Field of Dreams: 100 Years of Wembley in 100 Matches

Description

100 years of Wembley Stadium told through 100 matches. The 1923 FA Cup final - aka the White Horse final - was the first football match played at the British Empire Exhibition Stadium. Although best-remembered for non-playing reasons - notably its vast, well-beyond-capacity crowd, which had to be marshalled by a policeman atop a white horse - that afternoon marked the historic opening chapter of the stadium's long and eventful history, of the stadium soon to be known simply as Wembley. Over the 100 years since that overcrowded day, Wembley has established itself as the home of the beautiful game and, almost certainly, the world's most famous football stadium. Wembley occupies a special place in the hearts of players and punters alike. Watching your team at Wembley is the highlight of a fan's lifetime of support; playing there the fulfilment of a childhood dream. Its sacred pitch has been the crucible of so many classic matches across the decades. World Cups have been won here, as have European Championships, FA Cups, European Cups, play-off finals, home internationals and more. Nige Tassell chooses 100 matches - from the well known to the unusual - that have shaped Wembley's legacy and tells a lively and original alternative history of the past 100 years of football, and of Britain. We hear a ball boy's perspective on the FA Cup Final when Bert Trautmann broke his neck, and from the other commentator of the 1966 World Cup Final. Field of Dreams is the story of how football found its home.

Nige Tassell writes about sport and popular culture. His work has appeared in The Guardian, The Sunday Times, GQ, Esquire, FourFourTwo, The Blizzard and When Saturday Comes among others, and his previous books include non-league football classic The Bottom Corner, Three Weeks, Eight Seconds, Boot Sale, Butch Wilkins and the Sundance Kid and And It's a Beautiful Day.