Wembley

[tooslomofo]

Our illustrious FA are thinking of selling Wembley to Fulham owner for £800million

Is this a good idea if the national team can use it When needed or is it totally wrong ???

They could use the money to build a new national stadium more central in the country ( e.g Birmingham) so everyone has a fair chance of visiting it....

Thoughts

[sherwoodmag]

The old Wembley was not owned by the FA until its last 17 years.

Apparently the mortgage repayments the FA are paying for Wembley are massive and it would be cheaper to sell it and use it on leasehold.

[Zippity]

I agree with Birmingham-I know London is the capital but they get every other bloody thing going and, given that it's the national team, a more central location would be fairer. Having said that, history and tradition count for a lot too, and I was for it being moved when they were considering their options before the new stadium was built but now that it's there it makes sense to use it in the way it used to be used. Mind, the semi finals should be moved back to neutral grounds around the country as they were only moved to Wembley to help pay the massive debt incurred by the rebuilding.

And if it is sold, the £180 odd million which the FA got from the Lottery should be given back to the lottery and ALL of it given to charities.

[ex_pat_magpie]

I agree with Birmingham-I know London is the capital but they get every other bloody thing going and, given that it's the national team, a more central location would be fairer. Having said that, history and tradition count for a lot too, and I was for it being moved when they were considering their options before the new stadium was built but now that it's there it makes sense to use it in the way it used to be used. Mind, the semi finals should be moved back to neutral grounds around the country as they were only moved to Wembley to help pay the massive debt incurred by the rebuilding.

And if it is sold, the £180 odd million which the FA got from the Lottery should be given back to the lottery and ALL of it given to charities.

Totally agree Zippity, particularly about the semis.

When they were played on neutral grounds, e.g Hillsborough, Villa Park etc they tried to make them as equidistant as possible for the two clubs competing and in those days most big grounds rarely held over 40K.

Now there are quite a few good grounds with planned access and high attendance possibilities to choose from.

It's a bit like London always getting the Rugby League final all of the time when the point should be considered is that when do the finalists ever not come from the North.

[ashingtoon62]

There's more chance of the F.A building a new stadium anywhere BUT London,than the Toon winning the champions league this season...
The" Republic of London" gets more public money than the rest of the country put together...
Oh and if they do sell,they won't be building anywhere they will just trouser the cash...

[Jammy89]

I was against the idea but i'm actually coming round to it. I hate the idea of losing the national stadium but at hte same time as long as they can play there when needed then the money could actually be put to go use for grass roots (not that i think it would actually happen, well maybe a few million but that would be it).

Agree 100% the semi's should be taken away, having the semi's there doesn't feel right. Don't get me wrong i'd love to see Toon at wembley even for the semi's but still does feel right.

Germany's national team move around stadium to stadium so everybody gets to see national team, don't see why we can't do that to a degree.

[tooslomofo]

I remember watching England at st james’ When Wembley was getting built
It would be great to see them play a match of importance here instead of a meaningless friendly

It would be great to have the World Cup here