Wembley Woes

Those of you who revel in ominous omens would have appreciated the weather conditions at the start of London’s week. As the capital geared up to prepare for the long awaited return of the FA Cup final – the world’s oldest soccer competition and don’t you forget it – the city wasn’t so much bathed in sunshine but heavy cloud cover. And coupled with the near constant drizzle of rain, this seemed to offer a timely reminder that the rebuilt Wembley Stadium hadn’t gone exactly according to plan.

Truth be told, nobody seems able to remember what the original plan actually was. As costs spiraled ever higher and potential dates for reopening the ground were inevitably pushed back after its demolition in 2002, the nation’s passionate and ever loyal football fans would gather in pubs on matchdays - and on most weeknights thereafter to boot – and simply have to laugh at the shambolic scenario. Nevertheless, plenty of progress has been made in the national game since the last Wembley Cup final took place in 2000. For starters, the victors on that particular Saturday in May (a gloriously sunny afternoon, for the record), Chelsea, has subsequently become the major financial force in the game thanks to an influx of Russian money courtesy of Roman Abramovich.

The foreign imports they and the other 19 teams in the Premier League have brought in have improved the skill level of the sport and technique of the young British trainees on their books. Elsewhere, racism is far less of a problem than it used to be and hooliganism only rears its ugly head occasionally. What’s more, other stadiums have been given the go ahead and built with almost indecent haste; a final reminder - if the Football Association really needed one - that this has not been their finest moment. During the interim, Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium (built at a cost of less than £200million by the way) has done an admirable job looking after the fixture though only the first and last Cup final held there were matches anywhere near to approaching the classic status the event demands.

And so, despite being scheduled for an August 2005 reopening (if you try hard enough, it seems you can find the original plan) the £757million stadium will welcome the world this Saturday. True, there have been a couple of “ramp-up” events in recent months but never before will the 2,618 toilets – more than any other venue in the world you’ll be, ahem, relieved to learn – all have had a chance to flush. Nor will the claim that every seat at the new Wembley offers more legroom than the Royal Box at the old ground have been put to the test. The Queen, who won’t be in attendance, would surely approve. Instead, she’ll have to leave such matters to her grandson (and FA Chairman) Prince William who will present the cup to the winners.

Soccer’s governing body in England – the Football Association – will surely spin this weekend’s showcase game into an unqualified success. They can get away with such behavior too because all of us fans tend to think back to our childhoods when it comes to the Cup final. For those of us who grew up in the 1970s and 80s, we still can’t get past legendary commentator David Coleman’s shriek of “one nil!” when the first goal would hit the back of the net, Tottenham’s Argentine import Ricky Villa dribbling past seemingly the entire Manchester City team en route to his wonder strike or our endlessly practicing the stepover move which led to Manchester United’s Norman Whiteside dramatically scoring at the end of extra time and thus avoiding the heartache of the dreaded penalty shootout. Those with older memories still wax lyrical about the Stanley Matthews final of 1953, Bert Trautmann playing on – playing on! – with a broken neck five years later or Jim Montgomery’s double save in 1973 that frankly beggared belief.

Yet even memories can’t quite paper over all the cracks. In the past few weeks, thousands of seats have faded from red to pink: it’s all to do with “photochromic degradation" apparently (but you can explain that to the supporters if you don’t mind). Even last Saturday, some supporters attending an amateur match had to be moved from their seats due to rain seeping through the roof. The FA, though, continues to assure us that all will be fine on the day and has ended up with the dream final they scarcely deserved - Chelsea vs Manchester United. Both battled valiantly for the league championship all season long (a battle United ended up winning) and as they were eliminated from the semi finals of the Champions League earlier in the month, this will be the last ball either side will kick in competitive anger until August. Close your eyes and you can almost make out United’s Christiano Ronaldo making fools of the opposing defense with his lightening quick feet. Look further and there’s Chelsea’s imposing Ivorian striker Didier Drogba bearing down on goal. But that is for Saturday. Until then, the next chapter in this compelling competition, we shall all be wondering who will be writing their name into soccer history. Come rain or shine, as the chant from the terraces so nearly has it, there’s only one FA Cup final.