London can boast of many interesting places that can amaze with their uniqueness, power, beauty and grandeur. Every tourist will find something special and exceptional here. It seems that the capital of Great Britain harmoniously combined cultural, musical, historical and sporting spheres. The main example of the latter is the legendary Wembley Stadium where people come to watch unforgettable concerts and the most famous sports competitions. Some call it a place of strength, while for others it symbolises unfortunate defeats. So, what is it really like and what does its history hide? Learn more at ilondon.info.
Prerequisites for creating a stadium
Looking at this mighty structure in the middle of one of the most famous cities in the world, few people know what exactly was in this place hundreds of years ago. It’s not a well-kept secret, but its history is really interesting. Before the construction of the famous stadium, there was an empty site but a tower in the middle of it. This structure was inspired by the famous Eiffel Tower, but the attempt to compete with the masterpiece failed. When the stadium construction began, the tower was demolished and the place became an even springboard for further works.
Fascinating history of the stadium
The first stadium structure was built by the Sir Robert McAlpine company in 1923 for £750,000. After ten months of construction work, the world saw a majestic sports arena that stood out significantly from other grey and mundane London buildings. Its main purpose was to house a famous exhibition. There were even plans to demolish the stadium after it ended, but they were cancelled. Four days after its opening, the stadium hosted one of the largest sporting events, the 1923 FA Cup. It resulted in fights between fans in a frenzied crowd that were resolved by mounted police. Then the total number of fans in the stadium was 200,000, although according to the project, its maximum capacity was 127,000 people.
Photo source: Historic England Archive
The British Empire Exhibition turned out to be very successful. The stadium became one of the exhibits. It housed various performances, amazing concerts, popular contests and other entertainment events. Unfortunately, after the long-awaited exhibition, the Wembley Stadium faced a sort of decline. Due to its unprofitability, it was resold several times, but it still served as a venue for popular sports competitions. The Summer Olympic Games were held here in 1948. Of course, the event wasn’t extremely luxurious and enchanting because London was just reviving after the Second World War. However, the organisers made a lot of effort to hold the competition at a decent level.
Photo source: Historic England Archive
The stadium received the nickname Twin Towers because of two white towers, which were the highlight of the architectural idea. In 1963, the structure was improved a little bit. As a result, it got a roof made of aluminium and translucent glass as well as an electronic scoreboard. The stadium remained the main venue for many famous events for decades. In 2000, it was closed for reconstruction.
Modern views and large-scale reconstruction
In 2007, the world acquired a new architectural wonder in the form of the largest sports arena in England. Its reconstruction lasted for four years. It would be better to call it a major reconstruction because, in 2002, one of the parts of the stadium was completely demolished. Later, the legendary white towers were dismantled. To tell the truth, almost nothing remained of the former building. It became a completely different, new and modern-looking structure. The opening of the renovated facility was significantly delayed. According to the original project, it had to be finished in 2003. However, due to a number of legal and financial difficulties, the reconstruction process was just at the demolition stage that year.
Many things went wrong during the reconstruction. In 2004, incorrect calculations led to the death of one of the workers. That tragedy slowed down the process because the already approved project had to be changed and the construction company was fined. In 2006, new steel roof structures collapsed. Then the fatal consequences were avoided and all the workers were evacuated, but such problems slowed down the pace of construction even more. The history of this amazing object creation is incredibly exciting and sad at the same time.
Incredible architectural ideas
All the credits for the development of that new work of art belonged to the team of architects from Foster + Partners and engineers from Mott Stadium Consortium. In total, construction cost £798 million. When all the ideas were implemented, that project became one of the most famous and expensive in the world. It became an example of something extremely interesting, original and worthy of attention for many modern architects.
The building looks majestic and impresses with its uniqueness. The stadium is of semicircular shape resembling a bowl. Its main feature is the lattice arch, which was created to support the roof and became the visiting card of the stadium. It can be seen from different parts of London. It attracts tourists and fits into the architectural style of the city in general. The roof itself isn’t any less interesting. It is sliding, so if necessary, it can be easily transformed. Another feature of the stadium is that it can be transformed into an athletic one very fast. However, when a platform on the lower tiers is installed, the number of seats decreases to 60,000. This system enables the holding of athletics competitions. In addition, the new stadium was built including the latest technologies, which made it possible to automate most of the processes. The arena is also known for its seating capacity, which makes it the largest stadium in the world in terms of the number of spectators fitting under the roof.
Events that went down in history
Despite the fact that the organisers were forced to postpone a lot of large-scale matches and concerts due to the construction delays, many famous events took place here eventually after its opening. In 2007, this place housed concerts by Muse, Metallica and George Michael. In the same year, the famous Live Earth and Concert for Diana took place here. In September 2008, the audience had the opportunity to visit Madonna’s concert here, and in 2016, they could enjoy the concerts of Beyoncé and Rihanna. All these events always gathered and amazed a large number of visitors.
As for sports events, there is a list of competitions held at the stadium annually. It includes rugby, soccer and American football championships. It has become traditional to hold the Women’s Challenge Cup here. Wembley Stadium also hosts the semi-finals and finals of the FA Cup and many other football matches every year. In addition, the stadium becomes a venue for even more outstanding events. For example, in 2012, a part of the Summer Olympic Games was held here. The stadium is indeed one of the most famous sports venues in the world.