Aaron S.
Yelp
I have a love-hate relationship with Wembley Stadium, on one hand, it is the national stadium of England, one's team going to Wembley is a dream, it's an iconic venue and one of the most well-known stadiums in Wembley, it's 90,000 capacity venue has hosted the FA Cup and League Cup Final on a yearly basis, not forgetting a vast list of other games including the Champions League Final in 2013, but on the other, it represents everything that is wrong with modern football.
It's one of the easiest grounds to get to in London, mainly down to the transport links with many TFL stations nearby such as Wembley Park on the Underground, or Wembley Central which also has London Overground services and Underground too.
As you walk up to Wembley, it just feels like a construction site, it seems there is always a new high-rise building/hotel/development every time I visit, as a Manchester City fan, pre-COVID times I was lucky enough to visit here quite regularly to support my team and watch Fernandinho and co lift trophy after trophy, but I've begun to notice that walking up to the stadium, it's actually difficult to see the stadium now due to the offices/hotels which surround it.
It seems the stadium is all about money and profit, it is pricing out the average working-class plan, especially in terms of hotel prices (Often charging £200-300 for one night of the game with poor standards/service), not forgetting the price of tickets and food/drink inside the stadium and a good number of rude and unhelpful stewards.
Despite all this, as soon as you get inside the ground, the stadium still feels magical, I've had a good view every time I've visited for a game, with the exception of being up in the clouds on Level 5 which is probably down to my dislike of steep gradients and my eye-sight.
It's a beautiful stadium, and it makes me sad and angry to see how Brent Council and the FA are commercialising the whole area, every project seems to be making it worse for the average fan, most recently removing the Wembley Way ramps and replacing them with a staircase, which not only is bad for older/disabled people but it is also dangerous... imagine 90,000 fans going down a set of steps on a match-day. It's hectic.
The stadium tour is also great, learning the history of the stadium and the Old Wembley, it is well worth doing whether you're a tourist or just a football fan with some time to kill in London, I've done the tour numerous times now and it doesn't seem to get boring. Also, if you can visit at night with the arch lit up, often in the colour of the team that has won recently, it just looks pretty awesome, especially when it is in sky blue for Manchester City.
4* - Iconic venue, ruined by greed but still the magic of being there is worth it to any football fan, and I look forward to finally returning to Wembley as a spectator.