Finally, Wembley project gets underway

After nearly seven years of planning and more than two years standing empty, work has finally begun on the demolition and redevelopment of Wembley stadium.

Bulldozers finally got to work on Monday 30 September, after a final friendly between English workers and a team of staff from WestLB - the German bank financing much of the rebuilding - to begin the four year process of building the most expensive national stadium in the world.

The total cost of the stadium, £757m, is more than double the original projection. However, the cost structure is complicated. The actual building costs, including demolition, design fees and insurance, amount to £445m, but land purchase, stamp duty and pre-construction costs, as well as investment in local infrastructure and finance costs, has accounted for an additional £300m expenditure.

The Wembley saga has been a long and bitter one, marred by the collapsing of finance deals, difficulties with funding and u-turns over the roles and responsibilities of partners and investors.

In an announcement at the FA's headquarters at Soho Square, chief executive, Adam Crozier, welcomed the commencement of work, saying: 'It is great news for everyone involved in football. Players and fans can now look forward to enjoying the facilities at what will be the best stadium in the world.'

Tessa Jowell, secretary of state for the DCMS was pleased, but guarded in her praise for the scheme: 'It has been a long and at times, painful, journey to this point. There is still a lot of work to do, but the FA's new management team at Wembley National Stadium Ltd can now, finally, concentrate on what this project is all about - building a national stadium.'

The 90,000-capacity stadium, scheduled to open in 2006, has been designed by a team headed up by Lord Foster and HOK SVE, and will feature a dramatic arch, which, with a span of 315 metres, will be the longest single span roof structure in the world.

The principle contractor will be the Multiplex Group - an Australian firm which also delivered Stadium Australia for the Sydney Olympics.

The stadium will also contain a raised athletics platform, costing around £12m. When in use it will reduce the capacity to 68,400, but this should still be sufficient for most major athletics tournaments. The provision of facilities for hosting athletics was essential in securing the £120m invested in the scheme by Sport England.

Critics have branded the project too expensive, especially compared to rival bids in Birmingham and Coventry, although the FA has maintained that the cost per seat, when taking only construction into consideration, is comparable to other world class stadia, at £3,918 a seat.

Concerns exist at the ways in which the FA will be able to recoup this money. The primary revenue generation will be from 'premium seats', which will be aimed at corporate organisations and could cost tens of thousands of pounds over a several year period. While these seats will generate 70 per cent of ticketing income, supporters associations are worried that the 'prawn sandwich' brigade will detract from the atmosphere, taking places away from 'real fans', however, without the prawn pound, the project has little chance of financial success.