Wembley suffers further delay
The Football Association has confirmed the first match at the new Wembley stadium will not take place until 2007.
Three England matches and the Community Shield planned for the new stadium in the autumn will now be played at alternative venues.
It means that the first match likely to be played at the new Wembley is now going to be England’s friendly against as yet unconfirmed opposition in February 2007, nine months after the original proposed opening match – this year’s FA Cup final on May 13.
England's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Andorra on September 2 and Macedonia on October 7, as well as an England friendly on August 16 and the FA Community Shield on August 13 will all be played elsewhere.
The Football Association’s statement on Wembley said: “Further to recent meetings with Multiplex and Wembley National Stadium Limited (WNSL), it is clear that the construction of Wembley Stadium is significantly behind schedule.
“Multiplex has now supplied WNSL and the FA with an updated schedule. From the new schedule it is apparent that Wembley will not be available to host our autumn fixtures.
“We do not want to set deadlines on when the stadium will open and be faced with the constant speculation surrounding this as we approach individual fixtures. Therefore, we believe it is important that we are transparent with our plans.
“The FA is taking the prudent measure of booking new venues for all of our fixtures until the year end. The fixtures will be played at alternative venues which will be publicly announced by the FA once they are confirmed.
“The FA and WNSL continue to meet with banks and other key stakeholders to discuss the current status of the project and ensure we have the appropriate plans in place moving forward.”
WNSL have also released a statement saying they have been told by Multiplex that work will continue until September.
The WNSL statement said: “Multiplex have given Wembley National Stadium Limited a revised construction schedule which now shows full practical completion by the end of September.
“Multiplex’s statement anticipates ‘substantial completion by the end of June’ with key outstanding works up until the end of September.
“Wembley Stadium then requires a further period of two months to run test events (ramp-up) to ensure operational safety standards are met.
“Multiplex’s revised schedule means WNSL has no alternative but to announce no major events will take place at the stadium for the remainder of this year.
“WNSL’s main priority is to deliver a world-class stadium to the highest possible standards of both quality and safety. We will announce an opening date once we have 100% certainty from Multiplex.”
Wembley chief executive Michael Cunnah said: “We share everyone’s disappointment at Multiplex's announcement today of a further delay in the completion of the stadium. Their revised construction schedule leaves us with no other choice but to make this decision.
“However, this does not detract from our focus and determination to deliver a world-class stadium. We have an over-riding responsibility and duty to ensure that the stadium is completed to the highest standards of safety and quality.”
