"Very dissapointing for such an expensive bowl"

At a cost of £981 million, and opened 3 years later than planned, the new Wembley was hyped as been the best new stadium on the planet. And although the 90,000 capacity arena offers fantastic views for all, top class facilities, and better acoutsics than at almost all new grounds in Britain, the stadium is just missing something that you can't put your finger on, something that separates and good stadium from a great stadium. Maybe its just something as simple as for the money spent you expect something more that what is actually there. The stadium itself is 3 tiers all the way round, with the middle tier been the infamous 'Club Wembley'. There is a big screen located behind each goal.

Location

Arguably the single most dissapointing thing about the new Wembley was the decision te rebuild the stadium in exactly the same place. Fine if you're from London, but a royal pain in the backside for the rest of the country. The original FA plan was to build the new Wembley in the Midlands near Birmingham so the stadium would be central for the entire country, but then backtraked when they came to the conclusion that London is the only place in the UK that either matters or exists. When you eventually reach Wembley, the area the ground is in looks like it has just been bombed by the Luftwaffe. It's not pleasent. God knows what foreign football fans think going up to the stadium, walking through what can only be described as Horishima after the atomic bomb, but in worse condition.

View

As you would expect. No expense has been spared to make the view from every seat in the stadium first class. The only thing missing are cup holders for each seat! My only (small) complaint is that the lower tier is a bit shallow, but thats no big problem.

Facilities

Aboslutley fantastic, as you would expect. The design of the facilities is so good that queues of any length just don't build up, meaning that the needs of fans are met very quickly.

Food & Drink

Your standard football refreshments, but certainly not your standard football prices! On my visit it was a swelteringly hot day, so went to get a drink from one of the many koisks inside the ground, and nearly had a heart attack when I was told it was £4 for a bottle of water! Other bargins included £7.50 for a small sausage and chips, £5.80 for a Pukka pie, and £7 for a hot dog. Even by London standards that is a rip off.

Police & Stewards

Never noticed them, which can only be a good thing.

Atmosphere

As expected, the atmosphere was very good on my visit (Sheffield United vs Burnley Play-Off Final May 09), only for the atmosphere to evaporate in the Blades end when Wade Elliot gave Burnley the lead 12 minutes in. After that, most of the noise from the Blades fans was directed at the cheat referree Mike Dean. The Burnley fans seemed to be surprisingly quiet until going into 2nd half injury time when they suddenly seemed to realise they were on the verge of promotion.

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