Wembley Stadium old and new, has hosted events at two Olympic Games, a FIFA World Cup, European Championship finals, rugby league, hockey and many other events.

Its first incarnation provided a fitting stage for such stars as Fanny Blankers-Koen, Emil Zatopek, Muhammad Ali, Bobby Charlton, George Best, Eusebio, Johann Cruyff, Diego Maradona and even The Pope.

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Marta and Beth Mead are among stars who have already graced the new Wembley.

It remains best known as a football venue, particularly as the home of the Football Association (FA) Challenge Cup Final, better known as the FA Cup Final. This week in 1923, the match was staged at Wembley for the first time.

It was not made "all ticket," which meant spectators could pay at the gate. 

As a result spectators converged in their thousands on the new stadium and climbed over barriers and at the scheduled kickoff time, an estimated 200,000, perhaps even more, occupied every blade of grass.

Mounted police were called in to clear the field, so that Bolton Wanderers and West Ham could play the match.

A grey called Billy, ridden by Police Constable George Scorey, caught the imagination as the pitch was slowly cleared.

At last the match began. Bolton scored within a minute and eventually won 2-0 but the match was forever known as the "White Horse Final."

The official attendance was recorded as 126,947 but it is estimated that the crowd was actually far greater.

A stadium at Wembley might never have existed had the plans of Sir Edward Watkin, a Member of Parliament and entrepreneur come to fruition.

He planned a rival to the Eiffel Tower in London but the project foundered and the base of the structure was demolished in 1907.

After the First World War, an exhibition to celebrate the achievements of the British Empire was planned.

It was thought that this would provide employment for many demobilised soldiers.

The Prince of Wales called for a national stadium to be built, but it was his brother, Albert, Duke of York, (later to become King George VI) who dug the first sod before the foundation stone was laid.

The Duke "turned the spade as if he meant business," said the Daily News.

"I am one of those who believe in sport," the Duke said.

"Here in this beautiful park will I hope, be enshrined, a permanent testimonial to what the Empire can do in peace."

The stadium itself was built in 300 days at a cost of £750,000, the equivalent of approximately £5.7 million ($7.08 million/€6.4 million) today.

Before it was first used, 1,250 men were drafted in to test the strength of the terracing.

In 1924, the England versus Scotland match was also played at Wembley for the first time, though the 1928 match is still talked about in reverential terms by Scottish football historians after their 5-1 victory earned the team the enduring nickname of the "Wembley Wizards".

By now the stadium was being managed by Arthur Elvin.

During the 1924 Empire Exhibition, he had managed a cigarette kiosk but sensing the main chance, he had acted smartly to secure contracts to demolish some of the buildings.

In 1927, he bought Wembley Stadium with some astute work with financial backers.

It was at Elvin’s urging that greyhound racing was introduced in 1927.

It proved so financially important that a World Cup match was later switched to accommodate the dogs.

In May 1929, two other important sports were added to the regular Wembley programme.

Wigan beat Dewsbury 13-2 in the first Rugby League Challenge Cup Final held at the stadium and speedway staged its first meeting.

In 1939, the International Olympic Committee came to London for the Session which would decide on the host city for the 1944 Games.

London was among the bidding cities and Elvin welcomed IOC members to inspect the stadium. 

Newspapers reported that "after being shown all round by Mr Elvin, decided that with all the alterations and the increased accommodation he had in mind, it would suit their purpose admirably."

Although London was awarded the 1944 Games, war meant they never happened.

The stadium did remain in use for wartime events including football and even a baseball match.

The "Women’s League of Health and Beauty" also staged fitness displays.

After the war, the IOC confirmed London as Olympic hosts for 1948.

Elvin immediately offered the stadium for use at the Games and offered a financial guarantee to a maximum of £100,000 ($124,000/€111,000).

A special road was built leading to the stadium from the London Underground station at Wembley Park, and was opened by Transport Minister Alfred Barnes shortly before the Games,

"The new road was started last year and much of the work that has gone into it has been done by German Prisoners of War," newspapers explained.

King George VI opened the Games, a quarter of a century after he had helped lay the foundation stone.

When the athletics began, the undoubted star was Fanny Blankers-Koen of the Netherlands.

She won the 100 metres, and added further golds in the 80 metres hurdles, the long jump and 4x100 metres relay.

In the hockey final, two goals from Balbir Singh inspired India to a 4-0 win over Britain to maintain a magnificent record of gold medals stretching back to 1928.

In football the powerful Swedish side won gold. They were inspired by stars who later played successfully in Italy's Serie A.

Gunnar Gren scored twice and Gunnar Nordahl was also on target in a 3-1 win over Yugoslavia.

On a sunlit evening Grand Prix jumping brought the Olympics to a close immediately.

Humberto Mariles Cortes's Mexico team won the last gold medals of the Games before the Closing Ceremony.

The scoreboard displayed a message from Lord Burghley, the Organising Committee chairman.

"The Olympic Spirit which has tarried here a while, sets forth once more, may it prosper throughout the world."

Burghley and Blankers-Koen returned two years later when two great stone tablets were unveiled at the entrance recording the 1948 gold medallists.

There had been no women’s hockey at London 1948, but in 1951 the first women’s hockey match was played under the twin towers.

A total of 41 internationals were played at the stadium before the sport switched to artificial surfaces.

The year of 1953 marked Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, and she witnessed perhaps the most romantic FA Cup Final.

Blackpool winger Stanley Matthews, 38, had played in two finals and each time returned home with a losers medal.

Everyone except opponents Bolton were willing him to succeed but Bolton led Blackpool 3-1 with less than 20 minutes left.

Matthews helped inspire a fightback and then created the winning goal scored by Bill Perry.

Later that year England also needed a last minute penalty to salvage a 4-4 draw against a FIFA XI in the commemorative match to celebrate the FA's 90th anniversary.

But the most significant match of the year, if not the decade, came in November.

Olympic champions Hungary, inspired by captain Ferenc Puskas, handed down a lesson to England and eventually won 6-3.

Among the defeated English players was Alf Ramsey, destined later to manage England's World Cup side.

Another Olympic experience came in 1956 when Britain played Bulgaria in a qualifying football match for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

Although a 3-3 draw gave Bulgaria victory on aggregate, Britain also went to the Games after other teams withdrew.

In the early 1960s, the stadium itself changed appearance as a new roof was constructed.

It opened in 1963, the year Wembley first hosted the European Cup Final. 

Eusebio scored for defending champions Benfica but they were beaten by Milan thanks to two goals from Jose Altafini.

Later that year, another FIFA team including Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin and Real Madrid stars Alfredo di Stefano and Puskas played in the FA Centenary match, won 2-1 by England.

The stadium had first staged boxing in the 1930s but in 1963 it hosted the greatest of them all.

Muhammad Ali, then still billed as "Cassius Clay" faced Britain’s Henry Cooper in a fight promoted by Jack Solomons.

Ali was badly hurt and trainer Angelo Dundee later admitted he had bought him vital extra seconds to recover from a knockdown by Cooper. Ali's glove was deliberately cut. 

Ali recovered to win the fight.

Then in 1966, England staged the FIFA World Cup. 

England won the final 4-2 after extra-time but the second goal of a hat-trick by Sir Geoff Hurst still provokes argument even today over whether the ball actually crossed the line.

Referee Gottfried Dienst of Switzerland consulted Azeri linesman Tofik Bakhramov before signalling a goal.

Bobby Moore then received the Jules Rimet Trophy from The Queen. 

Years after his tragically early death at 53, Moore's statue was erected at Wembley.

In 1968, Manchester United lifted the European Cup after defeating Benfica in another emotion-sapping encounter.

Sir Bobby Charlton scored twice and there was a memorable goal from George Best in the 4-1 victory,

It was particularly poignant for manager Sir Matt Busby, 10 years after United had lost many players in an air disaster at Munich.

The return of horses for the Royal International Horse Show in the late 1960s was widely seen as a great mistake, as they left a badly churned pitch before the surface was eventually relaid.

The great Johann Cruyff played for the Netherlands in a 0-0 draw in 1970 on the less than perfect surface and returned the following year with Ajax as they beat Greek team Panathanikos to win the European Cup for the first time.

Two months earlier, Wembley had staged Britain’s last Olympic football qualifier of the amateur era, a 1–0 win over Bulgaria.

"The choice of ground would lead to a bigger attendance and a better display by the British team," FA official Alan O’Dell predicted.

In fact the crowd was only 3,000, described as the smallest ever to watch a football match at the stadium.

Television ensured that Wembley's greatest moments would be recorded for posterity, but also moments of suffering such as a missed conversion by Wakefield’s Don Fox on a waterlogged pitch in the last minute of the 1968 Rugby League Challenge Cup Final against Leeds.

It was the last kick of the match and cost his side victory by one point. 

"He’s a poor lad," BBC commentator Eddie Waring said simply.

Television cameras were also present in 1975 when stunt daredevil Evel Knievel attempted to jump 13 London buses at the stadium in front of 90,000 spectators.

He was injured when his bike crashed on landing.

A rather more serene visitor came in 1982, when Pope John Paul II attracted a full house.

Three years later, Bob Geldof’s Live Aid concert to raise funds for famine relief in Africa was held in the stadium.

Phil Collins, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Paul McCartney and Elton John were among the attractions.

Top international football returned to Wembley with the 1996 men’s UEFA European Championships.

England reached the semi-finals of "Euro 96" before losing on penalties to Germany.

Germany won the final against the Czech Republic 2-1 by a golden goal.

The old stadium’s days were now numbered and in October 2001 the final match, a FIFA World Cup qualifier, was played under grey skies. Germany won an undistinguished match by a single goal.

Demolition began some months later and even the twin towers were swept away.

The new structure was not completed until 2007 and was said to have cost £798 million ($991 million/€892 million).

Giampaolo Pazzini scored a hat-trick for Italy’s under-21s in a 3-3 draw with England in the first game at the new venue.

The Olympics returned in 2012 and the Flame was carried outside the stadium by World Cup winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks.

In the group stages, Britain beat Brazil in front of 70,000 - at the time a stadium record for a women’s match until it was broken ten days later when over 80,000 watched the United States beat Japan 2-1 in the final.

By contrast COVID-19 precautions meant the 2020 FA Cup Final, as Arsenal beat Chelsea, was played behind closed doors.

The following year, Wembley was selected to host the final of the delayed men's UEFA European Championship, held across the European continent.

Italy beat England on penalties after a 1-1 draw,

Then last year England’s women beat Germany 2-1 in extra-time to win the women’s UEFA European Championship.

Wembley also hosted the men's Finalissima when Lionel Messi inspired Copa America winners Argentina to a 3-0 victory over Italy. 

A few weeks ago, England beat Brazil on penalties to win the first women’s Finalissima.

At least the Brazilian players were able to say they had played at Wembley.

It remained one of the few regrets of Pele’s career that he never did.