As one of London’s most inspiring sporting venues, Wembley Stadium seems a fitting stage to celebrate and reward those that are making London a healthier and happier place through physical activity and sport.
The London Sport Awards 2018 will take place at the stadium on 8 March and this got us thinking about some of the incredible elite sporting moments that have taken place at the stadium in the last year or so. From hosting some of the world’s most famous football matches, to attracting more exotic sports like American Football, we take a look back at some of the best Wembley moments of 2017.
Join us at the London Sport Awards 2018
England’s National Football Team matches
As you’ll probably know, England Men’s Senior team uses Wembley as a venue for their home fixtures. Gareth Southgate’s squad played five matches their in 2017, three of them in the European World Cup Qualifiers and two friendly matches against Brazil and Germany. The same high-level of football will be seen again this year, with the Lions preparing for the FIFA World Cup in Russia and the draw for UEFA’s new competition, Nations League, taking place soon.
The Wembley Cup
At Wembley Cup 2017, UK’s biggest football stars went head to head at Wembley. In this friendly event, the superteam of YouTubers, Tekkers Town, put up a good fight which unfortunately wasn’t enough to overcome the reigning champions, Hashtag United, who took the trophy home for a third time in a row.
SSE Womens FA Cup Final
In front of an animated Wembley crowd, Manchester City recorded a 4-1 win against Birmingham City, in one of Britain’s most biggest sporting events in women sport. The event saw the largest crowd ever seen at a women’s FA Cup final, counting 35,271 spectators.
NFL at Wembley
Saints at Dolphins and Ravens at Jaguars were the two NFL games hosted by Wembley this year. Both games were a chance for a Londoners to familiarise themselves once again with the american football and to see some world class NFL athletes in Blake Bortles or Drew Brees.
Joshua v Klitschko
Seen by many as one of the greatest boxing matches in recent history, the fight between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko saw Joshua winning the match via technical knockout in the 11th round, igniting excitement around the home crowd and leading Klitschko into retirement from boxing a few months after the fight.
Challenge Cup Final
It is probably the most important rugby league tournament in the country and the final deserved a special venue. Hull FC managed to win the title against Wigan Warriors in a dramatic match that kept the audience entertained until the last minutes of the game.
FA Cup, EFL Cup, Checkatrade Trophy and much more
As Wembley has been mainly built to host football matches, it’s no surprise that the finals of some of UK’s most important football competitions took place here in 2017. FA Cup, EFL Cup, Checkatrade Trophy, the League One Play off Final, Non-League Finals day and the National League Promotion Final were all hosted by Wembley Stadium. In addition to this, Tottenham Hostpur has been using Wembley as a temporary home venue during the development of their new stadium.
In 2018, it’s time for grassroots sports to be in the spotlight…
On 8 March, we’ve got our own event coming to Wembley! We will be celebrating the incredible work that makes up the best of grassroots physical activity and sport across the capital, with some special guests and a lot of surprises for the evening.
Join our grassroots glam and get involved in this year’s theme black tie & trainers?
