The Wembley Way

The new Wembley was finally opened a few months ago and after a succession of football matches and rock concerts, it was the turn of Rugby League to grace the new £800million venue.



Sometimes forgotten about in Wembley history, the Rugby League Challenge Cup final has been played at the national stadium since 1929. There have been some memorable events that have taken place at the old Wembley stadium that, unfortunately, tend to get buried under the hysteria surrounding the equally famous football and music events that the venue has hosted.

The picture above was taken at the 1999 Challenge Cup Final. It was the last rugby final to be played at Wembley before the twin towers were demolished and it was the first time I ever saw my side Leeds win a major trophy in the flesh, after plenty of final defeats it has to be said.
Then Leeds captain Iestyn Harris (on the right) is pictured with man-of-the-match Leroy Rivett, who became the first player to score four tries in a cup final. His career has since nose-dived and the last I heard, he was working at a bowling alley in Leeds City Centre.
He was present at Wembley last week, as part of a parade of Lance Todd Trophy winners, although he should have probably asked someone about the expected dress-code.

But there has been many more memorable events that go down, not just in rugby league history, but in sporting history. Take Don Fox's missed goal in the 1968 final that handed Leeds victory over Wakefield. The day when Bradford's Robbie Paul became the first scorer of a hat-trick at Wembley - and still ended up on the losing side as the Bulls went down to St Helens in 1996.

In 1998, it was the Sheffield Eagles who caused one of the biggest sporting upsets ever seen as they beat the mighty Wigan Warriors in a final that some regard as the greatest ever seen in the cup's 110 year history.

And it would have been an upset of similar proportions last week had St Helens fallen to the Catalans Dragons, the first ever non-British side to compete in a Challenge Cup final.

The Dragons, only in their second year in existence in their current guise, were massive underdogs and so it seemed only right that I became a part-time bandwagon-jumping Dragon for the day.

Here are a sample of photos from the day:

Some people were warned about staying in Leeds until 4:00am when a 7:00am departure was planned. Unfortunately, your's truly got conned into driving so couldn't enjoy himself the night before. Whilst I was awake, driving, these scenes were also repeated on the M40 / A43 / M1 on the way home.

Walking down Wembley away, this at about 11:00am.

Bobby Moore's statue


In my defence, I'd not bought the Catalans shirt just because they got to the final - this was a souvenir from my trip to Perpignan last season. I've even been to a Catalans game in England (vs Bradford, albiet on a freebie) so that doesn't really make me a bandwagon jumper.....


View from on high....


And again....


The match kicks-off.

Impressions on Wembley? Very impressive. For some, it will take some getting used to and it does lack the ore and sentimentality of the old stadium but in terms of facilities, it's infinitely better. The concourses are wide and surprisingly light for a fully enclosed walkway, the views are impressive (the above photo doesn't do it justice) and in terms of architecture, it's a far cry from those IKEA flat-pack retail park football stadiums that are unfortunately, becoming increasingly common in this country.

The only gripe is the location. I could have come up with a more imaginative place for a national stadium than a North London industrial estate, but that was as much a problem with the old stadium as it is with this one. They are regenerating the immediate area, although my suspicions are that theses will be no more than yuppie apartment blocks. We shall see.

The atmosphere was a bit flat, but I don't think that two sides so far apart, both geographically and playing-wise, would have generated an electric atmosphere. The noise does carry around the stadium well though.

All in all, an enjoyable day out. The result wasn't what I hoped but I wasn't overly fussed. I'd certainly go again, hopefully it will be Leeds there next year!