Icons Immortalised In Wembley Stadium 100th Birthday Artwork

● Wembley Stadium celebrates its 100^th anniversary today

● Iconic venue first opened its doors for FA Cup Final in 1923

● It has hosted some of the UK’s most historical moments of the last century including 1966 World Cup win, Live Aid and 2022 Lionesses victory

● Football and music stars share Happy Birthday message

Today, April 28th, 2023, sees national icon Wembley Stadium celebrate its 100^th anniversary.

Since it first opened its doors 100 years ago, Wembley Stadium, connected by EE, has been home to some of the most historic and memorable moments of the last century.

Many of the stars associated with those moments have now been captured in a celebratory piece of artwork to mark the stadium’s landmark birthday.

The Wembley 100 Icons image features famous names from the worlds of football, sport, music, and politics, who have all performed at the iconic stadium in the last 100 years. It includes sporting icons such as Muhammed Ali, Bobby Moore, Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Leah Williamson and Harry Kane alongside music legends Paul McCartney, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, and Beyonce. The full list can be viewed here.

Sir Geoff Hurst, England’s hat-trick hero from 1966, is also one of those to appear in the artwork. He said he will always have a special affinity with the stadium, adding: “Wembley will always have a very special place in my heart for obvious reasons. It’s the place where I enjoyed one of the greatest days in my life and a venue, I still love going back to each time because of the memories it evokes.

“To perform at Wembley is every footballer’s dream. I feel honoured to be associated with one of the stadium’s greatest footballing moments ever and I can still recall the noise, colour, and atmosphere of the time we did our celebratory lap. What a place. What a memory. Happy Birthday Wembley.”

Hurst’s performance at Wembley also features in a list of 100 History Making Moments put together by the stadium team to mark the momentous milestone. It combines memorable sporting and music feats alongside some of the more unusual events to have taken place at the stadium during that time, including greyhound racing, speedway World Championships, the Olympics (twice), ski-jumping and American stunt man Evil Knievel jumping 13 buses on his motorbike in 1975.

Wembley Stadium Director Liam Boylan commented: “Wembley is a special place that holds a space in people’s hearts for many different reasons, whether that is through sport, music or the variety of other events that have taken place here over the years.

“Today, we want to celebrate that fact and look forward to another 100 years of fantastic, history making defining moments.”

Earlier this year Wembley Stadium ran a campaign asking fans to submit their greatest moments of the Stadium. The stadium received thousands of recollections of moments, from people whose lives were forever enriched by their trip to the national stadium. A short film detailing some of the contributions can be seen below:

As part of the birthday celebrations stars from the worlds of music and sport have sent congratulatory messages to the stadium which will be showcased on social media throughout today (Friday, 28th April). Follow @WembleyStadium on Twitter and Instagram to join in the action.

The stadium will also be welcoming around 2,000 members of the local community and fans for a free tour of the stadium following an invite on social media earlier this week.

Fascinating Facts About Wembley Stadium

Football

• Giampaolo Pazzini scored a hat-trick in the first ever match at the new Wembley (24 March, 2007). The Under-21 international match between England and Italy finished 3-3. David Bentley scored the first goal for England.
• John Terry scored England’s senior men’s first goal at the new Wembley Stadium in 2007 on 1st June 2007, in a 1-1 draw with Brazil.
• Dietmar Hamman scored the last goal at the old Wembley for Germany in 1-0 win against England.
• Chelsea’s Ji So-Yun scored the only goal of the game when Women’s FA Cup Final was first staged at Wembley in 2015
• The crowd of 89,874 who watched the FA Cup final between Portsmouth and Cardiff City in 2008 is still the largest football attendance at the new Wembley.
• The record attendance for the Women’s FA Cup Final is 49,094 at the 2022 final between Chelsea and Manchester City although that is expected to be smashed this year when Manchester United take on Chelsea on May 14.
• Bobby Moore, whose statue stands proudly outside the stadium today, lifted a major trophy at the stadium on three consecutive years between 1964-66. In 1964 he captained West Ham to FA Cup glory. In 1965, he lifted the European Cup Winners Cup with West Ham. In 1966 he captured the World Cup with England – all three finals were held at Wembley Stadium.

Music

• Bon Jovi were the last band to play a gig at the Old Wembley on 20th August 2000.
• George Michael was the first act to play at the new stadium on 9th June 2007.
• Muse were the first band to play at the new stadium just a week later on 16th June.
• Take That (with Robbie) delivered a record breaking 8-night run in 2011 - with 623,737 tickets sold across the eight dates.
• The Killers wrote a special song about Wembley when they performed in 2013.
• Adele achieved the highest ever attendance at a Wembley show when 98 000 packed into the stadium in June 2017. A stadium record for a UK music event.

Sport

• Greyhound racing kept Wembley afloat in the early years. The first greyhound meeting was held on 10th December 1927 when 70,000 people witnessed the first ever winner called Spin claim the Empire Stakes over 525 yards. The last greyhound racing meeting was held there on 18 December 1998.
• In 2008 Wembley was transformed into a racetrack for a Race of Champions event with various celebrities and sports stars taking part including David Coulthard, Lewis Hamilton, Frank Bruno, Amir Khan, James Martin (chef).
• 80, 000 Wrestling fans attended Summer Slam 1992. One of the biggest crowds ever for an outdoor wrestling event.
• Wembley has also been home to some more obscure sports such as Ski Jumping, Gaelic Football, Hockey, Baseball and Speedway.

The Stadium

• The old Wembley Stadium was built in just 300 days at a cost of £750,000.
• A walk around the perimeter of the new stadium is roughly 1 KM. Wembley stadium staff will be attempting 100 laps of the stadium for charity in May this year. A walk that is expected to take 24 hours to complete.
• Wembley holds the world record for the most toilets in one venue with a total of 2,618.
• The rows of seating, if placed end to end, would stretch an incredible 54KM.
• There are 107 steps in the new route to the Royal Box to lift a trophy. The old stadium had 39.
• Each of the two huge screens inside the stadium is the size of 600 domestic televisions put together.

The Strange

• In the early 1960s’ Gibson Games produced a board game called Wembley which offered players the chance to plot their way through to winning the FA Cup.
• With many variations - ‘Wembley’ or ‘Wembley Doubles’ is traditionally the name given to a game of football in the park with friends involving jumpers for goalposts.
• England stars James Maddison and Raheem Sterling (who was born in the borough of Brent) both have tattoos of the famous stadium.