For any football fan, a visit to the new Wembley Stadium is a must. Not only is it one of the most outstanding modern stadiums in the world, it is home to the best of English football and presents a veritable ‘festival of football’ with the nation’s major cup finals and Football League play-offs each season. .
The Football Association, the sport’s governing body, is planning to move its administrative headquarters from Soho Square to the new £12m stadium in July 2009. As Wembley is also the venue for all international fixtures England, including qualifying matches for the 2010 World Cup Finals – the move will firmly establish the stadium as the “home of English football”.
As the English football season builds to its climax in May, Wembley hosts a number of prestigious finals, including the traditional final of the football season – the FA Cup Final. But before that, the final cup season kicks off in late February or early March with the Carling Cup Final. This Football League exhibition cup competition will celebrate its 50th anniversary at Wembley in 2010.
Next up is the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final which will be played at Wembley in early April. This competition is exclusive to clubs that compete in League One and League Two of the Football League. The 2009 final was absolutely thrilling as Luton beat Scunthorpe 3-2 after extra time in front of a lower league crowd of 53,378.
In May, games follow each other quickly at the stadium, beginning with the FA Trophy Final and the FA Vase Final, played on successive days on the second weekend of the month.
Following, and still in May, the Football League hosts the Play-off Finals when the final promotion places for The Championship, League One and League Two are decided. Indeed, the Football League Championship play-off final, normally played on Bank Holiday Monday at the end of May, is billed as the most lucrative “single” game in football. The winners will be promoted to the Barclays Premier League and with that comes access to lucrative TV money.
Finally, on the last weekend of May, the traditional end of the season takes place; the FA Cup Final. This is one of the few ‘protected’ matches that is televised live on terrestrial channels and is the father of all football competition finals. As you can see, May is also the month when London hotel owners, particularly those around Wembley, rub their hands in glee at the multitude of “no vacancies” signs as they accommodate the thousands of football fans who travel to the capital. to see their teams in action.
But football fans who can’t get a ticket to a game at Wembley shouldn’t despair. You can still access the stadium and experience its wonderful features first-hand by purchasing a stadium tour ticket.