Wembley Ground Guide

Wembley Stadium – Home of Football’s Richest Game

It was Gary Gli**er who sang ‘Hello, hello, good to be back, good to be back’. Now the years may have been a bit kinder to us then the singer in question but boy oh boy what a feeling it is to be going back to the national stadium again, and what a prize on offer. I posted the other week, in reality it’s a million pound a minute over the course of a game. Forget the money you can’t put a price on what we can say to the Knobbers for the rest of our naturals if it all comes good at the weekend.

The Ground:

20 FACTS ABOUT WEMBLEY
1. With 90,000 seats the new Wembley is the largest football stadium in the world with every seat under cover.
2. The arch is 133 metres above the level of the external concourse.
3. The stadium roof rises to 52 metres above the pitch. This compares to the 35 metres tall Twin Towers of the old stadium.
4. The new Wembley has a circumference of 1 km.
5. The London Eye could fit between the top of the arch and the pitch.
6. The new roof is over 11 acres. Four acres are moveable.
7. The rows of seating, if placed end to end, would stretch 54 kilometres.
8. 4,000 separate piles form the foundations of the new stadium. The deepest of these, at 35 metres, is as deep as the Twin Towers were tall.
9. There are 35 miles of heavy-duty power cables in the stadium.
10. With a span of 315 metres, the arch is the longest single span roof structure in the world.
11. With a diameter of 7.4 metres the arch is wide enough for a Channel Tunnel train to run through.
12. 90,000m3 of concrete and 23,000 tonnes of steel were used in the construction of the new stadium.
13. The roof alone weighs almost 7,000 tonnes.
14. At peak construction there were 3,500+ people working on site.
15. The new pitch is 4 metres lower than the previous pitch.
16. Each of the two giant screens in new stadium is the size of 600 domestic television sets.
17. The new Wembley encloses 4,000,000 m3 inside its walls and under its roof. This is the equivalent of 25,000 double decker buses or 7 billion pints of milk.
18. The total length of the escalators is the same as a 400 metre running track.
19. There are 2,618 toilets – which WNSL estimate is more than any other stadium in the world.
20. There is more leg room in every seat in the new Wembley Stadium than there was in the Royal Box of the old stadium.

How to get there:

Basically M55 M6, M42, M1, North Circular Road, Brent and Wembley. M55, M6 South, join the Toll, and go all the way to the M1. About five miles after the London Gateway Service area leave to join the A406 for about two miles before branching left on to Great Central Way (B4557) following the signs for Wembley Stadium.

Sat Navvers – HA9 0DS

For the Virgin Lovers amongst us:

The ground is served by three stations and five underground/overground lines.

Wembley Park station is on both the Jubilee and Metropolitan underground lines. On exiting the station, follow the pedestrian route under Empire Way and up Olympic Way to the front of the ground. Allow for 10 minutes walk.

Wembley Stadium station is on the Chiltern train line. The Chiltern line travels from the Midlands, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. London trains on this line depart from Marylebone station. The station is on the south side of the ground. If arriving by train from London Marylebone station cross the tracks using the White Horse bridge. If arriving from the north, take the ramp from the platform.

Wembley Central station is on the Bakerloo underground line and the London overground train lines. On exiting the station, turn right and walk in an easterly direction along the High Road, past McDonalds and Burger King, to the Wembley Triangle junction and clock tower island. Turn left into Wembley Hill Road, cross the road and follow the pedestrian route across the White Horse bridge. Allow 15 minutes walk.

For those flying Samm Airways:

Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, City of London, the list is endless…

Where to drink:

There’s been talk of designated pubs, last time we used the Torch, there’s the Green Man at our end, The Greyhound etc but rest assured the pubs will be chokka. Drinking inside the ground is hassle free, just the price that’s the killer, but hey it’s a one off. I hope the 2 birds that pull pints in the West watch and learn there’ll be no queuing here.

Plod & stewards:

Last time round the stewards were more than helpful and the plod presence low. There’s an extra 20,000+ there on Saturday and Yeovil are no Cardiff, there will be an increased plod presence, it’s the Met, they love us… (Barnet early 90’s)

Fear Factor Rating – 0

What can anyone say? This is the biggest game of our lives. We are a well run club, if we don’t get there it won’t be the end of the world, but it’ll certainly feel like it.

VB said Premiership in 5 years, the similarities between now and 3 years ago are uncanny, it’s been a fantastic season but come 5pm on Saturday it’ll be a day to remember for the largest tangerine support we’ll have ever seen. Let’s hope there’s a fantastic welcome waiting in the North West and not the hillsides.

Onwards + Upwards