LONDON CALLING
Considering its heritage, it is more than a little surprising that Wembley has neither a permanent museum nor a properly arranged display of notable artefacts. More properly,
Wembley comes under the banner of Wembley Park, which began its life as a sports and
leisure ground in 1894 at which a tower taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris was originally
planned. It later became the site of the hugely popular British Empire Exhibition of 1924
and 1925, which gave birth to the Empire Stadium and Empire Pool (now Wembley Arena), with the rest, Cup Finals, Olympic Games, the 1966 World Cup and countless other
sporting and cultural events, being history. It was always a special thrill to see the famous
twin towers hoving into view as one neared the Wembley Stadium, and when the time
came to demolish the old stadium, there was understandably a clamour to preserve these
most evocative of sporting symbols. Regrettably, this proved impractical and the towers
were demolished in 2003 by a giant excavating machine that had been built, ironically
enough, in Germany. The flagpoles and their crowns were all that was salvaged from the
towers, one of the flagpole bases being resited nearby at Brent River Park, while the flagpoles and crowns are now on display at Fawley Hill, the estate of Sir William McAlpine.
Other keepsakes from the old Wembley to have survived include the crossbar against
which Geoff Hurst struck his second goal in the 1966 World Cup Final (German readers
please add italics where applicable), which forms the centre-piece of the reception area for
Wembley tours, and the intricate 1948 Olympic Rolls of Honour, which has been restored
Below: Wembley Stadium, with the newly-opened Empire Pool (now Wembley Arena) in the foreground. This aerial view was taken in 1934, just before the start of the Empire Games
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Groundtastic - The Football Grounds Magazine