People are just realising little-known Wembley Stadium feature that would reduce capacity by 30,000 and was never used

WEMBLEY STADIUM is one of the most iconic sports and entertainment venues in the world.

It has played host to Europe’s top football clubs as well as global megastars such as Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay.

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Wembley Stadium has a little-known feature that has never been used[/caption]

BBC

A system to convert the pitch into an athletics track was included in the stadium design[/caption]

But did you know there is a secret feature at the venue that has never been used?

When designs for the new Wembley Stadium were released back in the early 2000’s, one of the key requirements was an athletics track.

Developers therefore included a system that lifts the floor of the main arena up, increasing the space around the standard pitch area enough to fit a track around it.

If utilised, the stadium capacity would decrease by around 30,000 spectators – from 90,000 to around 60,000.

However, it has never been done before.

Wembley was initially earmarked as a potential track and field venue for the London 2012 Olympics, which is why the conversion plans were put into the initial stadium designs.

But it was not required following the development of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and London Stadium, which is now home to West Ham.

The track system has not yet been used as a result, largely due to the fact it would take weeks to convert and cost millions of pounds.

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Richard Breslin, who worked on the project, told talkSPORT: “The designs were still moving a fair bit when I joined.

“I was in Sydney working on the Olympic Games and then came over to London in August 1999 where by that point that masts had been presented in a press conference. The arch proposals were put forward soon after that.

“One of the challenges with Wembley was that the site itself was incredibly tight.

“The requirement was for Wembley to host track and field as well and that was through putting a platform above the current field of play.

“What that means is that the geometry of the seating bowl is based on a track and field bowl. That pushes the envelope of the building out. The track and field bowl is broader, the way the sight lines work and geometry of the bowl work means that it is bigger.

“You look at the site boundary, which is very tight, and the government wanted it to host track and field if it needed to. That created further constraints on the site. 

“Those parts when I first joined were still moving around quite a bit. It was still at the concept stage where we were evaluating what the client’s needs were and aspirations were.”

While Wembley did not make the cut as London’s track and field venue, it was used for football matches during the 2012 Olympic Games.