Saw the early morning news today and they had a big feature about Wembley Stadium.

Basically, it's not ready for anything.

The FA Cup final will now officially be played in Cardiff (again) and the reporter mentioned the Wembley people having to "reschedule concerts".

I know the Stones aren't there until Late August, and the majority of people don't care whether Bon Jovi or Robbie Williams get rescheduled, but I'm slowly starting to switch over to 'worry mode'.....

Bon Jovi & Take That will probably be affected, but I think the Stones dates are pretty safe.

Unless they reschedule it for next year due to 'tax loss' reasons like they did in the 90's!

Lee

Seems that now the first Football match at Wembley will be the Community Shield which takes place in.......August, therefore the Stones shows SHOULD be safe! (taxman allowing of course)

We all from abroad hope so. Maybe the Stones will be the first performe at Wembley II.

the Stones shows wont be affected. The cup final being ready for May was always touch and go...so that would suggest that the stadium should be ready within a few weeks of the final (May 13th)

It might affect the Bon Jovi shows on June 10th and 11th but I would even expect those to go ahead.

Unfortunately

This is why I did not buy Wembley tickets.

Bad enough parting with hard earned £££ 9 months before a show but for a stadium that is not built & roumers that the workforce may go on strike or start a go slow, No thanks.

It'd be sooooo cool to have the BJ show to be rescheduled so that the Stones would be the 1st concert in Wembley.
I am not particularily a BJ hater, but they could have shut the f**k up instead of saying what they said about playing Wembley a few months ago.


[doctorstonesblog.blogspot.com]

Doc Wrote:
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> It'd be sooooo cool to have the BJ show to be
> rescheduled so that the Stones would be the 1st
> concert in Wembley.
> I am not particularily a BJ hater, but they could
> have shut the f**k up instead of saying what they
> said about playing Wembley a few months ago.

The reformed, Take That, are due to play the Stadium on
24th and 25th June, so potentially they will be the first shows
at Wembley.

It seems only fitting that a British act, headlines the first ever show.
Even if it is, bloody Take That.

Wembley Cup Final bites the dust
By Times Online and Ashling O'Connor and Matt Dickinson of The Times



The FA will admit defeat today on staging this year’s FA Cup Final at Wembley after months of speculation that the new £757 million national stadium would not be ready on time. Brian Barwick, the FA’s chief executive, will break football’s worst-kept secret that the final will be played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on May 13. England’s pre-World Cup friendly matches, against Hungary and Jamaica on May 30 and June 3 respectively, will be staged at Old Trafford.
Barwick and Michael Cunnagh, the chief executive of Wembley National Stadium Ltd, visited the site yesterday hoping that Multiplex, the Australian construction company in charge of the project, would be able to provide a guarantee that an agreed March 31 handover date could be met.



After frank discussions with Martin Tidd, Multiplex UK’s managing director, it was clear that the lead builder could offer no firmer prediction than it could on January 30, when it said that the chances of the Cup Final being staged at Wembley this year had fallen to 70 per cent.

Multiplex said today it was "disappointed" with the FA’s decision. In a statement to the Australian stock exchange, the company's secretary, Mark Wilson, said: "Multiplex understands that the English Football Association is to transfer the 2006 FA Cup final to its reserve venue [Millennium Stadium]. Whilst disappointed with the decision, Multiplex continues to work towards targeting completion of Wembley National Stadium at the earliest possible date.

"We understand that the FA has made this decision on the basis that it requires 100 per cent certainty that the venue will be fully functional by May 13 2006, the scheduled date for the the 2006 FA Cup final."

The FA decided to put an end to the constant speculation by issuing a statement before Multiplex’s next update to its shareholders on Thursday. With the FA Cup entering its sixth round, officials at Soho Square decided that certainty was the best form of preparation for one of the most-watched football matches on the calendar. “We couldn’t take any risks,” an FA source said.

The FA’s statement comes as no surprise after a catalogue of setbacks for one of Britain’s most troubled construction projects. Ever since its conception, there has been debate about its necessity, but with consensus established that it would be the best stadium in the world, the path to completion has not run smooth.

As Multiplex’s losses on the project approach £100 million, the company has encountered problems with sub-contractors, particularly the steelworkers, and had time-consuming legal run-ins with Quintain, the property group that owns the surrounding land.

The most recent of these wrangles came last week, when a court issued Multiplex with a two-week notice to vacate offices on Quintain land after the two companies failed to agree new rental terms. A spat over access to the main pedestrian ramp cost Multiplex months.

The FA has declined to put a date on when Wembley could be finished for fear of further embarrassment. There could be more delays through the summer, although Multiplex will have the added incentive to finish the stadium as quickly as possible as it accrues overrun penalties of nearly £1 million a week. The FA Community Shield on August 6 could be the next obvious date in the football calendar.

There are several pop concerts lined up for Wembley in June, starting with Bon Jovi on June 10 followed by the Rolling Stones, Take That and Robbie Williams. Wembley is expected to announce today whether these events will go ahead.

before anyone gets too excited or anxious, it should be pointed out that the last paragraph is misleading

The only concerts scheduled for June are Bon Jovi and Take That - the Stones of course arent due there until August 20 and Robbie Williams is September

Theres no way the Stones shows would be affected if the deadline for the cup final was only missed by a couple of weeks

I would expect that the June shows would be the only ones under threat and even then, they could still easily be rescheduled to take place BEFORE the Stones' concerts.

i don't think anyone really knows what state Wmebley is in and how far behind schedule they are.. the company building Wembley had to announce this to the stock markey but they are hardly likely to say "this is a total f*** up and we won't be ready till Jan 07" are they.. no one can say for sure the stones shows will go ahead nor when Wmebley will be finished

there is meant to be an announcement later today about the shows and seems better to wait till that happens

Wembley will not be ready for Cup
By David Bond
(Filed: 21/02/2006)

The Football Association will admit today that it has no idea when the new Wembley stadium will be ready to open.

After months of speculation, embarrassed officials at Soho Square last night finally conceded defeat in the race to have the £757 million stadium finished in time for the FA Cup Final on May 13. The showpiece match will instead be held at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.


The FA now concede that the first match to be played at the new stadium will be the Community Shield

The Football League play-offs at the end of May will also be transferred to Cardiff while England's World Cup warm-ups against Hungary on May 30 and Jamaica on June 3 will be moved to Old Trafford.

A total of 10 events were planned to take place at the new Wembley before August, including concerts by Bon Jovi and Take That.

Those concerts are expected to be rescheduled although officials hope that performances by the Rolling Stones in mid August will go ahead.

The FA will refuse to name a possible opening date for fear of missing another deadline, but insiders hope the Community Shield on Aug 13, the football season's traditional curtain raiser, will be the first match at the ground.

The decision to move the FA Cup Final comes after a visit to the construction site yesterday by Brian Barwick, the FA chief executive, and Michael Cunnah, the Wembley National Stadium Limited chief executive

They held lengthy talks with Martin Tidd, the managing director of the stadium constructors Multiplex. They were told that the troubled Australian company could not provide 100 per cent guarantees that the stadium would be finished by March 31 - the deadline set to ensure the ground passes safety checks in time for the grand opening. The original date was Jan 31.

The delay is a blow to the FA but could prove even more costly to Multiplex, which already says it expects to lose £75 million on the £326 million fixed-price contract.

With penalties of £2 million a day running since mid January, those losses could exceed £100 million, putting it under fresh pressure from angry shareholders.

www.telegraph.co.uk

from a personal point of view, i hope The Challenge Cup Final,
will be the first sporting event held at the venue,
and The Stones is the first gig.

I hope they will go ahead. I am never ever one to look on the bad side of things or make people worry, but I have a slight feeling about this, but only because of the following events:

My birthday is on 23rd August. During 1998 they were supposed to play the old wembley on 22nd august, but the show was postponed due to'tax' reasons. I was gutted. Then on the licks tour, they were due to play twickenham on 23rd august - my birthday !! - amazing etc etc, and as we all know it was postponed until september because of micks throat. I was even more gutted.

So, even though i bought tickets, i still have this silly thought in the back of my head that these shows will also be put back a few weeks, just because it will f*ck up my birthday again!!

I'm sure it will be fine though.

Ideally, bon jovi and take that will be changed until september, and then the stones will be the first band to play. Unlikely though...


_____________________________________________________

What's your favourite flavour?...........Cherry Red!!

do we really care if the Stones are first to play at this stadium ??

I don't.

Esky Wrote:
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> do we really care if the Stones are first to play
> at this stadium ??
>
> I don't.

i do- but there again, it's my national stadium and i want a UK act, to open it.
Preferably The Stones.

Esky Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> do we really care if the Stones are first to play
> at this stadium ??
>
> I don't.


as a Brit, I most certainly do

Wembley is the most famous stadium in the world, a symbol of this country and it should have been a British act opening it - ideally the biggest and most famous act of them all. Theres a lot of prestige in being the first act to play there. The venue had stated that they had hoped it would be the Stones, but the Stones missed the boat (or so it seemed!)

Bon Jovi opening it - in my eyes - is the equivalent of Yankee Stadium being closed for refurbishment and then reopened by hosting a cricket match

I heard an interview with Ronnie last year where he said that the Stones would open the new Wembley Stadium, so maybe they would schedule an extra date when it is ready for action - as long as it did not coincide with other European dates. It would be great if they were the first act to open it- as Gazza said its the prestige of it.

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> Bon Jovi opening it - in my eyes - is the
> equivalent of Yankee Stadium being closed for
> refurbishment and then reopened by hosting a
> cricket match

Or Bayern munchen-Shalke 04 opening the new "Kuip" in Rotterdam. ;-)
Please don't take my post too seriously

been announced now that all the concerts should go ahead on schedule so Bon Jovi will still be first act.. guess it's just a matter of waiting and hoping.. won't know more until nearer April really

Adrian-L Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Esky Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > do we really care if the Stones are first to
> play
> > at this stadium ??
> >
> > I don't.
>
> i do- but there again, it's my national stadium
> and i want a UK act, to open it.
> Preferably The Stones.
>


As an non-insulate, I do too. I just want to remind that the Stones were the first musical act at the Paris Stade de France in 1998. It would be an upsidedown situation if they do not open the 21st century UK stadium.

sherer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> been announced now that all the concerts should go
> ahead on schedule so Bon Jovi will still be first
> act.. guess it's just a matter of waiting and
> hoping.. won't know more until nearer April really


Sherer - did you see this online anywhere or was it on TV? Ive checked BBC and googled for news searches and dont see any updates confirming this..thanks

here's the link on the BBC page

[news.bbc.co.uk]

page has been updated a few times so might need to clear your cache etc..

many thanks...still not solid confirmation though, although I;m not unduly worried

I'd be a bit concerned if I was a Bon Jovi fan, though - although, for many reasons, thankfully I'm not!

yikes - i find that photo caption stating "The Rolling Stones' shows are scheduled for September" distinctly *un*reassuring!

update: okay, they changed it. that was quick! :E



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-02-21 19:26 by with sssoul.

Just seen BBC London News with an aerial view of Wembley. It looks like a building site. A few seats but that's all that's recognisable. Let's keep fingers crossed.

jagger50 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just seen BBC London News with an aerial view of
> Wembley. It looks like a building site. A few
> seats but that's all that's recognisable. Let's
> keep fingers crossed.


Gazza - can you tell if any of those "few seats" are ours?

It is a wait and see situation.

The FA and Football League have decided to move their end of season games elsewhere so they can prepare for them.

Wembley Stadium have not as yet aborted the Bon Jovi and Take That concerts scheduled in June. They are talking to the promoters about possible re-scheduling.

At the moment, provisionally the first sports event is the football Community Shield on August 13.

Maybe the Stones will be the first to play the new Wembley.

Martin.
[news.bbc.co.uk]
Stones Fans UK 2006 - [www.stonessessions.com]

T&A Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> jagger50 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Just seen BBC London News with an aerial view
> of
> > Wembley. It looks like a building site. A
> few
> > seats but that's all that's recognisable.
> Let's
> > keep fingers crossed.
>
>
> Gazza - can you tell if any of those "few seats"
> are ours?


LOL...well ours wouldnt be visible because theyre on the pitch!!!

well, truth be told, that by the time we make the show the seats won't be "recognizeable" in any form to me - with any luck, that is!