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Wembley Arena
150px
Former names	Empire Pool (1934–1978) Wembley
Location	Wembley, London, UK
Coordinates	51°33′29.10″N 0°16′58.70″W / 51.558083°N 0.282972°W / 51.558083; -0.282972
Opened	1934
Renovated	2005–2006
Owner	Quintain Estates and Development plc
Capacity	12,500
Website	wembleyarena.co.uk
Tenants
LiveNation 2012 Summer Olympics

Wembley Arena frontage

Wembley Arena interior during a Police concert

Wembley Arena (originally Empire Pool) is an indoor arena, at Wembley, in the London Borough of Brent. The building is opposite Wembley Stadium.

History[link]

It was built for the 1934 Empire Games, by Arthur Elvin and originally housed a swimming pool, as reflected by its former name, "Empire Pool". The pool itself was last used for the 1948 Summer Olympics. The building is used for music, comedy and family entertainment and for sport.

Wembley Arena was renovated, along with Wembley Stadium, as part of the regeneration of the Wembley area. The arena refurbishment cost £35m and the new arena opened to the public on 2 April 2006, with a concert by Depeche Mode. With 12,500 seats it is London's second largest indoor arena after The O2 arena and third largest indoor concert venue after the O2 and Earls Court, an exhibition hall which regularly stages concerts.

Musical events[link]

Since its opening in 1934, Wembley Arena has become the third largest indoor concert venue and London's second largest indoor arena, having hosted concerts by the world's most famous artists, spanning many different genres of music.^{[citation needed]}

When the venue was known as "Empire Pool", it hosted the annual New Musical Express Poll Winners' concert during the early 1960s. Audiences of 10,000 viewed acts like The Beatles (who performed there three times), Cliff Richard & The Shadows, Joe Brown & the Bruvvers, The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, The Who, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich and many others, hosted by Jimmy Savile and Pete Murray. The individual performances were then finished by a famous personality joining the respective performer on stage and presenting them their award. The Beatles were presented one of their awards by actor Roger Moore and Cliff Richard was joined on stage by Roy Orbison, to present him his. He also received a letter of congratulations from Elvis Presley. It was 1963 when Richard won best male solo artist worldwide outstripping Elvis, Richard having sold more records that year than any other musical act worldwide. These were filmed and recorded and later broadcast on television.

Sir Cliff Richard has sold the most shows out at the venue.^{[citation needed]} Headlining 63 shows at the venue with his first headliner being in 1984 and his latest being 2009.

Cliff Richard holds the record for the most headline shows by one artist, having played his 61st concert in October 2009.^{[citation needed]} Tina Turner is the female artist with the most shows, with 26 and with 7 at Wembley Stadium.^{[citation needed]}

A notable attendance record was set in the early 1970s by David Cassidy, in his first tour of Great Britain in 1973, when he sold out six performances in one weekend.^{[citation needed]}

In 1978, The Electric Light Orchestra sold out eight straight concerts (a record at the time) during their Out of the Blue Tour.^{[citation needed]} The first of these shows was recorded, televised and later released as a CD/DVD.

ABBA played six sold-out concerts, from November 5–10, 1979. The shows were filmed by Swedish television for a documentary which was released in 2004 on DVD as "ABBA in Concert".^[1] Afterward the members of the band talked about the warmth of the Wembley audience. "It was like coming home after a couple of nights," said guitarist Bjorn Ulvaeus.^[2] A finale from these concerts, "The Way Old Friends Do", is the closing track on ABBA's seventh studio album, Super Trouper. Vocalist Agnetha Faltskog said it was the vibe from the audience that made the track work so much better as a live performance than as a studio track.^[3]

Meat Loaf performed two consecutive shows during his 20/20 Tour, on 1 and 2 March 1987, which were recorded and later released as a live album entitled Live at Wembley.

Marillion performed three dates of their Clutching at Straws UK tour from 3-5 November 1987.

The Cure performed and recorded their show in July 1989, which was later released as a live album entitled Entreat.

George Michael performed four consecutive shows during his Cover to Cover Tour on 19–20 and 22–23 March 1991. During the final show, on the 23rd – Elton John made a surprise guest appearance and together they sang, as a duet, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". This was recorded and released later that year, becoming a massive hit, with even greater success than the song's original release in 1974.

In April 1994, Barbra Streisand began her Barbra – The Concert Tour, with four performances at the arena. They marked her first performances in the UK after 28 years and were the only shows outside of the US. The opening song on the first night, "As If We Never Said Goodbye", was recorded and transmitted on BBC TV's Top of the Pops.

The Spice Girls performed nine sold-out shows, during their Spiceworld Tour, on 14–15, 18–19, 21–22, 25–26 and 28 April 1998.^{[citation needed]}

Christina Aguilera performed during her Stripped World Tour on 2, 3 and 5 November 2003. The shows were filmed and later released as a DVD entitled Stripped Live in the U.K..

Beyoncé performed on two consecutive nights, during her Dangerously in Love Tour on 10 and 11 November 2003. Her show on the 10th was filmed and later released as a DVD entitled Beyoncé: Live at Wembley.

Pink performed two shows during her I'm Not Dead Tour on 4 October and 4 December 2006. They were filmed and later released as a DVD entitled Pink: Live from Wembley Arena.

Pearl Jam hold the attendance record for one show, with 12,470 fans at their 2007 gig.^[4]

Bob Dylan has performed at the arena 12 times over his career selling more that 150,000 tickets.^[5]

Norwegian Pop trio A-ha Played their last UK date of the Ending on a High Note Tour at the Arena on 27 November 2010.^[6]

Taylor Swift brought her Fearless Tour to the UK and her first major UK date was at the arena, with Justin Bieber as her opening act. She sold out the arena. Swift was later greeted with a 10-minute ovation from the crowd, after singing "Tim McGraw".^{[citation needed]}

McFly have performed at the arena seven times over their career, selling more than 70,000 tickets there. From which they have released two concert DVD's and have streamed one concert over the internet, seen by people from all over the world.^{[citation needed]}

Madonna Played 8 sold out nights here during Confessions Tour in 2006, the 15 & 16 August were filmed for The Confessions Tour DVD.

Alter Bridge have performed on November 29, 2011 and have released a DVD later.

Machine Head performed to a sell out crowd on December 3, 2011 as part of the Eighth Plague Tour.

Shakira has performed twice at the Wembley Arena, December 10th - 2002 for her Tour of the Mongoose concert and March 18th - 2007 for her Oral Fixation Tour concert.

It was announced that the 2011 X Factor UK final will be the shot at the Wembley Arena over two days, girl band Little Mix won the competition on 11 December 2011. The Saturdays made their arena debut here on the 16th December 2011 in front of a capacity of 11,500.

It was announced that Mayday 五月天, the Top Chinese Band in Asia will be performed at the arena on 27 March 2012, named "Just Rock It" concert.

On 7 October 2012, Nickelback will perform at the arena as part of their Here and Now Tour.

The Grateful Dead have released recordings of complete shows from April 7 and 8, 1972 as part of Europe '72: The Complete Recordings.

Sporting events[link]

The Masters snooker tournament annually takes place in the Wembley Arena during the month of January since 2006.

Indoor sporting events such as boxing, MMA and ice hockey have long been popular at the Arena, notably the World Championship bout between then champion Alan Minter and challenger Marvin Hagler, which the latter won.

During the 1948 Summer Olympics, the venue hosted the boxing, diving, swimming, and water polo events.^[7]

The Wembley Lions and Wembley Monarchs were two ice hockey teams that used the venue regularly during the 1940s, 50s and 60s, while the London Lions used the venue for a season in the 1970s. Wembley also hosted the British Hockey League play-off finals weekend at the end of each season up until the league's disbandment in 1996. The arena also playes host to NHL teams the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New York Rangers for a pair of challenge matches in 1993.

More recently netball, darts, basketball, five-aside football, cage fighting and The Masters of snooker have made regular appearances on the calendar.

It hosted the final of the Whyte and Mackay Premier League Darts 2009 where James Wade triumphed against Mervyn King, who beat Phil Taylor in the semi-finals as he failed to successfully defend his 4 titles. Whyte and Mackay Premier League Darts also hosted the playoff finals in 2010 at Wembley Arena when Phil Taylor won the title beating James Wade and making history by being the first dart player to hit a 9 Darter in a final, and being the first dart player to hit 2 9 Darters in a darts match live on TV! The 888.com 2011 Premier League Darts Finals also took place at Wembley where Adrian Lewis beat Phil Taylor 8–3 in their semi-final but ultimately lost against Gary Anderson 10–4 in the Final itself on the same night.

The Horse of the Year Show was held there from 1959–2002.

For the 2012 Summer Olympics, the venue plans to host the badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events.^[8]

Wrestling[link]

Three major British Wrestling shows were held at the venue between 1979 and 1981. The first of these on 13 June 1979 was headlined by a match between Big Daddy and Mighty John Quinn. The second, on 11 June 1980, was headlined by a tag team match pitting Daddy and Wayne Bridges against Quinn and Yasu Fuji. The last show, on 18 June 1981, was headlined by a match between Daddy and his longtime archenemy Giant Haystacks^[9]

The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) appeared at the venue during early 1990s tours of the UK, including one show on 2 May 1991, headlined by The Ultimate Warrior vs The Undertaker before an audience of 11,000.^[10] World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE, formerly WWF) taped its flagship television shows Raw and SmackDown! at the venue on 21 April 2006 and 22 April 2006 respectively. The company returned in October 2007 with the 'Survivor Series Tour'. Insurrextion 2002, which also emanated from this venue, was the company's last ever pay-per-view as the World Wrestling Federation; it was re-branded World Wrestling Entertainment just two days later on 6 May 2002. WWE are set to return to Wembley on 4 November 2012 for a SmackDown live event.

World Championship Wrestling (WCW) held the main London show of their Spring 1993 UK tour at the venue on 11 March 1993. The headline match saw the WCW World Heavyweight Championship change hands as Sting captured the title from Big Van Vader. The 11,500 attendance figure was WCW's highest ever up to that point.^[11] WCW returned to the venue in 1994 with a show headlined by a match between Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair.^[12]

World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) held two events at the arena during their tours of the UK in 2001-2002. The first tour at the Wembley Arena show was held on 3 December 2001. At the second WWA tour the Wembley Arena show was held on 30 November 2002.^[13]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) held the final night of their UK Maximum iMPACT! Tour, on 24 January 2009, inside the Wembley Arena. On this night, the company set an all-time TNA attendance record of 8,100 fans.^[14] The venue would host the final nights of the tour in 2010 and 2011 just the same. On 28 January 2012 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling held its first ever live recording of TNA Impact! outside North America at the arena in front of a TNA record setting attendance.

Square of Fame[link]

Square of Fame

With the reopening of Wembley Arena in 2006, a "Square of Fame" area has been created in front of the arena.^{[citation needed]} Similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, notable Wembley Arena performers are invited to have bronze plaques imprinted with their names and handprints. The first star to have a plaque was Madonna, on 1 August 2006.^{[15][not in citation given]}

On 9 November 2006, Cliff Richard added his handprints to the Square.^{[citation needed]} Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi, of Status Quo, unveiled a plaque, with one of each of their handprints, on 16 December 2006.^{[citation needed]} On 9 January 2007, Kylie Minogue included her handprints, on the final day of the London leg of her Showgirl Homecoming Tour.^{[citation needed]}

Seven time World Snooker Champion Stephen Hendry added his handprints on 21 January 2007.^{[citation needed]} International country superstar Dolly Parton unveiled her plaque, on the final night of her UK tour, on 25 March 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Canadian music star Bryan Adams unveiled his plaque on 10 May 2007, just before his 25th appearance at the venue.^{[citation needed]} Just three days later, former Commodores frontman Lionel Richie was presented with his plaque on 13 May 2007, after another sold-out performance at the arena.^{[citation needed]}

Members of the Irish boyband Westlife unveiled their plaque on 28 March 2008, after 27 sell-out shows in the space of 10 years. They have sold 250,000 tickets. All four members, Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily, were presented with a cast of their hands, which can also be seen in the Square of Fame, putting them as the arena's biggest selling pop band.^{[16][not in citation given]}

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wembley Arena

• Official website

Links to related articles v t e Indoor arenas in the United Kingdom by capacity Manchester Arena (21,000) The O2 Arena (20,000) Earls Court Exhibition Centre (19,000) LG Arena (16,000) National Indoor Arena (14,000) Odyssey Arena (14,000) Motorpoint Arena Sheffield (13,500) Manchester Central (12,500) SECC (12,500) Wembley Arena (12,500) Echo Arena Liverpool (11,000) Metro Radio Arena (11,000) Capital FM Arena Nottingham (10,000) AECC (10,000) Motorpoint Arena Cardiff (7,500) v t e Venues of the 1948 Summer Olympics Aldershot Arsenal Stadium Bisley National Rifle Association Ranges Champion Hill Craven Cottage Cricklefield Stadium Empire Pool Empire Stadium Empress Hall, Earl's Court Finchley Lido Green Pond Road Griffin Park Guinness Sports Club Harringay Arena Henley Royal Regatta Herne Hill Velodrome Lyons' Sports Club Polytechnic Sports Ground Royal Military Academy Selhurst Park Tweseldown Racecourse Torbay Wembley Palace of Engineering White Hart Lane Windsor Great Park v t e Venues of the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic Zone Aquatics Centre Basketball Arena BMX Circuit Eton Manor Copper Box London Velodrome Olympic Stadium Riverbank Arena Water Polo Arena River Zone ExCeL Greenwich Park North Greenwich Arena (The O2 arena) Royal Artillery Barracks Central Zone All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club Earls Court Exhibition Centre Hampton Court Palace Horse Guards Parade Hyde Park Lord's Cricket Ground Marathon Course Regent's Park Wembley Arena Wembley Stadium Outside London Dorney Lake Hadleigh Farm Lee Valley White Water Centre Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy Football stadia City of Coventry Stadium Hampden Park Millennium Stadium Old Trafford St James' Park v t e Olympic venues in badminton 1988 (exhibition): Seoul National University Gymnasium 1992: Pavelló de la Mar Bella 1996: Georgia State University Gymnasium 2000: The Dome and Exhibition Complex 2004: Goudi Olympic Hall 2008: Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium 2012: Wembley Arena 2016: Riocentro – Pavilion 4 v t e Olympic venues in boxing 1904: Francis Gymnasium 1908: Northampton Institute 1920: Antwerp Zoo 1924: Vélodrome d'hiver 1928: Krachtsportgebouw 1932: Olympic Auditorium 1936: Deutschlandhalle 1948: Empire Pool, Empress Hall, Earl's Court 1952: Messuhalli 1956: West Melbourne Stadium 1960: Palazzo dello Sport 1964: Korakuen Ice Palace 1968: Arena México 1972: Boxhalle 1976: Maurice Richard Arena, Montreal Forum (final) 1980: Indoor Stadium 1984: Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena 1988: Jamsil Students' Gymnasium 1992: Pavelló Club Joventut Badalona 1996: Alexander Memorial Coliseum 2000: Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre 2004: Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall 2008: Workers Indoor Arena 2012: ExCeL 2016: Riocentro – Pavilion 2 v t e Olympic venues in diving 1904: Forest Park 1908: White City Stadium 1912: Djurgårdsbrunnsviken 1920: Stade Nautique d'Antwerp 1924: Piscine des Tourelles 1928: Olympic Sports Park Swim Stadium 1932: Swimming Stadium 1936: Olympic Swimming Stadium 1948: Empire Pool 1952: Swimming Stadium 1956: Swimming/Diving Stadium 1960: Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto 1964: National Gymnasium 1968: Francisco Márquez Olympic Pool 1972: Schwimmhalle 1976: Olympic Pool 1980: Swimming Pool - Olimpisky 1984: Olympic Swim Stadium 1988: Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool 1992: Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc 1996: Georgia Tech Aquatic Center 2000: Sydney International Aquatic Centre 2004: Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre 2008: Beijing National Aquatic Center 2012: Aquatics Centre 2016: Maria Lenk Aquatic Center v t e Olympic venues in gymnastics 1896: Panathinaiko Stadium 1900: Vélodrome de Vincennes 1904: Francis Field 1908: White City Stadium 1912: Stockholm Olympic Stadium 1920: Olympisch Stadion 1924: Stade de Colombes 1928: Olympic Stadium 1932: Olympic Stadium 1936: Dietrich Eckert Open-Air Theatre 1948: Empress Hall, Earl's Court 1952: Messuhalli 1956: West Melbourne Stadium 1960: Baths of Caracalla 1964: Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium 1968: National Auditorium 1972: Olympiahalle 1976: Montreal Forum 1980: Sports Palace 1984: Pauley Pavilion 1988: Olympic Gymnastics Hall 1992: Palau dels Esports de Barcelona, Palau Sant Jordi 1996: Georgia Dome, University of Georgia Coliseum 2000: Sydney SuperDome, The Dome and Exhibition Complex 2004: Galatsi Olympic Hall, Olympic Indoor Hall 2008: Beijing National Indoor Stadium, Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium 2012: North Greenwich Arena, Wembley Arena 2016: Rio Olympic Arena v t e Olympic venues in swimming 1896: Bay of Zea 1900: Seine 1904: Forest Park 1908: White City Stadium 1912: Djurgårdsbrunnsviken 1920: Stade Nautique d'Antwerp 1924: Piscine des Tourelles 1928: Olympic Sports Park Swim Stadium 1932: Swimming Stadium 1936: Olympic Swimming Stadium 1948: Empire Pool 1952: Swimming Stadium 1956: Swimming/Diving Stadium 1960: Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto 1964: National Gymnasium 1968: Francisco Márquez Olympic Pool 1972: Schwimmhalle 1976: Olympic Pool 1980: Swimming Pool - Olimpisky 1984: Olympic Swim Stadium 1988: Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool 1992: Piscines Bernat Picornell 1996: Georgia Tech Aquatic Center 2000: Sydney International Aquatic Centre 2004: Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre 2008: Beijing National Aquatic Center, Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park 2012: Aquatics Centre, Hyde Park 2016: Fort Copacabana, Olympic Aquatics Stadium v t e Olympic venues in water polo 1900: Seine 1904: Forest Park 1908: White City Stadium 1912: Djurgårdsbrunnsviken 1920: Stade Nautique d'Antwerp 1924: Piscine des Tourelles 1928: Olympic Sports Park Swim Stadium 1932: Swimming Stadium 1936: Olympic Swimming Stadium 1948: Empire Pool (final), Finchley Lido 1952: Swimming Stadium 1956: Swimming/Diving Stadium 1960: Piscina delle Rose, Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto (final) 1964: Tokyo Metropolitan Indoor Swimming Pool 1968: Francisco Márquez Olympic Pool (final), University City Swimming Pool 1972: Dantebad, Schwimmhalle (final) 1976: Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard, Olympic Pool (final) 1980: Swimming Pool - Moscow, Swimming Pool - Olimpiysky (final) 1984: Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool 1988: Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool 1992: Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc, Piscines Bernat Picornell (final) 1996: Georgia Tech Aquatic Center 2000: Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre (women's final), Sydney International Aquatic Centre (men's final) 2004: Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre 2008: Ying Tung Natatorium 2012: Water Polo Arena 2016: Maria Lenk Aquatic Center v t e Live Nation Entertainment Subsidiaries Ticketmaster  · House of Blues  · Academy Music Group (51%)  · DF Concerts (part owner) Venues PNC Bank Arts Center (management only)  · Nikon at Jones Beach Theater  · NYCB Theatre at Westbury  · Irving Plaza  · Gramercy Theatre  · Roseland Ballroom  · Foxwoods Theatre  · San Manuel Amphitheater  · Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre  · Gibson Amphitheatre  · Hollywood Palladium  · Wiltern Theatre  · Avalon Hollywood (booking only)  · First Midwest Bank 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PalaLottomatica (Rome) · Palau Sant Jordi (Barcelona) · Pavilhão Atlântico (Lisbon) · Saku Suurhall Arena (Tallinn) · Scandinavium (Gothenburg) · Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (Glasgow) · Siemens Arena (Vilnius) · Spaladium Arena (Split) · St. Jakobshalle (Basel) · The O2 (Dublin) · The O2 Arena (London) · Wembley Arena (London) · Wiener Stadthalle (Vienna) v t e London landmarks Buildings and structures Bridges Golden Jubilee Bridges Millennium Bridge Tower Bridge Entertainment venues Cinemas Empire, Leicester Square London IMAX Odeon Leicester Square Sports venues All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club Emirates Stadium Lord's Cricket Ground Olympic Stadium The Oval Stamford Bridge Twickenham Stadium Wembley Stadium White Hart Lane Theatres Coliseum Theatre Haymarket Theatre National Theatre Royal Opera House Shakespeare's Globe Other Hammersmith Apollo O2 Arena Royal Albert Hall Royal Festival Hall Wembley Arena Government 10 Downing Street Admiralty Arch Bank of 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Coordinates: 51°33′22″N 0°18′15″W / 51.5560°N 0.3042°W / 51.5560; -0.3042

Wembley
Wembley is synonymous with the stadium
Wembley  Wembley shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ175855
London borough	Brent
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WEMBLEY
Postcode district	HA0, HA9
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Brent North
London Assembly	Brent and Harrow
List of places: UK • England • London

Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena. Anciently part of the parish of Harrow on the Hill in the county of Middlesex, Wembley formed a separate civil parish from 1894 and was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1937.

History[link]

Toponomy[link]

Wembley is derived from the Old English proper name "Wemba" and the Old English "Lea" for meadow or clearing. The name was first mentioned in the charter of 825 of King Beornwulf.

Development[link]

The village of Wemba Lea grew up on the hill by the clearing with the Harrow Road south of it. Much of the surrounding area remained wooded. In 1547 there were but six houses in Wembley. Though small, it was one of the wealthiest parts of Harrow. At the dissolution of the monasteries, the manor of Wembley fell to Richard Andrews and Leonard Chamberlayne in 1543, who sold it to Richard Page Esq. of Harrow on the Hill the same year.

The Page family continued as lords of the manor of Wembley for several centuries.^[1][2]

There was a mill on Wembley Hill by 1673. In 1837, the London and Birmingham Railway (now part of the West Coast Main Line) was opened from London Euston, through Wembley, to Hemel Hempstead, and completed to Birmingham the following year. The changing names of the local station demonstrated the increasing importance of the 'Wembley' name. 'Sudbury' station opened in 1845, renamed as 'Sudbury and Wembley' in 1882, renamed as 'Wembley for Sudbury' in 1910, renamed as 'Wembley Central' in 1948, at the time of the Olympic Games.

To modernise the service, a new Watford DC Line was built alongside the main lines, and Bakerloo line trains, and electric trains to Broad Street started in 1917. Electric trains to Euston began running in 1922. (Since 1917 there have been six platforms at what is now Wembley Central station.) In 1880, the Metropolitan Railway opened its line from Baker Street through the eastern side of Wembley, but only built a station, Wembley Park, in 1894. (There are now three physically separate services, the London to Aylesbury Line, the Metropolitan line, and the Jubilee line. Only the latter two services have platforms at Wembley Park station.)

In November 1905, the Great Central Railway (now, in this section, part of the Chiltern Main Line) opened a new route for fast expresses that by-passed the congested Metropolitan Railway tracks. It ran between Neasden Junction, south of Wembley, and Northolt Junction, west of London, where a new joint main line with the Great Western Railway began. Local passenger services from Marylebone were added from March 1906, when new stations were opened, including 'Wembley Hill', next to what later became the site of Wembley Stadium - the national stadium of English sport - which opened for the FA Cup Final of April 1923, remaining open for 77 years until it closed for reconstruction in October 2000.^[3] After a long planning and redevelopment process dogged by a series of funding problems and construction delays, the new stadium finally opened its doors in March 2007.^[4]

Wembley Hill station was renamed 'Wembley Complex' in May 1978, before getting its present name of 'Wembley Stadium' in May 1987.^[5]

British Empire Exhibition postage stamps

The area around the current Wembley Stadium was the location of the British Empire Exhibition^[6][7][8] of 1924-1925.^{[9][10][11][12]} Until the 2000s, remnants of the many reinforced concrete buildings, including the original Wembley Stadium, remained, but nearly all have now been removed, to make way for redevelopment.

Wembley, in common with much of northwest London, has had an extensive manufacturing industry, but much of it closed in the 1980s. Factories in the area included Glacier Metals (bearings), Wolf Power Tools, Sunbeam Electrical Appliances, Griffin & George (laboratory equipment) and GEC (whose research plant was one of the first of its type in the UK). The retail centre of Wembley (the High Road and Ealing Road) has suffered from chronic traffic congestion, and from the opening of neighbouring purpose-built shopping centres, first Brent Cross in the early 1970s, and later the Harrow and Ealing Broadway Shopping Centres. During the 1960s rebuilding of Wembley Central station, a block of flats, an open-plan shopping plaza and a car park were constructed, on a concrete raft over the railway.

The shopping plaza suffered a slow decline and was therefore poorly maintained but is being redeveloped as Central Square. The first phase of including 85 homes and reconstruction of the plaza, has been completed.^[13]

Wembley City, which includes a new Civic Centre for the borough, is being constructed around the junction of Engineers Way and Empire Way, near the stadium. A new Ark Academy in Wembley Park is due to open by December 2010.

Most of Wembley's housing consists of inter-war semi-detached houses and terraces and of modern apartment blocks, with a significant minority of detached housing.

Ethnic diversity[link]

A pie chart showing the ethnic makeup of central Wembley in 2001

Wembley has a high degree of ethnic diversity, as illustrated by the accompanying pie chart for Wembley Central (ward) in 2001.

Governance[link]

Wembley formed part of the large ancient parish of Harrow on the Hill in the Gore hundred of Middlesex. In 1894 Wembley was split from Harrow, creating a new parish and urban district. It included Alperton, Preston, North Wembley, South Kenton, Tokyngton, Sudbury, Wembley Park and Northwick Park. The urban district included the neighbouring parish of Kingsbury until 1901 and again from 1934.

In 1937 it was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Wembley. The fire brigade headquarters of Middlesex County Council were located on Harrow Road and is now a fire station of the London Fire Brigade. Wembley Town Hall on Forty Lane, built in 1938, became Brent Town Hall when the municipal boroughs of Wembley and Willesden were amalgamated in 1965 to form the London Borough of Brent and transferred to Greater London. Since the 2010 elections, Brent Council has been controlled by the Labour Party.

Wembley falls within the UK Parliament constituency of Brent North, and the London Assembly constituency of Brent and Harrow.

Geography[link]

Up to the nineteenth century Wembley was rural and it has retained a number of green spaces. These include Barham Park (10.5 hectares) in Sudbury Town, King Edward VII Park, established in 1914 behind the High Road (10.5 hectares) and Sudbury Green. Less managed spaces include Fryent Country Park, Barn Hill (19.87 hectares) and Vale Farm sports ground (30 hectares). Brent River Park / Tokyngton Recreation Ground (20.26 hectares) has recently been restored returning the river to a more natural course.

Nearby Sudbury Golf Course backs onto the Grand Union Canal with its towpath running into central London. Sudbury Squash and Tennis Club has outdoor tennis courts, an indoor squash court and a clubhouse. Wembley is a short distance away from the Welsh Harp reservoir and open space, created in the early 19th century by damming the River Brent to provide water for the Grand Union Canal.

The area is identified in the Mayor of London's London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.^[14]

Neighbouring areas of Wembley Central

	Harrow on the Hill	North Wembley	Wembley Park
	Sudbury		Brent Park
		Wembley    East
	Perivale	Alperton	Tokyngton