UEFA Women’s Euros football tournament is coming to Wembley in July - OFFSIDE and more Women’s Football events from Brent Culture Service

 Many thanks to Philip Grant for this guest post

 

 

This July, the UEFA Women’s Euros football tournament is coming to Wembley, and Brent Culture Service is celebrating this with a number of special events. The season kicks off with a performance of the acclaimed drama “OFFSIDE”, at Willesden Green Library on Friday 17 June at 7.30pm. Tickets are £5 to £7, and can be booked here.

 

It’s a story about the struggle for women’s right to play football, and the challenges still faced by female players today. Futures Theatre, who are touring the play around the country ahead of the Euros, give this information about it:

 

‘It is 1892. It is 1921. It is 2017. Four women from across the centuries live, breathe, and play football.

 

Whilst each of them face very different obstacles, the possibility that the beautiful game will change their futures – and the world – is tantalisingly close.

 

Offside is told through lyrical dialogue, poetry, and punchy prose, placing the audience on the touchline of the game of a lifetime.’

 

Scene from “Offside”, being performed in Edinburgh. (Photo by Lidia Crissafulli)

 

If you want to see this “one night only” performance in Brent, I’d suggest that you book your tickets now! But there are plenty of other events celebrating women’s football, for all the family and most of them free, taking place over the next two months.

 

The Women’s Euros tournament begins on 6 July, with England playing their opening group match at Old Trafford in Manchester. Just over 50 years ago, that would not have been possible. The Football Association (“FA”) was run for men, by men who believed that football was not a suitable game for “the fair sex”. For decades it had banned all of its member clubs from allowing women to play football on their pitches!

 

Things began to change when 44 women’s teams from across the UK met in 1969 to set up the Women’s Football Association of Great Britain (“WFA”). By the 1970/71 season they held their first Cup competition, the Mitre Challenge Trophy. This has gone on to be the Women’s FA Cup, and Brent is celebrating with a free coffee morning talk, at Kilburn Library, on Wednesday 6 July from 11am-12noon: “A History of the Women’s FA Cup Final – 50 Years, Gone in a Flash.” (Please see details and register your interest on Eventbrite).

 

The England Women’s football team, 1972.

 

Brent could not have found a better speaker, to guide her audience through the development of the women’s game since the 1960s, than Patricia Gregory. She was Secretary of the WFA from 1972 to 1982, and saw an official England Women’s team play a first international match against Scotland in 1972 (a full century after the first men’s international between the two old rivals). The WFA carried on until 1993, when control of women’s football in England passed to the FA.

 

Wednesday 6 July also sees the start of a Brent Museum and Archives programme of talks at Wembley Stadium, which carries on until Saturday 30 July. “One two, one two” will give Brent residents the chance to hear inspirational stories about women’s football history from some of our local football heroes. Look out for more details online, or at Brent Libraries!

 

You can also see portraits of Brent’s Female Football Stars, specially commissioned from local photographer Roy Mehta, in an exhibition at Brent Civic Centre, which runs from 18 June until 6 November. The “Women of the Match” exhibition, prepared by Brent Museum and Archives, will also include vintage photographs and football memorabilia.

 

Manisha Taylor, QPR football coach. (Photo by Roy Mehta)

 

One of the football stars featured in the exhibition is Manisha Tailor MBE. She is a coach for the Academy players at Queens Park Rangers F.C., and the first South Asian woman to hold a coaching role at a men’s Football League club. One of the women who inspired her was Rachel Yankey (who I wrote about in my “Football IS Coming Home” article last summer). After having to pretend to be a boy, so she could play for a football team, while at Malorees Primary School in the 1980s, she had a long and distinguished career as a player, then went on to earn her coaching badges.

 

Rachel Yankey, in a football coaching role. (Image from the internet)

 

Wembley High Road will see events to help all the family to get into the UEFA Women’s Euros spirit, during the tournament. “Bend it Like Beckham, Be A Lioness!!” will take place on the wide section of pavement near Nando’s on a number of afternoons from 1-5pm. The fun activities will include the chance to take a penalty kick in a football shoot-out with a controlled AI simulator, watch exclusive female football freestylers and take selfies with a lioness mascot!

 

Although the 1923 FA Cup final was first played at the Stadium in 1923, Wembley hasn’t always been the home of women’s football. The “Lionesses” didn’t play their first international match here until November 2014, and the first Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley was in 2015. That attracted a crowd of around 30,000, which had risen to nearly 50,000 for the May 2022 final. It will be a “full house” at Wembley Stadium for the UEFA Women’s Euros final on 31 July, and in the build up to that Brent Culture Service is staging two big events. 

 

“A Stadium Of The Future -  If I can't dance , I don't want to be part of your revolution”, on Friday 29 July, from 2-8pm at Bridge Park Leisure Centre, promises a unique event for women combining music, dancing, activism, food and celebration. The group “Idle Women” will be collaborating with women in Brent, and say: ‘It’s about women taking up space and making visible their essential role in solving the social and environmental challenges with face locally and globally.’

 

On the eve of the final itself, Saturday 30 July from noon until 5pm, everyone is invited to Olympic Way for “Emma Smith's Supercompensation Cycle installation and dance performance”, along with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and local musicians performing the 'Brent Anthem'. This will celebrate the arrival of the 2022 UEFA Women’s Euros at Wembley.

 

England Women’s manager Sarina Wiegman congratulating some of her players after an Arnold Clark Trophy match earlier this year. (Image from the internet)

 

The excitement will be even greater if England are one of the teams taking part in the final. England Manager Sarina Wiegman (who won the previous Women’s Euros tournament with The Netherlands) has got an excellent squad, which has been playing well and won the Arnold Clark Trophy international tournament earlier this year. Can the “Lionesses” go one better than the England Men’s “Three Lions” team at Wembley last year? 

 

We will see! And as well as following the UEFA Women’s Euros championship, I hope that you can enjoy some of the Brent Culture Service events being held along the way to 31 July.

 

Philip Grant.

 

Football IS coming home!

Guest post by Philip Grant

 

On Sunday (11 July 2021) England will be playing Italy in the final of the Euros football tournament at Wembley Stadium. There is nowhere else in our country more appropriate for this historic match, but why is that?

 

1. Wembley Stadium and its new steps, April 2021. (Photo by Philip Grant)

 

One hundred years ago, when the British Empire Exhibition was being planned, the then Prince of Wales, who was President of its organising committee, wanted it to include ‘a great national sports ground’. His wish was granted, and the giant reinforced concrete Empire Stadium, with its iconic twin towers, was built in just 300 days. It hosted the FA Cup final in April 1923, and a year later its first England international football match, against Scotland (a 1-1 draw).

 

2. The Empire Stadium at Wembley in 1924. (Image from the Wembley History Society Colln. at Brent Archives)

 

The long-term future of the stadium was in doubt, until it was saved from demolition in 1927 by Arthur Elvin. He ensured that annual events, like the FA Cup and Rugby League Challenge Cup finals were popular days out for spectators, as well as making the stadium pay its way with regular greyhound and speedway racing meetings. Although cup finals made the stadium famous in this country, the 1948 Olympic Games put Wembley on the world map. The Olympic football final at Wembley saw Sweden beating Yugoslavia 3-1, with Denmark taking the bronze medal after a 5-3 victory over Great Britain.

 

3. An aerial view of Wembley Stadium during the 1937 FA Cup final. (From a 1948 Wembley book)

 

It was 1951 before the stadium hosted a normal football international match against a country other than one of the home nations (Argentina). Then 1963 saw the European Cup final played at Wembley for the first time (AC Milan 2 – Benfica 1). The stadium was a key part of England’s staging of the 1966 World Cup, including the final, where England beat West Germany 4-2 after extra time, to win their only major international tournament (so far).

 

4. England's 1966 World Cup winning team. (Image from a book, shared by a Wembley History Soc. member)

 

When Olympic Way was being pedestrianised in 1993, one of the tile mural scenes in the new subway from Wembley Park Station, celebrating Wembley’s sports and entertainment heritage, was of England footballers at the twin towers stadium. The new structure was named the Bobby Moore Bridge, after England’s 1966 winning captain who had recently died from cancer, and a plaque in his honour, at the centre of the mural, was unveiled by his widow. It should have been unthinkable for this mural to be hidden behind adverts during the 2021 Euros matches. Luckily, that threat was prevented by a campaign which lasted from February to June!

 

5. England supporters by the footballers tile mural, 7 July 2021. (Photo by Irina Porter)

 

You will see that one of the two footballers portrayed is black. The artist is thought to have based this player on John Barnes, who played for England 79 times between 1983 and 1995. His family moved here from Jamaica when he was 12, and his talent was spotted by Watford when he was playing for Sudbury Court, in the Middlesex League, aged 17. All of England’s 1966 team were white players, and John Barnes was only the seventh black footballer to represent England in modern times.

 

It was not until 1978 that Viv Anderson became England’s first modern black player. That same year saw West Bromwich Albion field three black players, something which was so unusual for a top-flight club that they were nicknamed “The Three Degrees”, after a popular female singing trio. Such was the racial prejudice at the time that they suffered terrible abuse from fans of other teams, and from other players. Worse still, this was considered “normal”, and they just had to get on with it, and show that they were not intimidated, by playing even better!

 

6. Cyrille Regis (left) showing off his England shirt, and Luther Blissett. (Images from the internet)

 

One of the West Brom trio, who answered the abuse by scoring lots of goals, was Cyrille Regis. This former pupil of Harlesden’s Cardinal Hinsley High School (now Newman Catholic College) played for England five times between 1982 and 1987, and was the country’s third black footballer. The fifth was also a product of the Brent Schools football system, Luther Blissett, who went to Willesden High School (now Capital City Academy). During his long career with Watford, he played fourteen games for England between 1982 and 1984. Brent’s diverse community, which also saw black Council Leaders by the 1980s, was helping to show the way!

 

Prejudice in football, and generally, was not just a racial problem. In the 1980s, Rachel Yankey was a girl at Malorees Primary School who wanted to play football. As an 8-year old, she shaved her hair, called herself Ray (her initials) and joined a boy’s football team. She was so good that it was two years before they found out she wasn’t a boy! At 16, she signed for Arsenal Ladies, and between 1997 and 2013 she played 129 matches for England (a record at the time for men or women).

 

7. Rachey Yankey, playing for England (left), and for Team GB at the Olympics. (Images from the internet)

 

None of Rachel’s England internationals was played at Wembley Stadium, as it was not until November 2014 that it became a venue for “the Lionesses” home games. However, she did grace the Wembley pitch in one of her five games for Team GB at the 2012 Olympic Games, when they beat Brazil 1-0 in front of a crowd of 70,584. 

 

The Bobby Moore Bridge subway, with its heritage tile murals, was created as part of preparations for the Euro 1996 football tournament.  A local player who took part in that was Stuart Pearce from Kingsbury (Fryent Primary and Claremont High Schools). After leaving school at 16, to train as an electrician, he played non-League football for Wealdstone before transfers to Coventry City, then Nottingham Forest. A ferocious left-back, he won 78 England caps (nine of these as captain) between 1987 and 1999.

 

8. Stuart Pearce screaming with joy after scoring his 1996 quarter-final penalty. (Image from the internet)

 

One of the biggest disappointments of his career was when he missed a penalty in the semi-final shoot-out against West Germany at the World Cup in 1990. You can see the emotion on his face after he scored a penalty in the quarter-final shoot-out against Spain at Euro 1996, a feat he repeated at Wembley in the semi-final against Germany. Unfortunately, it was his team-mate, Gareth Southgate, whose penalty miss saw England fail to reach the final.

 

The original 1923 stadium was looking very old in 1996, and it was decided that a new national stadium was needed. Despite strong bids for it to be built away from London, the fact that Wembley was felt to be the home of English football swung the decision our way. The old “twin towers” were finally demolished early in 2003, although we still have a small relic of it. The concrete base of a flag pole, from the top of one of the towers, was donated to the borough by Wembley National Stadium Ltd, and can be seen in Brent River Park.

 

9. The flag pole base from a Wembley twin tower in Brent River Park, St Raphael’s. (Photo by Philip Grant)

 

The new Wembley Stadium opened in 2007, with that year’s FA Cup final as one of its first games. Soon afterwards there was a road sign in Honeypot Lane (I wish I’d taken a photo of it) with an image of the stadium arch, welcoming drivers to “Brent – the home of Wembley”. I do have a photo showing the stadium in May 2011, ready for the UEFA Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United. (Whatever happened to Brent’s planning policy to protect views of the stadium, such as this one from Bridge Road!)

 

10. The new Wembley Stadium, with its arch, seen along Olympic Way in May 2011. (Photo by Philip Grant)

 

“Football’s coming home” was England’s theme song for Euro 1996, and 25 years later it is being sung again. Wembley is staging some of the main matches in the delayed Euro 2020 tournament, and England, with Gareth Southgate as manager, have at last reached the final of a major tournament (for the first time since 1966)! This time, the England squad (and many of the other teams taking part) is much more representative of the country’s diverse population. 

 

Once again, there is a “boy from Brent” playing an important part in the team’s success. Raheem Sterling went to Oakington Manor Primary and Copland Community (now Ark Elvin Academy) schools, and could see the arch of the new stadium from his Neasden home. He played his first England senior game just before his 18^th birthday in 2012, and has been a regular team member since 2014, earning 67 caps so far. He has already scored 3 goals in the current Euros tournament, and helped with some of England captain Harry Kane’s 4 goals.

 

11. Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling embracing, after one of their goals. (Image from the internet)

 

Their togetherness, and that of the England squad as a whole, is a testament to the character of their manager, Gareth Southgate. Mutual respect, fairness and equality is something that he shows by example. Whereas in the past players might have been punished or excluded for expressing their views, such as Raheem on racism or his team-mate Marcus Rashford on food poverty, Southgate has supported them. Trust in their manager is part of the reason for England’s success.

 

A change in attitude towards racial prejudice has come about in English football since the 1980s. There are still some idiots who think it’s acceptable to boo players taking the knee, abuse them on social media, or to sing anti-semitic chants, while claiming to be England supporters. Thankfully they are now a tiny minority. 

 

12. UEFA's Equal Game logo for the Euros. (Image from the internet)

 

More recently this change has been reflected in UEFA. Their Respect and EqualGame campaigns are promoting inclusion in football, whatever anyone’s race, religion, sexuality, or ability. It is all about the benefits of diversity, something that Brent can show them through our everyday lives and experience. Football has come home, to the right place!

Philip Grant, 9 July 2021.

Footnote on Covid-19: I did not refer to the pandemic in my article, so that it did not distract from my main themes. I realise that fans want to be at Euros matches, and that the atmosphere they create is part of a big occasion. But with Delta variant cases rising rapidly, I think it is reckless for the authorities to allow 60,000 (or more?) spectators into Wembley Stadium. The final will go ahead, with a big crowd, but I suspect that it will prove to have been a mistake. Even if it does not cause more hospitalisations and deaths, it will mean additional cases, and more people suffering from long Covid.

 

 

'Remind me, please, who is our local Council meant to serve?' - Brent Council propaganda on Wembley Stadium condemned

Brent Council's celebratory announcement of the approval of the Wembley Stadium - Tottenham Hotsput planning application to increase the number of full capacity events at Wembley Stadium has drawn stinging criticism.

Cllr John Warren has written to fellow councillors:

Am I the only member appalled at the "celebratory " tone of the Your Brent piece on the Wembley Stadium / Spurs planning approval on the Brent website?

The piece mentions the "extensive consultation process, "but is completely silent on the results of that consultation! Our intelligence is then insulted by a quote from a Brent Council spokesman, who speaks about a " balance being struck." What balance?

It is complete propaganda...and why are we celebrating a decision which offends a very large number of our residents? The phrase "rubbing salt in the wound " springs to mind.

Cllr John Warren

On Friday Philip Grant on a comment on this  blog wrote:

It is sickening that, this morning, Brent Council's website has a banner headline celebrating Spurs being given full capacity use of Wembley Stadium, linked to a Council press release about the Planning Committee decision which does not mention the objections made by local residents and businesses:
https://www.brent.gov.uk/council-news/press-releases/pr6556/

Remind me, please, who is our local Council meant to serve?

... and then, to add insult to injury, at 1pm today the Council emailed me "Spurs are on their way to Wembley!", a copy of the latest "Your Brent" digital news-sheet, with the same banner headline celebrating the Planning Committee decision.

But this is a very distorted news report, because it makes no mention of the very valid objections put forward to the committee, by local people and some councillors on behalf of their residents.

It is as if the Council's press release reporting the decision was prepared before the Planning Committee meeting took place, which it probably was!

Philip Grant

This is the Council's statement. complete with an image of celebratory fountains, posted on its website on the evening of March 23rd - the day of the Planning Committee:

Temporary increase to full capacity events at Wembley Stadium approved

23 March 2017

An application from the FA/Wembley National Stadium Ltd to temporarily increase the number of full capacity events at Wembley Stadium has been agreed by Brent Council's Planning Committee this evening (March 23).

The decision, which follows an extensive consultation process, paves the way for 22 additional full capacity events for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club matches, of up to 90,000 fans to take place at the stadium between August 2017 and July 2018.

Under current rules there is no limit on the number of events that can be held at a maximum capacity of 51,000.

It is understood that Tottenham Hotspur are set to make the national stadium their temporary home while their new ground at White Hart Lane is developed.

Wembley had originally requested permission for an additional 31 full capacity events but this was reduced to 22 prior to the application coming to committee. The application has now been approved subject to a number of additional measures being put in place, including ones designed to deal with the impacts of increased numbers of people in the area. These include controlling parking and traffic, signage, street cleaning, event management and control of public safety including aspects such as alcohol sale and street trading. The Committee heard from objectors and the applicant before making their decision.

A Brent Council spokesperson said: "Wembley Stadium is a highly valued part of our borough bringing visitors from around the world. We are pleased that a balance has been struck between recognising the impact on local residents and businesses whilst enabling the Stadium to make good use of its facilities and support a London club to operate in the capital while their ground is being redeveloped."

"We look forward to working closely with the Stadium, the Football Association and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club in the forthcoming year both on the management of events and their work in the local community that they outlined in their application."

Transport planner critiques Planning Officer's report on Spur's application

From the comments on Brent Council Planning Portal made by a local resident:
 

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I am a local resident and am a transport planner/modeller by profession (hence the detailed questions).

I strongly oppose this application and appeal to all on the committee to consider the people they are representing. I went to the community engagement session with the FA & Wembley Stadium (which was very POORLY advertised just fyi) and met the officials. They were quite blunt and open with the fact that this was a purely commercial deal for them. They struggled to explain any benefits to the local community, didn't propose any reasonable solutions (apart from improved signage) and at that point in time, the application documents were not online for my scrutiny.

The documents are now available and here are some comments and questions from me to the applicant and their consultant;

With reference to the Environment Statement, Chapter D (Transport):

D5.23 - I note that the applicant says there will be a 'negligible' effect on the London Underground. I would like to challenge that.

D5.20 says that events will take place outside peak hours on a weekday. This is usually kickoff at 7:45pm according to my knowledge of football. Earlier on in the chapter, it was found that spectators "make their way to the event 2 hours before" - this means between 5:45pm and 7:45pm i.e. the PM peak hours. I have personally been travelling home from work in the city in the PM peak hour during a midweek THFC match and to say additional midweek matches will have a negligible impact on the tube is grossly incorrect. There is no data or modelling or criteria that I can see that defines this 'negligible effect' conclusion. Have any station crowding, egress, ingress models been developed? Have any general Railplan model's been run? If so I would like to see the results and the accompanying criteria.

(And to echo other comments from neighbours, the LU network just about copes in the AM & PM peaks on normal days let alone weekday PM peak event days! The Transport Chapter emphasises the push for people to use PT to get to the games...but this is inherently flawed as the PT network is already heaving).

D5.28 - I quote: "However, as the period of time where Olympic Way will be congested will likely be limited to one hour and 30 minutes for an average of three additional days per month, it is considered that this is a negligible effect." The ingress 1hour 30minutes of congestion has been ignored here. This brings the total congestion to 3 hours per event. When we spoke to the Wembley Stadium rep at the community engagement session, they said there would be measures in place to allow this north/south movement for residents and locals to be improved. I have personally be stuck several times trying to just get from Lidl to my home.

D6.36 - "To promote and support the use of measures which reduce the need for travel, like video-conferencing and flexible working" - what? This doesn't really apply to Wembley Stadium spectators (and probably 90% of staff who need to be there physically!)

D.39 - You need to get Google Maps and Waze on board because lots of people use their phone applications for navigation rather than TomTom these days. Getting TomTom on board simply isn't enough.

There are no numbers to quantify the delays to buses and the local baseline traffic. Has modelling been undertaken and can I see the results, please?

The metric used in the ES to identify minor/major/adverse/beneficial isn't clear. Please provide this. We also need to see the empirical modelling evidence.

With the Brent/Quintain regeneration plans, the numbers are probably far higher than when Wembley Stadium got approval many years ago. This needs to be taken into account before any cap is lifted.

As a local resident and a transport planner, I am abhorred by this application. We manage as residents with the current number of event days as they are sporadic (maybe twice a month?) and varied. Regular football matches will change this completely. I won't repeat in detail what others have said about anti-social behaviour, litter, drunkenness, transport pressures, safety, children, no 'home' affiliation etc but I echo those points as well.

There is no mention of Chelsea wanting the stadium for 2018/2019 in this application but rumours are already going around about this. Approving THFC this would set precedent and it would be a disaster for the up-and-coming regenerated Wembley Park/Brent.

I urge the council to reject this application and to apply pressures to Wembley Stadium & THFC to mitigate the 50,000 spectator matches that are likely to still be held.

Residents, locals and family need to come above corporations, money and commercial pressures.

I and many other will be attending the committee meeting.
In addition to my previous comments on the Transport Statement, I wanted to add that if their current/old stadium has a capacity of around 36,000 and their new one is "only" going to seat around 61,000 they can surely manage with the current limit of 50,000.

Pure profit for a few at the detriment of a whole community and area is unjustifiable.

I have already raised my concerns regarding this application and the Environmental Statement in a previous comment.

I am trying to get hold of the case officer to raise the issue that none of us at Danes and Empire Court have received letters about this application. Brent Planning told me on the phone that 20,000 letters have been sent out to neighbours. We have over 300 flats on North End Road, less than 5 minutes walk from the stadium and we have NOT received letters about this application. I found out about this through curiosity and some Google searching about why Spurs were playing here this season, because of all the grief it was causing us.

The neighbourhood consultation closes in less than ONE week, and it is unacceptable that we were excluded from being informed about it. I appreciate there is no restriction in making a comment on here, but how are my neighbours supposed to make their comments if they HAVEN'T been informed about the application in the first place?

Unacceptable.

I look forward to hearing from the case officer, and to receiving letters from the Council/Applicant very soon. The neighbourhood consultation will probably need to be extended to allow residents on North End Road to comment.