Wembley

[fran-MLs little camera]

Ever tried getting out of Cardiff on Cup Final day? Nightmare.

I got home from our FA Cup Final at nearly 3 am....because it took so long to get out of Cardiff the coach driver had to take a break. Missed the ferry and had to wait for the morning dangerous fuel car ferry. Nightmare. Then lost my coach at the JPT final and had to walk round looking for a lift back to St Marys....you'd be amazed how few coaches were going back to SMS. Swore I'd never go to a cup final again....luckily Saints have obliged.

 

[Qwerty]

I got home from our FA Cup Final at nearly 3 am....because it took so long to get out of Cardiff the coach driver had to take a break. Missed the ferry and had to wait for the morning dangerous fuel car ferry. Nightmare. Then lost my coach at the JPT final and had to walk round looking for a lift back to St Marys....you'd be amazed how few coaches were going back to SMS. Swore I'd never go to a cup final again....luckily Saints have obliged.

Reminds me of the time my IOW ferry broke down and had to get towed.

It wasn't a proper IOW ferry though, it was one of these:

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[Saint Helen]

Ever tried getting out of Cardiff on Cup Final day? Nightmare.

I've got out of there on a rugby international day and it was fine, admittedly most fans headed to the pubs rather than go home which may have had something to do with it Still far better than getting away from Wembley.

 

[woolstonian]

The reason why the new Wembley is there is because the old Wembley was there. Sacrilege to have demolished the twin towers though. They date from when I was a proper football fan and used to take a major interest in England. I even went to a couple of Wembley Speedway finals and they were fantastic too. With the loss of the towers went an awful lot of romance.

Me too. 1981 was the pinnacle.

 

[Archers Road]

Wembley Stadium is OK but if the JPT was anything to go on, the road infrastructure is dire. It took us nearly four hours to get from the Stadium to the start of the M3 coming home.

I'm guessing most of that must have been getting out of the car/coach park? Took me around 45 mins to drive home on the A406 that day, going a similar distance but the other way.

 

[ImpSaint]

I can understand moaning about how much it cost but it definitely did need to be rebuilt. Wembley is an icon and for many English football fans it seems strange that other nations "tour the grounds" and it felt weird for England when they did it.

I agree about semi finals, that lost a bit of romance and I agree about the towers. Those towers used to be the logo of Wembley they were so iconic and surely they could have integrated replica's into the facia or like someone else says on Wembley way or such like.

As for traffic. This is the UK in 2016 where everybody drives all the time. There is always traffic everywhere. When there is an event where huge amounts of people are going to be entering or exiting an area at the same time there is going to be gridlock. Its the same countrywide as can be seen at rush hour and school run times.

I love the memories of Wembley and players from other countries still love to be able to say "I played at Wembley stadium". Fans still sing Wembley songs. It means a lot.

With other traditions in football such as a full card of Saturday 3pm kick offs disappearing then we need to keep some tradition and romance and for me that is one of those things about English football that should be there for keep. Wembley Stadium - The Home of the England football team.

 

[TheSecondStain]

Me too. 1981 was the pinnacle.

My first time was the World Championship Individual Final, which occurred when Southampton still had a Speedway team and were on their way to becoming National Champions. That would be around 1962. Think I was about 4 years old at the date of the event. All I can remember is huge noise, lots of lights and excitement, and the lovely smell of Castrol R. The featured Saints riders did really well too. Then I went 2 or 3 years later when former Saint Björn Knutsson became World Champion. We had some fantastic riders in that old team.

 

[fatletiss]

I've got out of there on a rugby international day and it was fine, admittedly most fans headed to the pubs rather than go home which may have had something to do with it Still far better than getting away from Wembley.

It took me hours in 2003. All those Arsenal fans let buying me beers in Henry's