Arch of triumph

The new Wembley stadium is rising from the ashes of controversy

By Martin Pengelly

Published: 01 October 2003

Think of English sport and you'll probably think of Wembley Stadium: of the twin towers, of the 1966 World Cup Final.

Think of English sport and you'll probably think of Wembley Stadium: of the twin towers, of the 1966 World Cup Final. And although Wembley Stadium is perhaps equally famous as a music venue, hosting phenomenal events including Live Aid in 1985 and Pope John Paul II's Mass in 1982, for football fans, the old Wembley, built in 1922, was sacred ground.

But that Wembley is no more. Bulldozers moved in to the north London site in September 2002 to make way for a modern super-stadium. "We're marrying the world's favourite sport with the world's best venue," said Michael Cunnah, the stadium's chief executive.

But does England need a national stadium anymore? And need it be in London? When the rebuilding of a national stadium was announced in 1995, public support was behind the scheme. Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield and Bradford put in bids. All were rejected.

There have since been problems. There's money: the initial estimated cost of £326.5m has risen to £757m, to be drawn, contentiously, from public and private funds. And there's politics. A National Lottery grant of £120m caused controversy and several politicians' careers were affected by their involvement in the project.

In 2002, with reconstruction still not started, Coventry and Birmingham tabled new bids. Again, they were rejected. And so the London-based project goes on, scheduled for completion in May 2006.

"There is a good prospect that Wembley will give England a prestigious national stadium, which will not require continuing support from the state", said a government report issued as building finally started in late 2002.

Optimism is resurfacing. "I'm sure [the new stadium] will provide as much joy, spectacle and history as its iconic past." said sports minister Richard Caborn. Architect Lord Norman Foster has planned a monumental arch to crown the world's largest 90,000-seat retractable-roofed stadium.

At the first parliamentary committee to investigate the stadium, an MP commented: "The story of Wembley has indeed been a game of two halves." Now Wembley is rising again. Sports fans across the world hope it will live up to the hype.