Field of dreams

100 years of Wembley Stadium told through 100 matches. 

Hundreds of thousands of fans, 5,000 were on the pitch, and a horse called Billy. That was the scene for the inauspicious first football match to be played at the British Empire Exhibition Stadium back in 1923, soon to be known as Wembley. 

More than a century later, Wembley remains the world’s most famous football stadium. Watching your team there is the highlight of a fan’s lifetime of support; playing on its hallowed turf the fulfilment of a childhood dream.

Nige Tassell chooses 100 matches that have shaped Wembley’s legacy – from England’s triumphs in World Cup and Euros tournaments to groundbreaking women’s matches and various non-league finals, by way of greyhounds, stunt motorcycles and the feet of 72,000 music fans at Live Aid – and tells a lively and original alternative history of the past century of football, and of Britain. 

Field of Dreams is the story of how football found its home.