Let’s hold Khan to his word! if his purchase offer is accepted, England should play home games at Wembley.
Shad Khan (photo, Sports Illustrated)
The Football Association (FA) recently received a shocking bid for Wembley Stadium from Fulham Football Club’s billionaire owner, Shahid (Shad) Khan.
According to Sky News, the deal could be worth at least £600 million and perhaps as much as £900 million. It also has the potential of seeing England’s football team traveling across the country to play home games.
At issue is whether the Three Lions are better off playing home games on the road or at Wembley. For perspective, let’s look at the numbers.
The new Wembley Stadium opened in March 2007 as a 90,000-seat venue at a cost of £757 million (data, Propsellers). It replaced the old Wembley, which had been in place since 1923 but closed in 2000 before being demolished in 2002.
In the years in between (2001-07), the Three Lions played games on the road–34 games to be specific–while the new stadium was under construction. The overall record over that span was 22 wins, 5 defeats, and 7 draws. In competitive games, England won 11 times, had 3 draws, and didn’t suffer a single defeat (79% win percentage).
Three Lions beat Nigeria at Wembley in June (photo, Brila)
Since drawing with Brazil in a friendly match in June 2007, England’s senior men have played 60 games on the new ground The Three Lions’ record is 41 wins, 7 losses, and 12 draws. The record in competitive games is even more impressive — 24 wins, 3 draws, and only one defeat (86% win percentage).
The win percentage for all games played at the new Wembley is currently 68.3%, which is higher than the overall win percentage of 64.7% for games played between ’01 and the beginning of ’07.
The difference is even greater for competitive games—86% for matches played at the new Wembley vs. 79% for games played across England.
Khan has insisted that English football will remain the priority if his offer is accepted. I agree!
The Three Lions belong at Wembley.
******************
Sources: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6459415.stm
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/03/24/wembley-10-years-best-worst-first-decade/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England_national_football_team_results_(2000%E2%80%9319)
