So many people have told me stories or written to me about their memories I would like to start to share them with you, ending with mine.

I was born in Wembley in 1958 and Wembley Stadium was an important part of our lives. My father, Stanley Shepherd, worked there as a boy when it first opened in 1924 - he must have seen it in its newly built state. He had a job there selling programmes during the Empire Exhibition. It must have been a wondrous sight for a boy of 14 and indeed for everyone. A while later he started working for Wembley Stadium I'm not sure what his first job was but during my childhood he worked in the Racing Office (greyhounds). Sometimes on a Saturday my Dad took us to the kennels sited next to the stadium. We talked to the trainers, looked at and sometimes took the dogs for walks. There was some sort of fenced enclosure. If I remember correctly, the kennels were built in parallel lines and the trainers had signs up showing their own sections. Most of them seemed friendly people. I remember the smell, not of dogs, but of the food they cooked for the dogs on the premises - to me it looked like a doggy porridge! Another memory, with some fascination to me as a child, is of a fairly old unkempt lady who lived at the kennels?! Apart from the famous site of the twin towers I have memories of a fairly bare concrete landscape surrounding the Stadium. A faint memory is of a derelict bridge structure - I can only assume this was a 'leftover' from the 1924 Exhibition?? My Dad's office was actually in one of the buildings built for the Exhibition. Was it Burma/India/Ceylon? - cant remember. It was a white a white colonial looking building with pillars and it had a large billiards table inside! Apart from the greyhound racing admin. my Dad did public announcing there too...'Ladies and Gentlemen you will now be entertained by the Band of the...' at football matches etc.and did the general announcing at the greyhound racing evenings. My mother, June Shepherd, worked at the Stadium for Sir Arthur Elvin during the Olympic Games. It was a job she really enjoyed and has happy memories of. She particularly remembers enjoying the synchronised swimming events at the Empire Pool. I remember the beginnings of Wembley market, held in front of the Stadium. It became very popular. Hundreds of people would flock out of Wembley Park station and walk down Olympic Way to the market. I think there were eventually coach trips to 'Wembley Market'. You could buy all kinds of things cheaply. I bought a YSL towel in the 70's which is still in use today! My Mum went there for vegetables. Both of my brothers had Saturday jobs as hotdog sellers in Wembley Stadium and my sister and I worked on Saturdays at the box office of Wembley Arena (formerly known as the Empire Pool).This must have been in the 1970's. I remember the visit of the Pope to Wembley. It must have been in the summertime as, although we didn't go to see him, we sat in deckchairs in our garden and heard his every word. My Dad worked at Wembley for fifty years until his retirement. I wonder, had he been alive, what he would have thought of its demolition - its all rather sad really. My mother still lives in Wembley to see the gradual construction of the new stadium which I cannot bring myself to write with a capital 'S'. Elaine Taylor (nee Shepherd)

My Grandmother is now 90 years old and she remembers Wembley being built, and 3 Irish navvies lodged at her house while they were building the stadium. Lara Richbell

I visited Wembley Stadium unfortunately only once. It was 1996 - ten days after the European football match (and Germany won in, smile). And it was ten years after the legendary Queen- live at Wembley concert. Now I've bought the new Queen (Live at Wembley) DVD - and it is really "a kind of magic" - I think Queen was the best live Band, and of course a perfect composition with the Wembley Stadium. Matthias Schelker, South-West-Germany

I lived in Stanmore and from where I lived you could see the twin towers of Wembley Stadium.I have hundreds of memories of that great stadium these are just a few. Olympic Way back in the 1940s this was where the Boy Scouts held there Soap Box Derby these were made out of old wooden fruit boxes with Ball Bearing Wheels. I use to go to Wembley Speedway to watch the Wembley Lions race,some of the team were Tommy Price,Freddy & Eric Williams.Bronco Wilson.Split Waterman.Jimmy Gooch.Bill Kitchen I remember Bill Kitchen at one meeting he rode a Rocket Bike all this did was to send out a load of sparks.During the interval there were various acts one of these was a one legged man called Pegg leg pete he would go up a 60 feet tower and down below was a tank of water which had petrol spread on it and Pegg Leg would dive into the tank amid great cheersfrom the capacity crowd at the end of the speedway season there was a big firework display which was a rare sight just after the war.In 1948 we had the Olypic Games and the long distance marathon past right pass my house we went to the stadium to watch the finish.I forgot to mentioned where the runners entered the stadium between the twin towers we use to stand and collect the autograghs of the speedway riders.The first football match I watched at Wembley was England v Argentina in the 50s and will remember the goal keeper Ragelio he would perform acrobatics on the goal posts. Greyhound Racing we would go Greyhound racing although we were under age to bet we would get a grown up to put bets on for us,I had a job in a ironmongers and I spent my wages on the dogs I will always remember my biggest win was on a 2/- forcased on two dogs one called Pauls Fun a Wembley dog and Bellemusica a Manchester dog I had the forcast 5 times and the forcast paid out 7/6p.In them days wembley had there own greyhound kennels which was at the back of the stadium. There were to trainers Reynolds and Harvey.I have watched the amateur football cup final.The Rugby league Cup final I was there when the pitch become flooded This was due to the Horse of the year show being held in the Stadium instead of the Empire Pool the whole Turf had to be relayed.I was at the 1966 Football World cup On that great day when England won.When ever I see the the play backs I see an old friend of mine who worked for ITV television Dave Underwood the Liverpool and Fulham Goalkeeper who is no longer with us.There was also the Military Band Tatoos the bands use to reherse  in the Stadium car park where Sunday market was. Billy Graham the Evangilist came to england to convert the English He would preach for a couple of hours and then ask those who would like to be converted to Christ to come on to the hallow turf of Wembley and thousands would go on to the Pitch. There was also the Clay v Cooper World Title Boxing Title fight which Cooper should have won.One final point you say about seeing the London Eye from Stanmore I now live in Honiton in Devon there is a town near me called Seaton,and Seaton Town Football Club put a bid in for the Wembley Twin Towers thiswas accepted  but they could not get the towers down here this was a pubicity stunt for the club which paid off it was on the national news and papers. These are just a few of my memories of Wembley Empire Stadium It brought tears to my eyes when I watched the Twin Towers being demolished but it was not as easy as the contactors thought it would be. Thanks Wembley for being a part of my life. RAY GRIFFIN.

I lived in Hemel, and we could get the train direct to Wembley Stadium on match days / nights. My dad was a West Ham fan, he used to get all the tickets, he worked in Queen's Park. Here's one of his, a West Ham versus Preston Cup Final ticket, the match featured two teenagers, Howard Kendall and Johnny Sissons. I've got quite a few other ticket stubs, but not the World Cup Final, although he went to it. As a teenager, we used to go most evenings, enclosure D10 at the tunnel end was our usual place, where SuperMac scored 5 versus Cyprus. Clive Johnson

I lived in wembley from 1972 till 1992 and have fond memories of the stadium .We lived 2mins from wembley park station and as a teenager were always aware of the big matches particularly the yearly England V Scotland matches which would last all weekend!!! . Also the great concerts held there. The sunday market will be sorely missed I also remember it being open on a friday for fruit and veg, but most of all for the F.A cup which was always a great event but it will not be the same without those towers!!!! Kim Chadwick

I was taken there shortly after it was built, together with my brother and sister. We went on the boating lake in the Exhibition. My sisters boat sprang a leak and began to sink. I was in the other boat with my brother but was scared to see her boat going down. She was ok though! My father helped to build the stadium,and I [now 82 and living in Kent] am very sorry to see it gone. As far as I am concerned, that is the end of Wembley now. Mrs R. Mackie

I attended a total of 7 matches at Wembley between 1982 and 2000. These included 2 International friendlies, the Opening match of Euro 96, all 3 divisional play-off finals and an Anglo-Italian Cup Final. However, probably my biggest Wembley memory relates to something that happened outside the ground. In the mid-nineties, I was fortunate to be involved in producing the artwork for those little football scarves that fans stuck in the back window of their cars. After Leicester City beat Derby County 2-1 in the First Division play-off final, me and my pals headed back to our car to see these miniature club scarves, which I'd designed, absolutely everywhere! It gave me a boost having just had the disappointment of seeing Derby get beat. Jeremy Orbell

Since a teenager (many years ago) we used to visit Wembley Stadium to visit the Sunday market, this I have been told will also disappear when the new stadium is built, despite it being the largest Sunday market in the country.  Browsing the bargains under the shadows of the towers will soon only be a memory.  I have seen cup finals, internationals and concerts at the stadium all of which had that "special" atmosphere that could only come from the "Empire Stadium".  Sure, she wasn't perfect, some views were poor, the toilets too small but a thorough refurbishment and some revised layouts could have made it one of the best again I am sure.   Living literally minutes away form the complex now, it has become a major part of my life, both as a hobby and an interest.  I have a large collection of memorabilia from the British Empire Exhibition which was held at Wembley in 1924/25, it is nice to keep the memory alive. It looks like the other few remaining buildings from the Exhibition will soon follow suit and that really will be the end of an era.  It was a sad day when the towers came down, the view from our bedroom has forever changed as we could see the crowns through the rooftops. The original stadium took 300 days to construct, the new one will take four times as long, but will it ever have the same "feel" and following about it? Gary Holmyard

"Most of my highs and lows in life are linked to football. Wembley Stadium was about as possible as a venue for my team as my own chances of playing there.   Unbelievably in 1993 my dream was realised. Port Vale, a name synonymous with the odd cup dream victory here and there, thanks to the Autoglass Trophy tournament reached those twin towers for the first time.   Having vanquished Stockport County 2-1 with goals from Paul Kerr and the  mercurial Bernie Slaven, celebrations among a 25,000 merry throng lasted well beyond a weekend overdosed with superlatives.   Then we came home. Videos had been set previously and we all watched again those unrivalled moments of unbridled joy.      We rejoiced again as the goals went in and who can forget the comments of the now Cardiff City manager Lennie Lawrence when he said "It's like watching Real Madrid this performance by Port Vale." Finally, when mentioning the welsh capital an interesting parallel can be drawn as Vale are one of the few clubs to win at both stadia.   Millennium, yes wonderful state of the art facilities but it will never compete with air the nostalgia that always encompassed Wembley visits however small or large the occasion. I will miss it so much. Its replacement will afford better views and better facilities but it will never replace what went before it." Gerard Austin

Thanks for taking the time to put this site on-line. It was sad to see, but I'm glad I got to watch the progress. I remember going past Wembly as a kid and having my Dad point it out to me. It's a shame that they didn't/wouldn't save the towers to incorporate them into the new stadium. Leave it to the politicians! Andrew Foot Windsor, Ontario, Canada

I first visited Wembley Stadium in 1970 to see the start of the London Mexico car rally and the group 'Cream' were providing entertainment in the stadium itself. The was a battle of noise between Ginger Baker's drum solo and the announcers PA, I think it was a draw. My favourite memory was of a perfect summer evening and Genesis electrifying their audience, great stuff. Since 1974 I have worked within sight of the Stadium. Douglas Fairbank

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