Why are all English soccer finals played at Wembley Stadium?

Wembley, Wembley, we’re the famous [insert team name here] and we’re off to Wembley! The famous chant comes from the stands when a team in England gets past the semi-final stage of a domestic cup competition, and signifies a trip to the capital for a chance at silverware.

But why Wembley? It’s a good question: Spain, one of football’s most successful countries, doesn’t have a national stadium. Finals are played wherever fits, be it Real Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Valencia’s Mestalla, Atlético Madrid’s Metropolitano or elsewhere. But not in England. Trophies are lifted at Wembley, Europe’s second largest sport stadium, after Camp Nou.

Why does Wembley host all English domestic cup finals?

Wembley, the home of the England National Team, was built in 1923 and was used until 2003, before the ‘new’ Wembley was opened in 2007. It holds 90,000 fans and as mentioned, only the (currently closed) Barcelona stadium beats it for capacity in the entire continent. During the period in which Wembley was inactive due to building works, Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium held all domestic finals.

As of today, all finals are played at the ground, including the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup, as well as Playoff finals between teams in the Championship, League One and League Two. It has, in the past, hosted Champions League finals and Euros finals, and will also host this year’s UEFA Champions League final.

Wembley hosts the finals nowadays as that’s how it’s always been in England. The 1923 FA Cup final was the inaugural match of the original stadium and since then, the tradition has continued. The same thing occurred with the League Cup (now known as the Carabao Cup): it was held at Wembley as it was the showpiece stadium of the country, and remains to this day.

Semi-finals were, before the ‘new’ Wembley was opened, played at neutral grounds. England has its fair share of historic - and huge - venues up and down the country, think of Aston Villa’s Villa Park, Leeds United’s Elland Road or the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, grounds which all hold around 40,000 fans.

However, the opening of Wembley in 2007 sparked outrage when the English FA decided that, for monetary reasons, all semi-finals would also be held at the home of the England National Team. The FA argue that the reason is due to the large capacity of the stadium, allowing for more fans to be present and experience the game live.