2015 in review: A look back at an historic year at Wembley
Following Barcelona’s Champions League triumph under the arch back in 2011 Andres Iniesta said, "I don’t dream of scoring legendary goals, but I dream of being at Wembley.”
It is a stadium which exists in the dreams of many, Raheem Sterling sports a tattoo depicting himself as a child looking longingly up at the arch with the words ‘it’s a dream’ whilst Jose Mourinho described the stadium as “the dream of every professional footballer”.
Yet even those whose sleep is filled with thoughts of Wembley could not have envisaged the stadium having a year as historic as 2015.
It is easy to tag every year as a landmark for Wembley, after all trophies are won, heroes are born and drama is virtually guaranteed. However 2015 was a year to etch into the annals for so many reasons.
Records were broken, history was made and the year ended in an emotional display of togetherness that showed the ability sport has to unite us, even in the darkest of times.
However, before we get to that let us start at the beginning and reflect on the first of a famous double for Jose Mourinho. The Chelsea manager lifted his first trophy since his return to England on 1 March 2015, the Capital One Cup would soon be joined in the Stamford Bridge trophy cabinet by the Premier League trophy.
The firsts just kept on coming. Walsall visited the national stadium for the first time in their 127 year history however their long awaited Wembley date wasn’t to be the fairy tale Saddlers fans wanted, Bristol City despatching the Black Country outfit 2-0 in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final.
However, if the cold, hard dose of reality Walsall received under the arch dampened your belief in the footballing fairy tale, step forward Harry Kane to reignite it a mere five days later.
The Spurs forward needed just 79 seconds of his England debut against Lithuania to open his Three Lions’ account with a goal greeted so jubilantly inside Wembley you would have thought we had won the Euros.
Another big part of the football fairy tale is upsets and they were also in abundance in 2015.
Reading might not have quite been able to overcome FA Cup holders Arsenal but North Ferriby’s conquest of Wrexham in the FA Trophy Final followed by Aston Villa defeating Liverpool proved Wembley fixtures remained as unpredictable as ever.
Drama was also not in short supply as the play-offs then rolled into town.
The Conference and League two affairs were both decided on penalties, the latter game seeing Wycombe’s Gareth Ainsworth and Southend’s Phil Brown stood arms around each other as their teams took 16 penalties to determine the destiny of a thrilling final.
Unfortunately, Preston and Norwich didn’t go in for such theatrics winning their respective play-off finals with something to spare and Arsenal took a leaf out of their book with a comfortable FA Cup Final victory over Aston Villa. The Gunners’ fans treated to much less sweat inducing afternoon than they had endured twelve months previous.
Music then took centre-stage for Wembley but, whether it was Angus Young’s incredible 15-minute solo or Elton John’s guest appearance on stage with Ed Sheeran, there was still plenty to amaze and delight.
A new football season in August saw us right back to where we began, with history being made left, right and centre!
A first Women’s FA Cup Final at Wembley was followed up by a record breaking 50-0 Challenge Cup victory for Leeds Rhinos and, before the first ever Rugby World Cup fixtures at Wembley grasped everyone’s attention, a certain Mr Rooney decided to make the back pages his own.
The England captain’s thumping penalty against Switzerland was his 50th strike for his country and saw him surpass Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time goal scoring record for the Three Lions. The man whose record he broke would present Rooney with a commemorative golden boot a month later before the Euro 2016 qualifier with Estonia.
The NFL took up residence at Wembley in October for a triple header of games which will long be remembered for Jacksonville Jaguars’ incredible victory over Buffalo Bills.
We had witnessed one of the great NFL comebacks in 2014 as Detroit Lions stormed back from 21-0 at the break to emerge 22-21 victors over Atlanta Falcons and many thought lightening might strike twice as the Bills clawed back a 27-3 half-time deficit to lead 31-27.
However, the Jaguars weren’t prepared to become another cautionary tale of what can happen at Wembley and a late touchdown secured a 34-31 victory in an incredible game.
On the 13 November, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed to the stadium by David Cameron and 55,000 people in a spectacular event under the arch.
However that day would end in great sadness and, as the lights went out on the Wembley arch, news of the tragic events in Paris filtered through and the world was stunned.
Four days later supporters of England and France sang La Marseillaise in one voice before players from both side stood together for an impeccably observed minute’s silence.
The 90 minutes of football which followed will not be what 17 November 2015 will be remembered for.
However what we will remember is that, even in the darkest of times, sport can inspire scenes of liberty, equality and fraternity.
Check out our video review of 2015 at Wembley Stadium connected by EE