Wembley Stadium (1923)

The original Wembley Stadium was built for the British Empire Exhibition of 1924-25, at a cost of £750,000 (approximately £49.81 million in 2023), on the site of a folly called Watkin's Tower in Wembley Park. The stadium was designed by architects Sir John Simpson and Maxwell Ayrton, with Sir Owen Williams as head engineer, and was constructed by Sir Robert McAlpine. The first turf was cut by King George V, and the stadium first opened to the public on 28 April 1923. The original intention was to demolish the stadium at the end of the Exhibition, but it was saved at the suggestion of Sir James Stevenson, chairman of the organising committee, and went on to become the home of English football. The stadium's inaugural event was the 1923 FA Cup final, known as the 'White Horse Final,' in which an estimated 200,000 people crammed into a stadium built for 125,000, with mounted police, including the famous white horse 'Billy,' having to clear the pitch before the match could begin. The stadium's iconic Twin Towers, which became one of the most recognisable landmarks in world sport, were built as part of the original design and became the symbol of the stadium and of English football. The stadium hosted the FA Cup final annually from 1923 to 2000, with the exception of the war years, making it the longest-running home of any major sporting event in the world. It also hosted the League Cup final annually from 1967 to 2000, and five European Cup finals, in 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, and 1992, including the famous 1963 final in which AC Milan defeated Benfica 2-1, and the 1992 final in which Barcelona defeated Sampdoria 1-0 after extra time. The stadium's most famous moment came on 30 July 1966, when England defeated West Germany 4-2 in the 1966 FIFA World Cup final, with Geoff Hurst scoring a hat-trick, the only one ever in a World Cup final, and the famous disputed third goal that may or may not have crossed the line. The stadium also hosted the Euro 1996 final, in which Germany defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 with a golden goal, and the 1948 Summer Olympics, in which the stadium hosted the athletics events and the opening and closing ceremonies. Beyond football, the stadium hosted rugby league's Challenge Cup final annually from 1929 to 1999, the 1992 and 1995 Rugby League World Cup finals, greyhound racing, speedway with the Wembley Lions from 1946 to 1957 and 1970 to 1971, and American football with the London Monarchs in 1991-1992. The stadium was also a major venue for music events, most famously the 1985 Live Aid charity concert, which featured performances by Queen, David Bowie, Elton John, and Paul McCartney, among others, and was watched by an estimated 1.9 billion people worldwide. The stadium also hosted SummerSlam 1992, the first major professional wrestling pay-per-view to take place outside of North America. The stadium was renovated in 1963, and was made all-seater in 1990, reducing the capacity from 100,000 to 82,000 in the wake of the Taylor Report following the Hillsborough disaster. By the late 1990s, the aging stadium was considered outdated, and plans were made to build a new, modern stadium on the same site. The last match at the original Wembley was an England vs Germany World Cup qualifier on 7 October 2000, which Germany famously won 1-0, with the last goal at the stadium scored by Dietmar Hamann. The stadium was demolished in 2002-2003, with the Twin Towers coming down in December 2002, and the new Wembley Stadium opened on the site in 2007, with its iconic arch replacing the Twin Towers as the symbol of English football.

The original Wembley Stadium was built for the British Empire Exhibition of 1924-25, and the original intention was to demolish it after the Exhibition, but it was saved at the suggestion of Sir James Stevenson and went on to become the home of English football for 77 years. The stadium's inaugural event, the 1923 FA Cup final, became known as the 'White Horse Final,' after an estimated 200,000 people crammed into a stadium built for 125,000, with mounted police, including the famous white horse 'Billy,' having to clear the pitch before the match could begin, with the attendance of 126,047 remaining a record for any match at the stadium. The stadium's iconic Twin Towers became one of the most recognisable landmarks in world sport and the symbol of English football, until they were demolished in December 2002 to make way for the new Wembley Stadium and its famous arch. Pelé called Wembley 'the cathedral of football... the capital of football and it is the heart of football,' in recognition of its status as the world's most famous football stadium. The stadium hosted the 1966 FIFA World Cup final, in which England defeated West Germany 4-2, with Geoff Hurst scoring the only hat-trick in World Cup final history, including the famous disputed third goal that may or may not have crossed the line, a debate that continues to this day. The stadium hosted five European Cup finals, in 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, and 1992, making it one of the most frequent hosts of club football's biggest match. The stadium hosted the 1948 Summer Olympics, with the athletics events and the opening and closing ceremonies held at the stadium, making it one of the few venues to host both the Olympics and the World Cup final. The stadium was the venue for the 1985 Live Aid charity concert, one of the most famous concerts in history, featuring performances by Queen, David Bowie, Elton John, and Paul McCartney, and watched by an estimated 1.9 billion people worldwide. The last match at the original Wembley was an England vs Germany World Cup qualifier on 7 October 2000, which Germany famously won 1-0, with the last goal at the stadium scored by Dietmar Hamann, a German player, in a fittingly dramatic end to an iconic venue. The stadium was also the venue for SummerSlam 1992, the first major professional wrestling pay-per-view to take place outside of North America, drawing over 80,000 fans. The stadium's record attendance of 126,047 was set at the 1923 FA Cup final, the first match ever played at the stadium, a record that stood for the entire 77-year history of the venue.