Your views on Wembley as a venue.

[lesbarbeux]

To kick it off:-

 

Doesn't on the whole, have the same "iconic" feel of the old one.

 

The infrastructure is utterly abysmal, the road system is totally inadequate. Can't comment on rail links as I drove there.

 

For a "national stadium" the surrounding area (particularly around the back) is an embarrassment... a bit like Kabul on a bad day!

 

The steps up to the Royal Box are nowhere near as prominent as the old stadium (for presentations).

 

Need to sort out the queuing problems in some areas... awful queues on way in at Club Wembley West in particular yesterday.

 

Dreadful p.a. system... distorted and therefor almost impossible to understand, at least in block 238!

 

Rubbish acoustics... did you notice how difficult it was to keep the singing in time around our end?

 

 

On the plus side:-

 

The concourses are VERY good, loads of facilities (if a tad americanised!) and close to seating areas. At least on level two where I was.

 

Spectator viewing is probably about as good as it can be.

 

Padded seats, not that we used 'em!

 

plenty of leg and elbow room.

 

Organisation and Stewarding was on the whole excellent.

 

[Guest Grez Bez]

Hold on! We didn't have padded seats....

[Orlando_Trustful]

Good, but give me a traditional ground any day.

[joelswfc]

Plenty of room on seats and very well done inside. Did't quite feel like a football stadium though. Did feel very American.

[PortlandOwl]

Paid £68 and I could barely recognise the players as we were so far up. Might as well have paid £32 for the cheapest ticket.

[MotherGoose]

Rail links are great. It's a 'public transport' destination after all.

Explains the crappy parking / roads - councils just declare stuff public transport and stuff the road links.

[SallyCinnamon]

Didn't think much of it all all.

Artificial atmosphere. Soulless. Our fans made it.

[FlyingOwl]

Didn't like the lack of organisation at the turnstiles. Felt very dangerous. The crowds meant no pat down and no bag search either which is concerning. Gutted I didn't buy a concession ticket as I'd have got away with it.

Queuing for drinks at half time was a nightmare to but this lead to me getting my drinks free so not something to whinge about.

Liked the stadium. Stewarding inside was spot on and relaxed. PA system was abysmal mind.

[SiJ]

It's a fantastic venue, but also the absolute embodiment of homogenised, soulless football.

The PA trying to get an atmosphere going (like there wasn't one) was both amusing and cringeworthy at the same time.

[southportdc]

I've been for football, a gig and the NFL now. I've been impressed every time by the facilities and the views etc. But yesterday our fans made it a completely different proposition with the atmosphere.

I wouldn't want to move to a new bowl ground, but yesterday did show you can make them atmospheric if you want to.

[pgmetcalf]

Good, but give me a traditional ground any day.

 

This, I hate these concrete cowpat affairs, corporate boxes are all that rubbish. I wouldn't Tier it off either, just straight rows going backwards

[mike312]

Acoustics were awful, it was as if it was too big and the song I was singing was echoing back but it was just the sound from other areas taking time to get to me.

Concourses were good although toilet facilities were woeful for such a large venue.

[Guest The Horse]

Best part was the fan zones outside.
Stadium itself looked incredible from the distance and outside.
Inside left me cold. Very odd feel for a football stadium. I couldn't bond with it / work it out.
Felt more like I was watching football at an athletics stadium.
 

[lesbarbeux]

Best part was the fan zones outside.

Stadium itself looked incredible from the distance and outside.

Inside left me cold. Very odd feel for a football stadium. I couldn't bond with it / work it out.

Felt more like I was watching football at an athletics stadium.

 

 

 

Yeah, well put....know exactly where you are coming from.

[jamsandwich]

The concourses (in the middle tier) were amazing! Beer and food concessions with NO QUEUE. tables and chairs to sit on. Flat Surfaces and ledges everywhere. Wide and spacious. Even on bit was bloody carpeted. Christ knows why I spent 50minites on a queue to not get a beer at wetherspoons

[Lambretta]

To sum up for me the stadium compared to the old one, two words No Soul.

[Chris_B_SWFC]

Said it in another thread, but I preferred the Millennium Stadium.

Nothing to do with what happened on the pitch either.

[bigthinrob]

Can't argue with much of the OP.

 

There's still an awful lot of development going on around it, so don;t think it;s the finished article yet.

 

The bits that have been finished, the hotels, restaurants and things, including the very spacious areas surrounding the ground are excellent. 

 

The PA is probably fine, it's just the moron who feels he has to yell into it that's the problem.

 

The roads getting towards Wembley from Staples Corner has and always will be an issue, but other than knock about a bazillion pounds worth of houses down is always going to be the case. I didn't find it to be the end of the world though. I had planned a full weekend and anticipated i might be stuck in traffic afterwards, but maybe some people's home lives are much more interesting than mine and needed to be back home in record time. It was quite amusing shouting abuse at the Hull fans to pass the time regardless.

 

The only other thing, i think some people are comparing a 'national' stadium with a 'club' stadium. Two totally different animals and i wouldn't want my 'home' ground to be a Wembley type but as an occasional venue, i think it works really well.  

 

I loved the venue, loved the weekend and can even be philosophical about the outcome, even though i'm gutted. 

[SiJ]

To sum up for me the stadium compared to the old one, two words No Soul.

That might be why Hull have quite a good record there...

[latemodelchild]

I loved the outside areas and the concourses. Inside it's a big bowl that looks impressive. We were at the back of 244 and it was a distance away, should have taken my glasses. Atmosphere was good because we were good. PA was awful, couldn't hear a word of it. Very strange really considering how good everything else was.