Wembley Stadium, Would you sell ?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43906272

So an offer of 800m to the FA has been made to sell Wembley Stadium to Shadiq Khan owner of Fulham and Jacksonville Jaguars. Would you sell ?

I would actually sell it just so the England team can go back to playing all over the country than just one location, but then again the 800 million will just go back into the pockets of the rich FA Mob who will do nothing with it to help Grass Roots so a part of me thinks why bother selling it.

It could also help further the use of the London Stadium which I imagine would become a "De-Facto" stadium to host concerts and so fourth, which is what it is definitely better for than football !

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Comments

  • He wants to buy it to make money, not to close it down.
  • The NFL move into the UK, they want the stadium to be the home of the new UK based team.

    I like the idea of moving round England the country and the FA could book it for FA cup final day.

    It would also be funny as Spurs have spent a lot of money to have a retractable pitch built so they can host NFL games...
  • edited April 2018
    What other countries have a National football stadium ? I cant think of any that aren't at least dual use - suggestions ??
  • The stadium only seems to get full if it is for NFL or Major pop stars, etc. Not so much for cup football or England matches?? ;hmm
  • The NFL is never going to have a permanent team in the UK unless they can arrange a deal over taxation of the players' wages. Currently they get a waiver when they play the occasional games in the UK but if they were based here permanently that would not apply

    If the FA did sell Wembley then why would "concerts and so forth" be more likely to play at the London Stadium?

    Germany, Italy, Morocco, Holland, Spain and the USA are the only countries that don't have national stadiums for football although Portugal and South Africa do move around a bit.

    Between 1923 and 1951 England used Wembley primarily for games against Scotland but in the following 50 years only ten games were played at other venues.
  • Aslef

    Out of curiosity, as you seem to be on the ball with this. Is the Stade de France considered to be France's national football stadium ?
    I ask, because the Rugby is also played there.

    As a general point , as far as Wembley is concerned, it has no historical connotations for me, the one we won the World cup in has been pulled down. It has also been devalued in my eyes by having semi finals played there.

    The 'England on tour' concept is one I fully support. Ask yourself, if we were to build a new national football stadium today, would you plonk it in the middle of a heavily populated part of North London , with iffy transport links ?
    I dont think so.
  • edited April 2018
    Stade de France is the national stadium for football, rugby union, athletics, tiddlywinks and competitive cheese making. Its not unusual, Wembley has been the venue for the Rugby League Challenge Cup since 1929
  • tiddlywinks and competitive cheese making

    ;lol
  • Yes, and the really good competetive cheese makers get to stay at the London Stilton ;yercoat
  • FA should keep it, they reckon it will paid for by 2024, long term it should produce a steady income for FA to invest back into football (after lining their pockets probably lol) Although I would stop playing FA Cup semi finals there only the final should be at Wembley
  • Or the Paris Stilton for away matches
  • Pearces Left Foot - they will be keeping the club Wembley part of it which is valued at £300m and is where most of their revenue comes from, they will also be keeping the profits from any games they host their in the future as well.
  • Don't like that picture...

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  • I don't like The Sun, end of.

    Also "iconic"? The twin towers were iconic, the name Wembley is iconic, the new stadium is not. There should be a law that nothing less than 50 years old should be labelled "iconic" on pain of death
  • Who does Brady write for again ???
    .
    Thats Bobby Moore Karen - have a word to the subs at the Sun ;angry
  • No
    Home of the England football team
    Cup finals
    The odd champion league final
    POS World Cup final
    Nope
  • edited April 2018
    If the Jacksonville owner (Fulham?) gets wembley then Florida will suffer and also it could put a spoke or two in Spuds plans

    The new stadium is okay, but it doesn’t have a patch on the old one, so many memories, I couldn’t care less what they did with it, FA have ruined so many traditions for the lure of the pound note
  • This sounds like an episode of "Hustle" to me. Sydney Opera House, Palace of Westminster and now Wembley. ;biggrin
  • Was it funded by the tax payer ?
  • Do the FA really own it?
  • FA own it and owe around £110m to pay it off.
  • edited April 2018
    I don't know what all the fuss is about.
    The Old Wembley Stadium was privately owned. It didn't belong to the FA.
    Mr Khan has already stated that the FA would still own the £300m Club Wembley
    hospitality business and England will still play there along with concerts etc.
    The money raised by the sale would be used for grassroots football to encourage more kids to take part, as well as pay off debts of £124m that are still owed to various companies, including Sport England, who bankrolled the stadium for upwards of £750m.
    I think it's a win win situation for all.
  • Just sounds like selling your house
    And being homeless
    West Ham :)
  • edited April 2018

    If the Jacksonville owner (Fulham?) gets wembley then Florida will suffer and also it could put a spoke or two in Spuds plans

    Florida has two other NFL teams, the Miami Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, both have been around longer than Jacksonville and have had more success. Jacksonville leaving is like Tranmere Rovers announcing they're leaving Merseyside and will relocate to Merthyr Tydfil.

    I've been told that the plan is for the team to stay in Florida for most of the season, they'll keep their training camp out there, fly to London for the eight weekends they play "home" games and fly back. That way the players won't be subject to UK taxes as they'll be "resident" in the UK for less than 91 days per year.

    Of course if the London "franchise" isn't the big success they are hoping for then the owner could move the team somewhere else after a few years. San Diego and St Louis are currently without teams as both the Chargers and the Rams have moved to Los Angeles. From 1995 until 2016 LA didn't have an NFL team, now its got two.


    Makes the move to the Olympic Stadium look quite tame
  • Thanks for the info Aslef, had heard that Jacksonville leaving could have an impact just as they have started turning it around? But as you say it’s not the entire season at this point
  • This could start an NFL to UK mad rush, bucs to OT Bills to Tottenham, there can only be one in the UK
  • SCHB - last year Jacksonville had their best season, they won the AFC South division for the first time, reached the Super Bowl "semi" for the first time since 1999, were winning until the 4th quarter and then lost by 4pts (a touchdown is 7pts). Its less about the success of the team, more about the revenue stream and Florida just isn't a big enough market for three teams.

    The NFL teams only play 16 games in a season, 8 home and 8 away, before they go into the "playoffs" so the 8 London games will be the entire season unless they get through to the playoffs in which case they won't play more than one or two extra games. To win the Super Bowl the most any team will play is 20 games.

    But then with stoppages and breaks between quarters a game can take 3-4 hours. Thankfully you can still get a beer at American football, not sure how you'd last without one....
  • reported 900m sale value but FA would have to pay to play in Wembley ;hmm
  • I'd sell. Problem is I just don't trust the FA to spend the money wisely.
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