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England v Italy Under 21.
We hadn’t even got on the train and we saw other families in England shirts on their way. By the time we pulled out of Neasden on the Jubilee Line the carriage was full of us. The buildings to the left cleared and someone called “There it is” and the whole carriage, even the lone Italian supporter turned, looked out of the window and gasped.
From the entrance of Wembley Station it looked even better. I thought that the twin towers should have been retained, but they wouldn’t have looked right with the new design, and the new design is very beautiful in its own right.
We crossed the road under the Bobby Moore Bridge (just too low for the mounted police to ride sitting up straight) and walked up what I still think of as Empire Way.
Inside the stadium everything seemed to be working very well. The stewards were friendly and there was a lovely family atmosphere, little girls in curly red and white wigs with their brothers wearing the Flag of St George as a cloak.
Apparently Wembley Stadium has more ladies toilets for its capacity than any other venue in the UK. There were still queues at half time but at the end of the match they had held up well due to the constant attendance of the housekeeping staff. You may think I dwell on this too much but 30 years ago in some of our sports and music venues things were not to standard.
The food was expensive – after the match we got a full meal each in a cafe in Wembley High Street for half what I paid for snacks all round. I didn’t get a programme because the queues were too long. But that was my only gripe.
Our view in the family section was beautiful. I don’t think there can be a poor seat in the whole stadium. I could see everything, which to someone of 5’ tall who spent much of her youth on tiptoe on the terraces is a joy.
The flags came out, the players and mascots, the officials. A young music student called Katherine Zales sang the national anthems. I liked the Italian anthem, it sounded like opera, proper music.
I almost wanted it to rain so that I could see the moveable roof move into place.
The match kicked off.
Many years ago I read a description of the match between the Arsenal and Spartak Moscow in 1954, played in such thick fog that it was said that the Russians, who won 2-1 were so desperate to win that they put 12 men on the field and the referee didn’t notice. The writer said that “Then in the fog 1000 matches flared to light 1000 cigarettes.”
These days it was 1000 cameras flashed to take 1000 photos of the first kick. During which few seconds Gianpaolo Pazzini scored for Italy.
It was a good match which you will know ended in a 3-3 draw. Pazzini went on to score a hat trick before being substituted. Blackburn Rover’s David Bentley scored a good first goal and Leroy Lita was impressive, yellow boots notwithstanding.
We performed the first Mexican Wave of the new Wembley.
For a professional sport’s reporters opinion of the match click here.
As I write we are listening to the radio commentary of the Senior team against Israel. I think we saw the better match.
Above the view from Wembley way, below inside the stadium as the national flags are paraded.
