Stadium Information

Though designed primarily for football, rugby and music events, the new Wembley Stadium is also capable of hosting any world-class sporting event. 

The Arch
The most striking highly visible feature of the new stadium is the 133 metre tall arch that sits above the north stand. At 315 metres long, the steel arch is the longest single roof structure in the world. It is visible right across London.

The arch supports all of the weight of the north roof and 60 per cent of the weight of the southern side. By using an arch to bear some of the weight of the southern roof it is possible to retract the south roof to allow light an air onto the pitch.

The Sliding Roof and the Pitch

One of the key challenges of the design team was to keep the famously high standard of the Wembley pitch while, at the same time, designing a stadium with stands that are higher and closer to the pitch than the original stadium and give better uninterrupted views.

Many new stadia have suffered from poor pitches as the stands in them stadia can leave large sections of the pitch in almost permanent shadow. Grass demands direct sunlight to grow effectively.

For this reason, the sliding roof remains an integral part of the design for the new Wembley. Options such as a palletised pitch (moving a patchwork pitch in and out of the Stadium between events) or regularly re-laying the pitch were rejected as inappropriate for Wembley.

Instead, computer models have been made of air movement and sunlight on the existing pitch and the unique moving roof designed for the new Stadium.

This will be left open between events but can be moved to line up with the touchline within 15 minutes, ensuring every spectator is sheltered during an event.

A further bonus is an improved TV image for fans watching at home. In bright sunlight the roof can be withdrawn to allow clear TV pictures uninterrupted by heavy shadows on the pitch.

At 3pm on Cup Final day, for instance, only the two southern corner flags will be in shadow.

The Bowl

A key feature of the current stadium is that almost all spectators sit in a single bowl rather than four separate stands. This is a central feature of the new design with almost all supporters or concert-goers able to share the event with 90,000 other fans and should contribute to a memorable experience and atmosphere.

The acoustics of the new ground will take the original stadium as a benchmark.

Recordings taken during the 1999 FA Cup Final and models of the Stadium created by using three blasts of white noise during the England v Poland game in 2000 will form the basis of sophisticated computer models that will allow the design team to finely tune the acoustics of the new stadium.

Key Facts:

• The stadium roof rises to 52 metres above the pitch. This compares to the 35 metres tall Twin Towers of the old stadium.
• The new Wembley has a circumference of 1 km.
• The London Eye could fit between the top of the arch and the pitch.
• The new roof will be over 11 acres. Four acres are moveable.
• The rows of seating, if placed end to end, would stretch 54 kilometers.
• 4,000 separate piles will form the foundations of the new stadium. The deepest of these, at 35 metres, is as deep as the Twin Towers were tall.
• There will be 35 miles of heavy-duty power cables in the stadium.
• With a span of 315 Metres, the arch will be the longest single span roof structure in the world.
• With a diameter of 7.4 metres the arch is wide enough for a Channel Tunnel train to run through.
• 90,000m3 of concrete and 23,000 tonnes of steel will be used in the construction of the new stadium.
• The roof alone will weigh almost 7,000 tonnes.
• Each of the two giant screens in new stadium is the size of 600 domestic television sets.
• The new Wembley encloses 4,000,000 m3 (cubic metres) inside its walls and under its roof. This is the equivalent of 25,000 double decker buses or 7 billion pints of milk.
• There is more leg room in EVERY seat in the new Wembley Stadium than there was in the Royal Box of the old stadium.

Stadium Comparison

Stadium	Capacity	Accommodation Area (sq. m)	Area per seat m2	Total cost	Cost per seat
Wembley	90,000	173,000	1.92	£352,603,000	£3,918
Stade de France	80,000	70,000	0.88	£266,597,067	£3,332
Telstra Stadium (Australia)	83,500	1100,000	1.25	£278,897,627	£3,468
Munich (new)	66,000	-	-	£248,239,862	£3,761
Arena Auf Schalke	51,000	58,796	1.15	£180,432,432	£3,538
Sapporo Dome	42,122	53,800	1.28	£245,959,091	£5,839
Washington State	72,000	-	-	£359,642,567	£4,995
Denver	76,125	-	-	£338,503,518	£4,447
Cincinnati	66,000	-	-	£275,875,744	£4,180

Wembley Travel information

The most direct service to Wembley with the least walking required is the Chiltern line service from Marylebone main line station. This is the fastest, non-stop service, taking 9 minutes and runs half hourly.

On arrival at Wembley Stadium station, turn right, walk two street blocks along Wembley Hill Road and York House (the tall red and white building) is next on the right after the Hilton hotel.

On arrival at Wembley Park station, walk south along Empire Way, past McDonalds, past the Arena and Conference Centre on the left and York House is next (the tall red and white building). Alternatively, take bus route 83 and 182 from stop 'O' on the opposite side of the road from the station.

During the current period of station modernisation only Metropolitan westbound services from Baker Street station stop at Wembley Park. Metropolitan line services with fewer stops are faster from Baker Street, however changing between Metropolitan and Jubilee line services is more convenient at Finchley Road station when trains often arrive and leave together.

On arrival at Wembley Central station, turn right and walk in an easterly direction along the High Road, past McDonalds and Burger King, to the Wembley Triangle junction. Turn left into Wembley Hill Road, past the Wembley Stadium station and York House (the tall red and white building) is next on the right after the Hilton hotel. Alternatively, take bus route 83, 92 or 182 from stop 'CN' outside the station.

Bakerloo line westbound services from Paddington station and Silverlink services from Euston main line station both stop at Wembley Central station. The Euston service has three trains an hour and takes 20 minutes.



Travelling by car from all directions

From Heathrow and beyond, take the M4, turn north at the Chiswick roundabout on to the North Circular Road and follow the signs for Wembley. Leave the North Circular at the Stonebridge Park junction turning left into the Harrow Road which is 1 mile (1.6km) to the east of Wembley Stadium. From here, take the A404 Harrow Road and turn right at the Wembley Triangle & Clock on to Wembley Hill Road, round the first roundabout and into Stadium Way. York House is the tall red and white building and should be on your right.

From Oxford and beyond, take the M40 and then A40 Western Avenue, turn north at the Hanger Lane gyratory roundabout on to the North Circular Road and follow signs for Wembley. Leave the North Circular at the Stonebridge Park junction turning left into the Harrow Road which is 1 mile (1.6km) to the east of Wembley Stadium. From here, take the A404 Harrow Road and turn right at the Wembley Triangle & Clock on to Wembley Hill Road, round the first roundabout and into Stadium Way. York House is the tall red and white building and should be on your right.

From the Midlands and North, take the M1 to Junction1 at Staples Corner, turn south on to the North Circular Road and follow the signs for Wembley. Leave the North Circular at the Stonebridge Park junction turning left into the Harrow Road which is 1 mile (1.6km) to the east of Wembley Stadium. From here, take the A404 Harrow Road and turn right at the Wembley Triangle & Clock on to Wembley Hill Road, round the first roundabout and into Stadium Way. York House is the tall red and white building and should be on your right.

We advise that you check traffic conditions on local radio and mobile phone services on all motorways and the North Circular Road before and during your journey, as these roads are often congested.