Wembley Stadium ( 1923 ) The original Wembley Stadium , officially known as the Empire Stadium , was a football stadium in Wembley , a suburb of north - west London , standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007 . Debris from the Old Wembley Stadium was used to make the award - winning Northala Fields in Northolt , Ealing . It was famous for hosting the annual FA Cup finals , five European Cup finals , the 1948 Summer Olympics , the 1966 World Cup Final , the final of Euro 96 and the 1985 Live Aid concert . Of Wembley Stadium , Pelé said , " Wembley is the cathedral of football . It is the capital of football and it is the heart of football " in recognition of its status as the world ' s best - known football stadium . The twin towers were once an icon for England and Wembley before their demolition in 2003 which upset many members of the public . History . The stadium ' s first turf was cut by King George V , and it was first opened to the public on 28 April 1923 . First known as the British Empire Exhibition Stadium or simply Empire Stadium , it was built by Sir Robert McAlpine for the British Empire Exhibition of 1924 ( extended to 1925 ) . The stadium cost £ 750 , 000 , and was constructed on the site of an earlier folly called Watkin ' s Tower . The architects were Sir John Simpson and Maxwell Ayrton and the Head Engineer Sir Owen Williams . It was originally intended to demolish the stadium at the end of the Exhibition , but it was saved at the suggestion of Sir James Stevenson , a Scot who was chairman of the organising committee for the Empire Exhibition . The ground had been used for football as early as the 1880s At the end of the exhibition , an entrepreneur Arthur Elvin ( later to become Sir Arthur Elvin ) started buying the derelict buildings one by one , demolishing them , and selling off the scrap . The stadium had gone into liquidation , after it was pronounced " financially unviable " . Elvin offered to buy the stadium for £127 , 000 , using a £12 , 000 downpayment and the balance plus interest payable over ten years . After complications following the death of James White the original Stadium owner , Elvin bought Wembley Stadium from the new owners , ( Wembley Company ) at the original price , since they honoured Elvin ' s original deal . They then immediately bought it back from Elvin , leaving him with a healthy profit . Instead of cash he received shares , which gave him the largest stake in Wembley Stadium and he became chairman . The electric scoreboard and the all encircling roof , made from aluminium and translucent glass , were added in 1963 . The stadium ' s distinctive Twin Towers became its trademark and nickname . Also well known were the thirty - nine steps needed to be climbed to reach the Royal box and collect a trophy ( and winners ' / losers ' medals ) . Wembley was the first pitch to be referred to as " Hallowed Turf " , with many stadia around the world borrowing this phrase . In 1934 , the Empire Pool was built nearby . The ' Wembley Stadium Collection ' is held by the National Football Museum . The stadium closed in October 2000 , and was demolished in 2003 for redevelopment . The top of one of the twin towers was erected as a memorial in the park on the north side of Overton Close in the Saint Raphael ' s Estate . Football . Wembley is best known for hosting football matches , having hosted the FA Cup annually as well as numerous England International fixtures . White Horse Final . The Empire Stadium was built in exactly 300 days at the cost of £750 , 000 . Described as the world ' s greatest sporting arena , it was ready only 4 days before the White Horse Final . The FA had not considered admission by ticket , grossly underestimating the anticipation of the number of fans turning up to the 104 gates on match day . However , after the game , every event , apart from the 1982 replay , was ticketed . The first event held at the stadium was the FA Cup final on 28 April 1923 between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United . This is known as the White Horse Final . Such was the eagerness of fans and casual observers to attend the final at the new national stadium that vast numbers of people crammed through the 104 turnstile s into the stadium , far exceeding its official 127 , 000 capacity . The crowds overflowed onto the pitch as there was no room on the terraces . Estimates of the number of fans in attendance range from 240 , 000 to well over 300 , 000 . It is estimated that another 60 , 000 were locked outside the gates . The FA were forced to refund 10 % of the total gate money to fans unable to reach the terraces . The White Horse Final has the highest ever unofficial " non - racing " sports attendance in the world , which is very unlikely to be broken in the near future . It was thought that the match would not be played because of the volume of spectators inside the stadium that had spilled onto the pitch . That was until mounted police , including Police Constable George Scorey and his white horse , " Billy " , slowly pushed the masses back to the sides of the field of play for the FA Cup Final to start , just 45 minutes late . In honour of Billy , the footbridge outside the new Wembley Stadium has been named the White Horse Bridge . The official attendance is often quoted as 126 , 047 . The match was a 2 – 0 victory for Bolton Wanderers , with David Jack scoring the first ever goal at Wembley . Matthews Final . The 1953 FA Cup Final between Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers was dubbed the " Matthews Final " after Blackpool ' s winger Stanley Matthews . At 38 , he was making his third and ultimately his final attempt at winning an FA Cup medal . In the previous six years , he failed to earn a winner ' s medal against Manchester United in 1948 and Newcastle United in 1951 . It featured a hat - trick by Blackpool ' s Stan Mortensen in his side ' s 4 – 3 win , with Matthews almost single - handedly turning the game around for Blackpool who had trailed 3 – 0 to Bolton Wanderers before fighting back to win the game . It remained the only hat - trick ever scored in an FA Cup Final at the original Wembley . The FA Cup final was played there in April or May until 2000 ( excluding the 1970 replay when Chelsea beat Leeds at Old Trafford ) . It was also the venue for Finals of the FA Amateur Cup , League Cup ( except for the early years when this was settled on a home and away basis ) and in later years the Associate Members ' Cup and the Football League promotion play - off finals ( in the early years of play - offs they were home and away fixtures ) . The 1988 final of the Middlesex Charity Cup was also played there . International fixtures . Prior to the 1923 Wembley stadium , international football games had been played by England at various different stadia . Most early internationals ( including the first ever international football match ( 1870 ) ) were played at the Oval , which had been built in 1845 and has always been a major cricket venue . For the first 27 years the only International England games played at Wembley were fixtures against Scotland , with other games played elsewhere until 1951 . The first team other than Scotland to face England at the venue was Argentina . In 1956 and 1971 , it was the venue of the home matches of the Great Britain national football team for the qualification matches to the Summer Olympic Games against Bulgaria . In 1966 it was the leading venue of the World Cup . It hosted the final game , where the tournament hosts , England , won 4 – 2 after extra - time against West Germany . Thirty years later , it was the principal venue of Euro 96 , hosting all of England ' s matches , as well as the tournament ' s final , where reunified Germany won the cup for a third time with the first international Golden Goal in football history . ( Germany - Czech Republic 2 : 1 ) The penultimate and ultimate competitive games played at the stadium resulted in 0 – 1 defeats for England to Scotland and Germany respectively . Club football . In all , the stadium hosted five European Cup finals , including the 1963 final between AC Milan and Benfica , and the 1968 final between Manchester United and Benfica . In 1971 it again hosted the final , between Ajax and Panathinaikos , and once more in 1978 , this time between Liverpool and Club Brugge , another in 1992 , when Barcelona played Sampdoria . Wembley has also hosted two UEFA Cup Winners ' Cup finals ( in 1965 , when West Ham United beat 1860 Munich , and in 1993 , when Parma overcame Antwerp ) . It was also the venue for Arsenal ' s home Champions League matches in 1998 – 99 and 1999 – 2000 . It has hosted an individual club ' s home matches on two other occasions , in 1930 when Leyton Orient F . C . played two home Third Division South games and in 1930 – 31 for eight matches by non - League Ealing A . F . C . It was also to be the home of the amateur club which made several applications to join the Football League , the Argonauts . In March 1998 , Arsenal made a bid to buy Wembley in hope of gaining a larger stadium to replace their Highbury ground which had a capacity of less than 40 , 000 and was unsuitable for expansion , but the bid was later abandoned in favour of building the 60 , 000 capacity Emirates Stadium which was opened in 2006 . Last matches . On 20 May 2000 the last FA Cup final to be played at the old Wembley saw Chelsea defeat Aston Villa with the only goal scored by Roberto Di Matteo . The last competitive club match the was 2000 First Division play - off final on 29 May between Ipswich Town and Barnsley , a 4 – 2 win resulting in promotion to the Premier League for Ipswich . The last club match of all was the 2000 Charity Shield in which Chelsea beat Manchester United 2 – 0 . The last international match was on 7 October in Kevin Keegan ' s last game as England manager . England were beaten 1 - 0 by Germany , with Dietmar Hamann scoring the last goal at Wembley . On that day Tony Adams made his 60th Wembley appearance , a record for any player . Adams also claimed England ' s final goal at the stadium , having scored in the previous home fixture against Ukraine on 31 May . Other sports . Rugby league . In the sport of rugby league , the RFL has held its Challenge Cup final at Wembley from 1929 onwards . The stadium was also regularly used by the sport for major international matches , such as Great Britain versus Australia . In 1949 the France national rugby league team became the first French national team of any sport to win at Wembley . The largest crowd for a Challenge Cup final at Wembley was set in 1985 when Wigan beat Hull F . C . 28 – 24 in front of 99 , 801 fans . The stadium set the international record crowd for a rugby league game when 73 , 631 fans turned out for the 1992 Rugby League World Cup Final between Great Britain and Australia . The Mal Meninga - led Australian team won the game 10 – 6 on the back of a Steve Renouf try in the north - east corner and Meninga ' s goal kicking . The 1995 World Cup final between England and Australia was also played at Wembley with 66 , 540 fans watching Australia win 16 – 8 . 1948 Summer Olympics . Wembley was the main athletics venue for the 1948 Summer Olympics , with Fanny Blankers - Koen and Emil Zátopek among the notable winners . The Stadium also hosted the semi - finals and finals of the Olympic hockey and football tournaments , the Prix des Nations event in the equestrian competition , and a demonstration match of lacrosse . Speedway . Between 1936 and 1960 Wembley hosted all of the first fifteen finals of the Speedway World Championship . It hosted another nine World Finals before the last one at Wembley took place in 1981 . Wembley was also the home to the Wembley Lions motorcycle speedway team , formed by the Wembley Stadium chairman Sir Arthur Elvin . Speedway first took place at Wembley in 1929 , and operated until the outbreak of World War II in 1939 , a few days before the 1939 World Championship Final was due to be held , but was cancelled as a result of the war . The Lions returned in 1946 and operated in the top flight until the end of the 1956 season winning a number of League titles . A short lived revival saw the Lions in the British League in the 1970 and 1971 seasons . Lionel Van Praag , Tommy Price , and Freddie Williams , all won World Championships whilst riding for Wembley . The ashes for the speedway track were supplied by Richard Biffa Ltd who ' s operating base at the time was in Wembley Hill Road . Richard Biffa later became Biffa Waste Services . The Speedway track at Wembley Stadium was in length . Rugby union . Though the venue was not traditionally a regular host of rugby union matches , England played a friendly against Canada on 17 October 1992 , as their regular home stadium at Twickenham was undergoing redevelopment . Wales played their Five Nations and autumn international home matches at Wembley ( as Twickenham Stadium would not accommodate them ) while Cardiff Arms Park was being rebuilt as the Millennium Stadium in the late 1990s ( despite being in England ) . In total there were seven internationals . Greyhound racing . Wembley was also a regular venue for greyhound racing . It was the first sport Sir Arthur Elvin introduced to the stadium . The opening meeting was in 1927 and 50 , 000 people attended to watch the first race won by a greyhound named Spin . The dog racing provided the stadium with its main source of regular income , especially in the early days , and continued to attract crowds of several thousand up until the early 1960s ( Photo of wembley stadium , pepared for the next greyhound race : ) . Two of the biggest events in the greyhound racing calendar are the St Leger and Trafalgar Cup Both were originally held at Wembley , the St Leger from 1928 until 1998 after which it moved to Wimbledon Stadium and the Trafalgar Cup from 1929 until 1998 after which it moved to Oxford Stadium . In 1931 the famous greyhound Mick the Miller won the St Leger . Wembley ' s owner ' s refusal to cancel the regular greyhound racing meant that the match between Uruguay and France in the 1966 World Cup was played at White City . American football . The National Football League held several preseason American football games at Wembley during the 1980s and 1990s . The Minnesota Vikings and the St . Louis Cardinals played the first game on 6 August 1983 . The United States Football League also played an exhibition game there on 21 July 1984 between the Philadelphia Stars and Tampa Bay Bandits . The London Monarchs of the World League of American Football played at the venue in 1991 and 1992 . Wembley hosted the inaugural World Bowl where the Monarchs defeated the Barcelona Dragons 21 – 0 . Gaelic football . From 1958 until the mid - 1970s , hurling and gaelic football tournaments known as the " Wembley Tournaments " were held at Wembley Stadium to bring the Irish sports to expatriates in Britain at the time . Several Gaelic football games were played in Wembley Stadium , most of them exhibition matches , most notably Kerry and Down in 1961 . Other events . The stadium also staged women ' s field hockey matches in which England appeared in their annual match between 1951 to 1969 and then from 1971 to 1991 . On 26 May 1975 , in front of 90 , 000 people , Evel Knievel crashed while trying to land a jump over thirteen single decker city buses , an accident which resulted in his initial retirement from his daredevil life . In 1992 , the World Wrestling Federation ( now known as WWE ) drew a sellout of 80 , 355 when SummerSlam was hosted at Wembley Stadium . The main event featured English wrestler Davey Boy Smith winning the Intercontinental Championship from Bret Hart . Music . The stadium became a musical venue in August 1972 with The London Rock and Roll Show , an all - star concert . It later played host to a number of concerts and events , most notably the British leg of Live Aid , which featured such acts as David Bowie , Queen , Paul McCartney , Elton John , The Who , Bon Jovi , Dire Straits and U2 , held at the stadium on 13 July 1985 . Phil Collins made news by performing at Wembley , then boarding a helicopter to London Heathrow Airport , taking a British Airways Concorde to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , and performing at that segment of Live Aid at JFK Stadium on the same day . Other charity concerts which took place in the stadium were the 1988 Human Rights Now ! and Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert , The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness and the NetAid charity concert . Acts who played at Wembley Stadium include : During Michael Jackson ' s Bad World Tour in 1988 , seven sell - out concerts were staged at Wembley which included five in a row , and two at a later date . Each concert had an attendance of 72 , 000 people . According to the Guinness Book of World Records Jackson set a new world record with 504 , 000 people attending the seven sold out concerts . Over 2 million people tried to buy tickets . More concerts could have been staged but the stadium ' s quota was full . These seven concerts were highly anticipated and created huge media attention . He was also give a special award by Wembley Stadium Officials for achieving this milestone . The concert on 16 July 1988 ( One of the seven sell - out concert ) was attended by Princess Diana and Prince Charles . The DVD of this concert ( ) was released on 18 September 2012 as part of the 25th Anniversary reissue of his 1987 hit album Bad and as well as a stand alone DVD . A further five sell - out concerts followed in 1992 during his Dangerous World Tour and his last three shows in 1997 during HIStory World Tour brought total tickets sale over 1 . 1 million . Till date this record is not broken .