On This Day – 1st June
England finally returned to their spiritual home of Wembley on this day in 2007 after more than six and a half years away from London.
It had taken longer than expected for the new stadium to be completed and had cost around £750 million to build, but the all-new 90,000 capacity stadium was ready to host international football.
Brazil were the visitors in a friendly. John Terry earned the honour of being the first English international to score under the arch at Wembley, nodding in a David Beckham free kick in the 68th minute.
Brazil’s Diego then spoilt the party by equalising in stoppage time to end the game level at 1-1.
Despite many football fans saying that the old Wembley was the traditional home and is much better than the new, few can complain about the facilities at the new stadium. The seats are comfortable and have plenty of leg room, the toilets are much more pleasant and the whole stadium is a lot cleaner than the old one. Yes, the twin towers have been knocked down, but the arch over the roof of the stadium is beautiful.
The return of international football to Wembley brought an end to England playing their matches across the country. It was quite refreshing to see them play in different stadia and more fans were able to see their national team play. There’s nothing like walking up Wembley Way though!
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