Yesterday was Samuel and Joshua's birthday outing to Wembley, and Nicky and I managed to blag an invite as well to be adult helpers!
We set off from theirs at about quarter past nine - Jake obviously having decided that we cramp his style and choosing to go in the other car - and through a combination of following Chris, using a borrowed sat nav, and ignoring signs on the motorway that wanted us to go round to junction 16, had a smooth journey and got to Wembley a little after half past ten.
Having checked in there was time for coffee and a muffin before our tour, and we still managed to sneak onto one tour earlier than we were booked in for, once the boys had been removed from the football games on the XBoxes.
Our tour group comprised just us (party of 12) plus seven or eight Bulgarians who were obviously on holiday in London - and were Man Utd supporters. We started off up near the top outside the executive boxes (not sure if my firm has one, but one can only hope). Apparently we were just along from the one leased by Roman from Chelsea, which is in line with the centre of the pitch and just above the royal box. Box leases run for ten years and apparently when they were leased for the first time in 2007 they were going for about 2.5 million. Gives us another eight years to be saving up for next time!
Wembley facts - it is the second largest stadium in Europe, narrowly beaten by the Nou Camp in Barcelona. The arch isn't just for decoration - it supports all of the roof on one side and 60 percent of the roof on the other side. Three of the roof sections move so the for matches all of the seating is under cover. The top section of seating is hgher up than the top of the old twin towers. Finally, and one that our guide seemed particularly proud of, it apparently has (at over 2,600) more toilets than any other building in the world!
Entertainingly, it was about midday now and we probably had nearly an hour left of our tour, and the Bulgarians in our party announced that they were supposed to be at Westminster at one o'clock. Our guide radioed for someone to come and collect them and escort them out - meant that we had the rest of the tour to ourselves.
Carrying on our tour, past the entertaining area for the royal box and down the royal staircase, we went to the press room where we watched a film showing a few famous Wembley moments, including the '66 World Cup final, and a couple of favourite Spurs moments - Ricky Villa on his magical run in '81 and Gazza scoring that free kick in the semi final against Arsenal ('91?).
Next up were the changing rooms and opportunities to have a photo next to the England shirt of your choice before lining up in the tunnel ready to go out onto the pitch. As seems to be normal with these tours there's no going on the grass, but then yesterday we couldn't have done anyway as it was all being dug up. Our tour guide had told us at the start that the new turf was being laid (next game is England qualifier - not that we need it - on 14 October) and that it should just about have been finished, and then was really surprised to see it all being dug up again. Looks like someone made a rather expensive mistake.
Once we were out in the dug-out area we were allowed to climb the steps up to the royal box. We were told that it was 107 steps up (I made it 109 up and then 2 back down at the end!), many more than the 39 steps in the old stadium. Then there was a photo opportunity with the FA Cup - albeit a replica. A certain someone was quick to point out where the real one currently resides (Stamford Bridge).
Our final stop was to admire the Bobby Moore statue (and yes, Chelsea really was one of his middle names) before, like all good tours, we finished off at the gift shop. Mind you, I think that I probably did best in there as I found a replica Spurs top from the 1981 FA Cup final - the first game in which I ever supported Spurs - which just had to come home with me.
After Wembley the next stop was the nearest McDonald's for burgers and ice cream before the journey home. A jolly nice day was had by all and thanks very much to Carolyn and Chris for the invite.
To finish things off it was a nearly perfect day on the pitch as well. Spurs scored 5, Liverpool scored 6, Everton (supported by the birthday boys) won, but sadly please could nobody mention Chelsea!