The Empire Pool / Wembley Arena Story - Part 4

 The fourth and final part of the guest blog by local historian Philip Grant on a key piece of local history. Many thanks to Philip Grant for his tireless efforts to ensure our local history is acknowledged and celebrated.

 

1.  The original (west end) entrance to Wembley Arena in 2003. (Image from the internet)

 

Welcome back for the final part of this story. As we saw at the end of Part 3, the Empire Pool had been renamed Wembley Arena, and although it was still home to some sporting events, it was now being used mainly to stage music and entertainment shows.

 

If I tried to name all of the acts who have performed at the Arena, the list would take up the rest of this article. I will just mention a few, and if I miss one of your favourites, you are welcome to add your memories of the time(s) you saw them at Wembley in the comments below. Among the top British bands that have performed here are The Rolling Stones, The Who, Status Quo, Queen, The Police and Dire Straits. The first two of those both had drummers from Wembley, in Charlie Watts and Keith Moon!

 

It would be unfair if I didn’t also name a few of the top acts from overseas that have also performed here since the name was changed in 1978. Did you see ABBA, AC/DC, Diana Ross, John Denver, Madonna, Meat Loaf, Dolly Parton, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston or Stevie Wonder at Wembley Arena? If so, please feel free to add your memories below.

 

2.  A Torvill & Dean programme from 1985, and a recent Holiday on Ice show. (Images from the internet)

 

One of the original purposes of the Empire Pool was to provide an ice-skating rink. Although Wembley stopped staging its own ice pantomimes, spectacular touring productions from the “Holiday on Ice” franchise have been a regular feature at Wembley Arena since 1978. If you saw it on TV, as I did, you will never forget Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean’s gold medal-winning “Bolero” ice dance at the 1984 Winter Olympics. The following year, as part of their World Tour, they sold out the Arena for seven weeks with their own ice show.

The building was now more than fifty years old, and in the late 1980s Wembley Stadium Ltd invested £10m to upgrade the Arena’s facilities for both performers and the paying public who came to see them. The improvements allowed even more spectacular effects to be included, as the 1990s saw more than 900 concerts performed at the venue. One of the most unusual for Wembley was an arena staging of Puccini’s opera “Turandot” by the Royal Opera in 1991 (building on the popularity of the aria “Nessun Dorma”, which the BBC had used as the theme tune for its coverage of the football World Cup in Italy the previous year!).

 

3.  Concert of Hope, George Michael singing in 1993, and watching other performers with Princess Diana.
(Images from the internet)

 

Charity events had been a feature of the Arena’s programme for decades. The annual Concert of Hope for World Aids Day was supported by Diana, Princess of Wales, and top performers, including another famous musician who grew up in Brent, George Michael.

 

 

Cliff Richard, who first performed here in 1960 as part of a NME Poll Winners’ concert, had 49 shows at Wembley Arena in the 1990s, and was still packing the venue with his 50^th anniversary tour in 2007. A different genre of pop music also came to the Arena in the nineties, with shows from boy (and girl) bands, including Take That, Boyzone, The Spice Girls and Westlife. Two of those groups were from Ireland, but another Irish import, Michael Flatley’s “Lord of the Dance”, was so successful in 1997 that it returned for 21 sell-out shows the following year.

 

4.  “Lord of the Dance” programme and video screenshot. (Images from the internet)

 

February 1999 saw the first solo stand-up comedy act at the Arena (many more would follow) when Eddie Izzard performed “Dress to Kill”, in aid of The Prince’s Trust. Britain (and Brent’s) increasing cultural diversity also saw Wembley Arena hosting more Asian / Bollywood music shows, by performers including Amitabh Bachchan and Asha Bhosle.

 

5.  Eddie Izzard programme and Asha Bhosle poster. (Images from the internet)

 

By the end of the twentieth century, the original Wembley Stadium was about to be demolished and replaced. It had been bought, together with around 100 acres of land that Arthur Elvin’s company had acquired, by the Football Association’s Wembley National Stadium Ltd, but they were not interested in redevelopment. In 2002, they sold some of the land, including the Arena, to Quintain Estates and Developments Plc, which eventually bought 85 acres of Wembley Park.

 

Wembley Arena was only eleven years younger than the 1923 stadium, and Quintain were soon making redevelopment plans, including a major refurbishment of the Grade II Listed arena. Work began in February 2005, and included moving the main entrance to the opposite end of the building, with access from a new Arena Square (it is actually a triangle!). The project cost £36m, and the “new” 12,500-seat Wembley Arena re-opened on 2 April 2006, with a concert by Depeche Mode.

 

6.  The Wembley Arena redevelopment in progress, 2005. (Image from the internet)

 

You can see the Arena being refurbished in the photograph above, but beyond it you can also see an exhibition centre, a triangular office block and a round building, Wembley Conference Centre, which were built by the Wembley Stadium company in the 1970s. The Conference Centre had been the venue for the annual Masters Snooker Championship since 1979, but after Quintain demolished that building in 2006, to make way for its Quadrant Court flats development, “The Masters” moved to Wembley Arena from 2007 to 2011.

 

7.  Scenes from the Olympic badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events at Wembley Arena in 2012.
(Images from the internet)

 

We saw in Part 2 how the then Empire Pool was used for some sports in the 1948 Olympics, and when the Games came to London again in 2012, the now Wembley Arena played host to two different Olympic competitions. First it was the badminton events, followed by the rhythmic gymnastics. Together they brought hundreds of competitors, from more than fifty nations, and thousands of spectators to Wembley.

 

8.  Wembley Arena, with Hilton Hotel and LDO beyond, in 2013.

 

Redevelopment continued around the refurbished Arena and its square. Forum House was the first of Quintain’s many blocks of apartment homes, built between the western end of the Arena and Empire Way. The Hilton Hotel was another early addition, just across Lakeside Way (remember that the Empire Pool was built at one end of the British Empire Exhibition’s central lake!) from the Arena entrance. The former Wembley exhibition halls made way for the London Designer Outlet shopping centre, which opened in 2013, as did Brent’s new Civic Centre, on part of the site of the former BEE Palace of Industry, across Engineers Way from Arena Square.

 

9.  Arena Square, with Brent Civic Centre beyond, summer 2014.

 

Arena Square, with its seasonal fountains, has become a popular open space (especially since the trees planted along its Wembley Park Boulevard side have grown large enough to provide some shade). Another of its features, designed to celebrate some of the Arena’s most popular performers, is the Square of Fame. Although this is on nothing like the scale of the Hollywood Boulevard “walk of fame”, it has become an attraction in its own right. Madonna was the first star to have bronze casts of her hands put on display, in 2006. The most recent addition is Dame Shirley Bassey, in 2019, sixty years after her appearance in the first popular music show at the Empire Pool (although she continued to perform here well into the 21^st century).

 

10.  A Square of Fame compilation, showing some of the stars who have made their mark at the Arena.

 

In 2013, Quintain handed over the management of Wembley Arena to a U.S. music promotions company (now known as ASM Global). They, in turn, entered into a 10-year naming rights deal with Scottish and Southern Energy, so that the building became known as The SSE Arena, Wembley. This made little difference to the shows put on at the venue, which included the annual live final of the X-Factor TV talent show (with previous episodes filmed at Wembley Park’s Fountain Studios, until they closed in December 2016).

 

11.  Outside and inside The SSE Arena on X-Factor finals night. (Images from the internet)

 

The Arena’s name changed again, after SSE sold its retail business to another electricity supplier, OVO Energy, in 2020. What began in 1934 as the Empire Pool is now the OVO Arena Wembley. And twenty years after buying the Arena, Quintain sold it in 2022, raising capital to pay for the construction of more buy-to-let apartments as part of its continuing redevelopment of Wembley Park. Its owner is now ICG Real Estate, part of the private equity firm Intermediate Capital Group.

 

12.  OVO Arena Wembley, from across Engineers Way, July 2024.

 

I hope you have enjoyed discovering more about the history of this famous Wembley Park landmark and venue. It is a story that I have wanted to share for several years, and the building’s 90^th anniversary felt like a good time to do that.

 

As long ago as the 1990s, Brent Council and the Stadium company worked together to celebrate the sports and entertainment heritage of Wembley’s Stadium and Arena. They did this with a series of ceramic tile murals, which welcomed visitors coming from Wembley Park Station through a new subway and onto the newly pedestrianised Olympic Way. Unfortunately, in 2013, the Council agreed to allow Quintain to cover those tile murals with advertisements!

 

13.  Some tile mural scenes celebrating events from Empire Pool / Wembley Arena history.

 

Along with Wembley History Society and a number of local residents, I have been campaigning since 2018 to get these tile murals put back on public display. In 2022, Quintain agreed to put the mural scenes on the walls in Olympic Way, which they own, back on public view. They include the ice hockey tiled picture at the top of the image above.

 

The other four mural scenes in that image are on the walls of the subway, which Brent Council own. I had taken a photograph of the mural celebrating the Horse of the Year Show in 2009, but the other three images, showing a female singer (Shirley Basey?), an ice skater and a basketball player (Harlem Globetrotters?), are all extracted from old views of the walls. All four of these murals are still hidden from view, behind LED advertising screens.

 

Brent Council had the chance to put the subway murals back on public view from the end of August 2024, and there was a strong case for doing so. Sadly, Brent’s Cabinet was unwilling to consider that case, choosing instead to receive slightly more advertising rent. That decision will mean these parts of the Arena’s history (and more scenes from Wembley Stadium’s history) will remain hidden from residents and visitors for at least another four years.

Philip Grant.

 

Ealing Road blocks replacing bank and public house approved by Brent Planning Committee

 

Brent Planning Committee approved the plans for  245-249 and 253 Ealing Road at Wednesday's meeting. Two members voted against approval. There were representations  against the development from nearby residents and from ward councillor Anton Georgiou. The sound quality of the Coucil recording was very poor so Cllr Geogiou has let me have a copy of his representation:

I am here, once again, to be a voice for the residents in Alperton who are fed up with the intense development in this particular part of the ward. An area that has already had to endure years of construction works, that are still ongoing causing misery to the lives of local people. If any of you have visited recently – you will understand why.

 

As a ward Councillor, I often come to these meetings to voice opposition to the wrong type of development and am often attacked by the Chair and others for not understanding the pressures we face as a local authority with regards to our housing needs – these attacks are totally unwarranted.

 

It is important to recognise that the bulk of the development that has occurred to date has not and will not address the genuine and growing housing need in our community. It has though compounded existing issues in my ward whether that is a lack of infrastructure to deal with the increasing population, or the problems that present for existing residents and even our newer residents who are living in some of the new blocks that have been thrown up.

 

Firstly, I think that it is important to read the letter from my resident Alexandra, who is unable to be here today, which outlines her and her neighbours, objections to this development. The issues she highlights are all genuine planning considerations, loss of light, privacy and overlooking issues, the cumulative effect that ongoing development has had and will have on this area. I do believe that before you make a decision tonight you should read her letter and listen to the comments Mathew, another resident at 243 Ealing Road will make, who will also be speaking in opposition.

 

If I could get into the final details of this application, I think it’s important to recognise that whilst some affordable housing is provided, not all of it is the genuinely affordable provision we need. I continue to take issue with the Council’s view that shared ownership is an affordable housing tenure. It is not. 

 

Shared Ownership is a scam, and you only have to speak to the 1000’s of residents in Brent who have been trapped by the false pretence that Shared Ownership is affordable to see this. In the application it is proposed that there will be 10 Shared Ownership units. In my view that is enough of a reason to reject this version of the application entirely. 

 

Whilst I recognise the scheme proposes a 35% affordable housing offer, as an authority we should be pushing for much more from developers if we are serious about addressing our growing housing need. We do not need 56 more private units at market value, who are they for, who can afford them? It is time this Committee stopped saturating the local housing market with what we do not need.

 

Moving to existing issues in some of the new blocks in Alperton, I would like to ask this Committee if they follow up on the developments that have already been approved. If you had you would realise that most new residents are having to already contend with difficulties in new buildings, such as broken lifts, anti-social behaviour in communal spaces, lack of access to communal areas due to safety issues, significant construction issues, including with cladding, the list goes on.

 

My point is that this Committee is approving new developments without recognising that most of these developments from the offset have major, inherent issues with them. You are effectively allowing residents to move into the ward and into Brent who are then forced to cope with a myriad of problems in their new homes from day one. 

 

Is the Council holding the developers, housing associations and construction/ building companies to account – when they make commitments to us at this stage of the process? I am personally having to intervene when issues present in new blocks and it seems unbelievable, frankly a dereliction of the Council’s duty towards residents, that new developments keep being approved despite there being such flaws in new builds. Enough is enough.

 

I would finally like to turn to the financial contributions offered alongside this development.

 

The papers indicate a £45,00 towards a CPZ close to the site, I would like the Committee to tell me if they know where the existing CPZ is, and whether the mentioned extension will simply be imposed on residents. Before accepting more money for CPZ’s I would suggest the Council gets its act together in progressing schemes – they take too long to implement and in the meantime parking havoc ensues on local roads.

 

£7,000 for off street tree planting is welcome but are the Council committing maintenance and upkeep, rather than letting new trees die?

 

£10,000 for improvements to open spaces within the borough but not solely for the ward so again money generated in Alperton being spent elsewhere. This is not fair.

 

Another £150,000 for step free access at Alperton tube. Welcomed. But will it actually happen. TfL are good at sending out press releases on this, but how long will it take? Issues at the station are present now, local people cannot wait any longer.

 

CIL contribution again welcomed, but how much will actually be spent on infrastructure in my ward, to mitigate the impact of this development. Will the Council not be tempted, as it has been to date, to just grow the overall pot and resist spending it on immediate needs?

 

These financial sweeteners are simply not reason enough to justify even more development in Alperton.

 

I will close by saying, the proposed site used to house a public house and bank. Both great amenities, that local people want and need. The worrying trend of pubs closing down and being redeveloped into unaffordable housing will continue if you approve this application. I am sure many of you have fought to save such amenities in your wards. Why doesn’t Alperton deserve the same fight?

 

This Committee is making my ward a place for people to sleep in but not live. It is a concrete jungle, with little to no community vibe. Please pause and think again before agreeing to two more tower blocks here.

Community Shield Saturday August 10th. Kick-off 3pm. Local arrangements.

 From Brent Council

We want everyone to enjoy their visit to Wembley and the match. However we will not tolerate anti-social behaviour, so please behave responsibly.

Brent Council and its partners are enforcing a No Street Drinking Zone on Olympic Way and the surrounding area for the following event:

The 2024 FA Community Shield 

Saturday 10 August 2024, Kick off at 3pm

This is part of the current Public Space Protection Order.

Drink responsibly

Fans drinking on Olympic Way and the surrounding streets will be asked to hand over their alcohol and enforcement action may be considered.  We are taking these steps to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for everyone.

There is a range of bars, fan zones and restaurants available  in and around Wembley where you can enjoy a meal or drink before the match. We have listed details of some of these venues below, including which ones are hosting which fans, if applicable. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

East - Manchester United

If you have tickets on the east side of the stadium, you can enjoy a pre-match drink or meal in the following pubs and bars. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

Venue	Address	Phone number
The Blue Check	12 -13 Empire Way, Wembley, HA9 0RQ	020 8902 8147
Wembley Tavern	121 Wembley Park Dr, Wembley Park, HA9 8HG	07956 849648 020 8903 2955
Stadium Sports Bar	125 Wembley Park Dr, Wembley Park, HA9 8HQ	07503 000 096
The Torch	1-5 Bridge Rd, Wembley Park, HA9 9AB	020 8904 5794
Crock of Gold	23 Bridge Road, Wembley, HA9 9AB	020 8908 6933
Black Sheep	2 Olympic Way, HA9 0GU	0203 988 6994
Box Park	18 Olympic Way, HA9 0JT	0207 186 8800

West - Manchester City

If you have a ticket on to the west of the stadium, you can enjoy a pre-match drink or meal in the following pubs and bars.

Venue	Address	Phone number
The Green Man	Dagmar Avenue, Wembley, HA9 8DF	0208 9031441  07595 051937
Crystals (Sports Bar & Aqua Lounge)	1 Popin Building, Southway, HA9 0HB	02035765765 07985 195277
The Arch	324 Harrow Rd, Wembley , HA9 6LL	0208 1271141
Station 31	299-303 Harrow Rd, Wembley, HA9 6BD	0208 9000173
The Liquor Station	397A High Rd, Wembley, HA9 6AA	020 8903 0159
JJ Moons	397 High Rd, Wembley, HA9 6AA	020 8903 4923
La Regina	St George's Hotel, 43-51 Wembley Hill Rd, Wembley, HA9 8AU	020 8900 0662
Black Sheep	2 Olympic Way, Wembley Park, HA9 0GU
Sixty Six Bar & Grill	3 South Way, Wembley, HA9 0JU	07447098752
The Corner House	313 Harrow Road, HA9 6BA	02037842021
White Horse	4 Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley Park, Wembley HA9 0HP	020 8237 8037

London Designer Outlet and other public houses

There are a number of cafes, restaurants and bars in and around Wembley that haven't been allocated to a team where you can enjoy a meal or pre-match drink.

Visit the London Designer Outlet website for more information on many of the restaurants listed below.

Venue	Address	Phone number
Swan Pub	789 Harrow Road, Wembley, HA0 2LP	020 8904 6933
Arena Lounge	652 Harrow Road, Wembley, HA0 2HA	020 8248 1280 07857820000
The Barrel & Corner	610-612 High Rd, Wembley HA0 2AF	020 8900 2947
Trader Wembley	87 Ealing Road, Wembley, HA0 4BD	07411 118183
The Corner House	2-4 Slough Lane, NW9 8QL	02082006810
JJ Moons	553 Kingsbury Road, NW9 9EL	0208 204 9675
CXI Love Food	111 Wembley Park Drive, Wembley Park, HA9 8HG	0203 904 0054
TGI Friday	1 Wembley Park Boulevard, Wembley Park, HA9 0TG
Pasta Remoli	10 Exhibition Way, Wembley Park, HA9 0FU
Masalchi by Atul Kochar	2 Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley Park, HA9 0HP
Bread Ahead	26-28 Olympic Way, Wembley Park, HA9 0NP
Frankie & Benny's	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
JRC Global Buffet	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
Las Iguanas	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
Wagamama	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
Pizza Express	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
Zizzi	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
Nando's	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
Byron Burger	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
Big Moe's	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD

Travelling to Wembley

Wembley has great public transport connections, and as a borough we are working hard to keep our carbon footprint down. If you come to this event by car, we ask that you only use official stadium car parks.

• Pink car park (west of the stadium)
• Green car park (east of the stadium)

If you are travelling to Wembley by public transport, the Drinkaware website has some useful advice on drinking alcohol in public places. There may also be alcohol restrictions on coach services so please check before you travel.

We want action on Islamophobia and we want it now! Brent Muslims angry at council for failing its community in light of Far Right Islamophobic attacks

 Guest post by Brent Muslims

Muslim communities in Brent and across the country are fearing for their safety after Far-Right riots kicked off in Southport and other areas last week.

 

What’s app groups are busy sharing messages on staying safe, warnings of upcoming EDL action across London and what to do in an emergency. There have even been reports of acid attacks on Muslim women which has understandably made many incredibly anxious.

 

Sadly, the catalyst for the riots has been the murder of three young girls who were attending a summer dance club. Our heartfelt condolences go out to all the families of the deceased, those who were injured and all those who have been affected.

 

The Far Right have used the tragic deaths to begin mass scale Islamophobic attacks on Muslim communities and places of worship across the UK. In their ignorance and racism - they have targeted other communities as well.

 

These atrocious acts by the Far Right have been brewing for decades. The UK is no stranger to race riots and Far Right thuggery, but this violence has been rooted in hatred for the Muslim community. This is scary business considering widespread anti-Muslim hatred and killings worldwide.

 

Andrew Feinstein recently said on X (Twitter) that “Islamophobia is embedded in the British establishment.” This is probably why our leaders and politicians seem to intentionally ignore the reality of Islamophobia and even its existence. This vile hatred, fear and suspicion of Muslims has now made the community even more vulnerable to attack and possibly even death.

 

Yet who really cares? As a community, we feel like we are in this on our own. We have had a wishy-washy statement from Brent Council that does not once even mention the Muslim community directly when they are the main targets, and on the front line of attack. In a borough with a population of 21% Muslims of diverse backgrounds, as well as being the second largest faith group in Brent - the council continues to gaslight our experiences and ignore our reality.

 

This behaviour from Brent Council is historic. An-Nisa Society, a long-standing grass-roots Muslim charity based in Brent, tells us that the council has ignored Muslims for decades, never understood Muslim communities needs and in fact excluded them at an institutional level which has led to the increased socio-economic exclusion of Muslims including poor health outcomes. This is outlined in detail in their recent report, Islamophobia: From Denial to Action.’

 

The catalogue of failures by the council has led to real devastation in Muslim communities. During the first wave of Covid, the highest number of deaths across the country was in Church End - a majority Muslim area. Institutional Islamophobia being a root cause of such poor health outcomes. 

 

The council has also continued to peddle the Prevent programme which has labelled all Muslims ‘from the cradle to the grave’ as a potential terror threat. The Prevent training predominantly highlights Muslim ‘terrorism’ while not seeming to have a grip on the threat of the Far Right or Hindutva. The optics are all wrong.

 

On top of that, last year a Muslim woman in hijab was verbally abused for being a Muslim on the number 18 bus in Harlesden. The Mayor of Brent at the time, Councillor Orleen Hylton ignored the attack and didn’t report it internally or to the Police.

 

The incident went viral on X, however Brent Council remained silent for five days. The eventual response was dismissive, lacking in seriousness and not heartfelt at all. The Mayor stayed in her position and the council simply carried on business and usual, paying no heed to the upset within the Muslim community.

 

The council is charging forward with its approach and policies that fuel Islamophobia. And even with these horrific riots against Muslims they are once again showing they don’t care and haven’t got a clue by not acting quickly enough and trying to distance themselves from taking ownership of the problem at hand.

 

The horrendous, repugnant riots taking place as we speak have been caused by negative assumptions about Muslims, a perceived fear and threat, a deep rooted anti-Muslim hatred and all fuelled by institutionalised Islamophobia.

 

Muslim life has been devalued for centuries. Islamophobia is not new and the history goes right back to the start of Islam. If you want to understand it and deal with, you need to understand the specific context of Islamophobia and it’s root causes. All of which the council doesn’t seem to know anything about.

 

The question now being asked by the community is about where is the leadership from Brent Council in regards to the riots? We don’t want to only hear from the politicians but the Senior Management Team who have failed us.

 

The council’s treatment of its diverse Muslim communities has led to disenfranchisement and anger. Muslims tell us they have no trust in Brent. They don’t trust the leadership, and see their double standards loud and clear. One such example is how the council have vocally supported the people of Ukraine whilst remaining silent and neutral on the perceived genocide in Gaza. The message is clear - Muslims in Brent are second-class citizens and not valued.

 

We don’t want bland insincere statements- we want answers. The community want to meet the council leadership, speak to them and hold them to account. They want to know what are their short and long term aims in fighting Islamophobia. We don’t want to be fobbed off by a tick-box event for Islamophobia Awareness Month - we want meaningful change and want it now before our most feared outcome happens.

 

Brent Muslims 

 

Brent Muslims are a group of young Brent residents who are dedicated to tackling Islamophobia in Brent, and working towards justice, peace and equality for all.