THE WEMBLEY WAY

23-08-2007

Did you see it then? A surprisingly lively friendly between England and Germany lived up to its prime time BBC1 billing, but once again our new "national" stadium failed to impress even the armchair supporters.

Now you might think it's a bit rich to slag off the ground from a vantage point in front of the box,but last night's game underlined once again that the new Wembley simply isn't living up to its hype.

Critics have always argued that its location in a singularly congested corner of north-west London is based more on nostalgia than common sense - and their view was amply vindicated when kick off was delayed because the German side arrived late after being caught up in rush hour traffic.

Once the game got underway, more problems became apparent.

Although the match was officially sold out, there were dozens of empty seats visible on the side of the ground opposite the TV cameras.

Where were the missing fans? Caught up in the congestion as well, perhaps. They certainly never arrived, although this is unlikely to trouble the FA who - as John Motson reminded us - will have banked £7 million from the fixture.

There were an additional 4,000 gaps left for segregation - as if the need for keeping rivals fans could not have been anticipated when the stadium was built - and for good measure there were the usual corporate lardarses who couldn't drag themselves away from the buffet table until deep into the second half.

After watching Albion play there in the play-off final, The Stirrer wondered whether our national stadium was in fact a national disgrace. Nothing in last night's match contradicted that impression.

(Oh, by the way, was it just me or did it look like Alan Hansen had allowed a three-year old to give him a shave? And is Germany's manager a goth????)

See also "The Play-Off Pictures That Shame Foootball"