.

A UEFA category four stadium, Wembley hosted the 2011, 2013 and the 2024 Champions League Finals, eight games at UEFA Euro 2020 (including the final and both of the semi-finals),[13] and hosted the final of the UEFA Women's Euro 2022.[14] The stadium hosted the gold-medal matches at the 2012 Olympic Games football tournament. The stadium also hosts the Rugby Football League's Challenge Cup, Women's Challenge Cup, and 1895 Cup finals, in addition to various music concerts. The stadium also hosted NFL London Games until 2019 and was also the temporary home of Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur between August 2017 and March 2019, while White Hart Lane was being demolished and their new stadium was constructed. Wembley has also been chosen as one of the host stadia for UEFA Euro 2028.

In 2014, Wembley Stadium entered into a six-year sponsorship agreement with mobile provider EE Limited, under which it provides technology and infrastructure services for the venue. Under the agreement, the facility is officially referred to as "Wembley Stadium connected by EE".[15] The deal was renewed in 2019 for a further 5 years, as part of EE's parent company BT's sponsorship deal with the England football team.[16]

  1. ^ Horne, John; Manzenreiter, Wolfram (11 January 2013). Japan, Korea and the 2002 World Cup. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-14021-2. Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Timeline: The New Wembley". BBC News. 21 February 2006. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  3. ^ "Projects: Wembley Stadium". Populous.com. Archived from the original on 25 June 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d "Wembley Stadium, London". Design Build Network. 19 June 2006. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  5. ^ Lyles, Christopher (16 May 2007). "Wembley: Facts and figures". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  6. ^ "All Elite Wrestling plans Wembley return after sold-out debut event". NoDQ. 11 September 2023. Archived from the original on 21 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  7. ^ "Wembley to break even by 2015, says FA chairman". BBC News. 5 October 2011. Archived from the original on 13 October 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Final whistle for Wembley's towers". BBC News. 1 September 2016. Archived from the original on 12 May 2006. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Gates' Microsoft Becomes Wembley Stadium Backer". Forbes. 20 October 2005. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  10. ^ "Wembley Stadium Facts and Figures". wembleystadium.com. Archived from the original on 20 November 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  11. ^ "Wembley Stadium – Key Facts". Wembley Stadium. Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  12. ^ "Timeline: A new National Stadium for the national game". Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  13. ^ "Wembley to stage UEFA EURO 2020 final" Archived 15 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine UEFA. Retrieved 29 November 2014
  14. ^ "Women's EURO 2022 schedule: All the results". 31 July 2022. Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Wembley Stadium finally connects with EE". SportsPro Media. 27 February 2014. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  16. ^ "EE extends Wembley backing through new BT deal". 4 June 2019.