Wembley Stadium has incredible hidden feature that has never been used since re-opening in 2007

Wembley Stadium is an iconic venue and since its redevelopment was completed in 2007 it has hosted some of the biggest events in the world.

From FA Cup and Champions League finals to NFL games, Tyson Fury fights and Taylor Swift concerts – it is the venue of choice in the UK for blockbuster sporting and non-sporting occasions.

The final England match played at the ‘Old Wembley’ was in 2000, with the demolition of its famous twin towers officially beginning in 2002.

While the national stadium was out of action for five years before it was completed, the project actually started in the mid-1990s with Foster + Partners involved alongside Brent Council to revamp the national stadium.

The original Wembley that had been there since the 1920s was in drastic need of change and the long process started.

Alongside now iconic features like the arch, which had initially been pitched as four masts, another key feature of those early designs was the requirement to have a running track around the outside of the pitch so it could host track and field events.

The plans included a platform system to convert the stadium for athletics, although the designed meant capacity would have been temporarily reduced from 90,000 to 60,000 during its use.

Wembley was initially earmarked as a possible venue for the London 2012 Olympics, before the new site in Stratford, now the home of West Ham, was built.

Richard Breslin, of Populous, told talkSPORT: “The designs were still moving a fair bit when I joined. I was in Sydney working on the Olympic Games and then came over to London in August 1999 where by that point that masts had been presented in a press conference. The arch proposals were put forward soon after that.

“One of the challenges with Wembley was that the site itself was incredibly tight.

“The requirement was for Wembley to host track and field as well and that was through putting a platform above the current field of play.

“What that means is that the geometry of the seating bowl is based on a track and field bowl. That pushes the envelope of the building out. The track and field bowl is broader, the way the sight lines work and geometry of the bowl work means that it is bigger.

“You look at the site boundary, which is very tight, and the government wanted it to host track and field if it needed to. That created further constraints on the site. 

“Those parts when I first joined were still moving around quite a bit. It was still at the concept stage where we were evaluating what the client’s needs were and aspirations were.”

Wembley was eventually rejected as a planned site to host the athletics for London 2012.

The conversion for athletics use was a condition of part of the £120million lottery funding the stadium received, but to convert it would take weeks of work and cost millions of pounds.

While the Olympic Stadium [now London Stadium] in Stratford played host to the athletics events instead, Wembley still played a major part in the 2012 Games by hosting matches in the men’s and women’s football competitions – including both finals.

The stadium could, in theory, still be converted into use for athletics but it has yet to be done.

The arch was lifted into place in 2004 and at 133 metres high, it is the world’s largest single-span roof support.

However, the arch was not the initial concept for the structure to hold the roof in place.

The plan was to have four masts that would support the roof structure.

This was even unveiled in 1999, but then England boss Kevin Keegan reportedly comparing it to a ‘circus tent’.

Within days the plans had changed and the arch concept was conceived.

Angus Campbell, of Foster + Partners, said: “The first incarnation of the roof design was suspended from two very tall masts, which then refined into a version with four smaller masts that passed through the hospitality spaces. This was the design Norman Foster launched in July 1999, while Kevin Keegan was still the England manager.

“Norman did that presentation and came back to us and said that something is not right, that the masts are compromising the internal spaces.

“The Millennium Dome was also in the public eye at that time too, so Norman was pretty clear that it wasn’t the right solution.

“What followed was a mad 24-hour process over the weekend where Norman was sketching ideas and sending them to the team, which we would refine and send back. It was during this interaction that the idea of the arch was born, which would be able to span over the top of the hospitality spaces without the need for any intermediate columns.

“The other advantage of the arch was its height, As Wembley is quite a few miles outside of Central London and we wanted a structure that could be seen from a distance and symbolise a sense of connection with the city. The arch gave it that gravitas and that structural efficiency we were looking for.”

Work was officially completed in 2007 and the first FA Cup final saw Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0.