September 11 – Tie me stadium down sport

ANYONE who has seen Wembley’s stunning giant arch spanning across north London cannot fail to be impressed by the sight. The finished stadium may be impressive, but the journey to get there was like trying to drive across Siberia in an old Lada that keeps breaking down, with bandits shooting at you, while chucking bundles of £50 notes out of the window the whole way. In short, the whole thing was a bloody nightmare with more delays than the Millennium Dome, and just as many set backs.

It all started on this day in 2000 when Australian firm Multiplex signed the deal to build the new stadium for a maximum cost of £326.5m, with the, in hindsight laughably ambitious target of the 2003 FA Cup final as the opening match.

It may not have been obvious from the shambles that ensued, but the company had experience of building stadia, having put up Sydney’s Olympic Stadium a full year ahead of schedule. Things did not quite go so well for England’s new footballing home and financial delays, disputes with contractors and even blackmail and death threats dogged the project from start to finish.

The original finish date of May 2003 was looking dodgy very early on, and as it turned out, the old Twin Towers were not even demolished until February 2003, and the finish date was pushed ever further back until it was eventually opened in 2007, just the four years late and £450m over budget.

Multiplex, who were reportedly paying a penalty of £120,000 for every day the project was delayed beyond its finish date, eventually handed over the keys to the FA in March 2007. With a healthy dose of understatement, FA chief executive Brian Barwick said: “We have been preparing for a very long time and are delighted to finally get inside the stadium.”

Keen to get a butchers at the new ground, the first match in the stadium, an under 21 clash between England and Italy, was a sell out. Italian striker Giampaolo Pazzini netted after just 25 seconds and went to to score another two as he grabbed both the first scorer and the first hat-trick accolades at the new stadium, as the two sides drew 3-3.

The senior team also drew on their first outing under the arch, sharing the spoils in a 1-1 draw with Brazil that saw David Beckham return to the England fold.

Have a goosey gander here at our ramblings from this day last year and come back tomorrow when we look at one of the best football books ever written.