Selling Wembley Stadium for £1bn could be the best thing the FA does for football in England

The FA are reportedly considering a bid to sell Wembley Stadium for £1bn just over a decade after building it, and it may be the best thing to happen to English football.

The plan to replace the old Wembley – a stadium once described by Pele as “the cathedral of football”, – which had stood in north West London for 80 years with its iconic twin towers, was a long drawn-out process.

As was the building of the venue which became something of an albatross around the Football Association’s neck, and was finally completed in 2007 way over budget at £747m. But now, the FA have the chance to put back into the game.

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The bid to buy Wembley has come from Fulham’s moustachioed American owner Shahid Khan, who is better known in the US for owning NLF side Jacksonville Jaguars. They have played one regular season game in London every year since 2013 but they could take up residency at Wembley is a deal does go through.

For any traditionalists ready to get up in arms this isn’t an NFL takeover, Fulham won’t be moving to Wembley either (they have just been given planning permission to improve Craven Cottage ahead of a potential return to the Premier League) and the England national team would still play most of their home games there. No-one is taking it away from them.

But under the proposals the Three Lions would also play a large portion of their matches elsewhere -particularly during the autumn – mirroring plenty of other European nations like Italy and Spain who don’t have one home stadium, preferring to play on the road.

When England did the same between 2003 and 2007 while the new Wembley was being built, their nomadic journeys around the country were generally welcomed by fans who might not have been able to see the national team play as much.

Football will still come first, this is not some sort of NFL trojan horse move in England, although American Football is undoubtedly a sport that is growing in popularity here year on year.

NFL executive vice-president Mark Waller has said: “The potential purchase of Wembley Stadium is a further powerful sign of their commitment to the UK and their vision to help us grow the sport. This new relationship would allow for even greater flexibility in scheduling future NFL games in London.”

It could have a knock-on effect to two London based teams, however. Tottenham are playing there this season while their New White Hart Lane stadium is being developed; a venue they had hoped to house an NFL team at. While Chelsea’s plans to use Wembley as a temporary home while Stamford Bridge is renovated could be affected.

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Then there are the FA Cup semi-finals which will no doubt be played at neutral venues if the takeover happens, which would appease those traditionalists, although the benefit of the last 4 clashes being played at the Home of Football does mean it gives fans of the losing clubs a day out at Wembley at least.

Finally, there is the money. The FA stand to not only recoup most of what they spent on the new Wembley but also keep income from the Club Wembley and hospitality business at the ground; worth some £30m a year.

And that money could be put back into grassroots football in England, which is in desperate need of dunging. It has been suggested the FA will use the windfall to do just that and pay for hundreds of new 3G and 4G pitches as well as other new facilities.

According to the Evening Standard, there are 20,000 pitches in England and Wales but one in seven each week is unable to be used due to poor facilities.

So while it may seem like a shocking thing for the FA to do, the benefits of selling Wembley to Khan could far outweigh any negatives, and give the grassroots game in England the boost it so badly needs.