Wemley

When Wembley opened in 1923, it was known as the Empire Stadium and was built as the centrepiece of the British Empire Exhibition. Its first major football event was the FA Cup Final between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United, famously remembered as the “White Horse Final” after an estimated 200,000 spectators flooded into the stadium.

For the next seven decades, the Twin Towers became one of the defining images of English football. Wembley hosted England internationals, FA Cup finals, the 1948 Olympic Games and, most famously, the 1966 World Cup Final, when Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick as England defeated West Germany 4–2.

The original stadium closed in 2000 and was demolished, with the famous Twin Towers disappearing in 2003. A completely new Wembley was then built on the same site and opened in 2007. Instead of the Twin Towers, the new stadium was defined by its enormous 133-metre arch, while its capacity rose to 90,000.

The architecture changed, but the identity remained. Today, Wembley is still the home of the England national team and the FA Cup Final, while also hosting major international football, rugby, NFL games and some of the biggest concerts in the world. Old Wembley may be gone, but Wembley itself never left.