I am continuing my effort to run in all 33 London boroughs (only 3 left to do) and today ticked off the London Borough of Brent with a run round one of the city's most iconic sporting venues - Wembley Stadium. OK I wasn't running around the pitch, but there's a good flat circuit around the outside of the Stadium that is perfect for laps of just under 1 km.
The current version of the Stadium only dates back to 2007 of course, replacing the 1920s Stadium that was demolished in 2003. But the location has nearly 100 years of sporting history, including athletics as the main venue for the 1948 Olympic Games. Obviously it is most associated with football, and most football fans will have their good and bad memories.
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| Me and Bobby Moore - there's a Bobby 2 Bobby Wembley Strava segment |
The high point for me was the April 1988 League Cup Final, when Luton beat Arsenal 3-2 - I can't believe that was thirty years ago next month. I can honestly say that was one of the happiest days of my life - the game had everything, Luton going ahead, then Arsenal scoring twice to take the lead, Luton keeper Andy Dibble saving a penaly and then another Luton goal before Brian Stein scored the winner in the last minute. It was pure joy in the crowd (amongst the Luton supporters anyway!), I remember me, my dad and my friend Paul just jumping around for ages. That feeling stayed with me for days afterwards, in fact I can still summon it up when I remember it.
Low point was going to Wembley as a child with my dad in 1975 for the England/Scotland match. My dad bought a fold up wooden stool for me to stand on so that I could see the action from the terraces. Unfortunately as a Scotland supporter it wasn't a pretty sight - England won 5-1 (I could also mention seeing Luton lose 4-1 to Reading in the 1988 Simod Cup Final but in my mind that has been recorded over by the victory over Arsenal a few weeks later).
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