Final whistle for twin towers

Demolition of Wembley stadium's twin towers, English football's most famous symbols, began on Friday, bringing the curtain down on 80 years of sporting history.

Demolition begins
Goliath, an excavating drill, dug into one of the white concrete towers to signal the final stage of the stadium's destruction, due to be completed next week. The demolition men moved in last September, paving the way for a new 90,000-seat stadium that is set to cost €1.13bn and to be unveiled in early 2006.

Famous victory
Wembley - called the Church of Football by Brazilian legend Pelé - is most famous for hosting a victory that still resonates in England's popular culture, the 4-2 victory against West Germany in the 1966 FIFA World Cup final.

Mecca of football
"I think world football is losing something very special," said former England captain Ray Wilkins. "When foreign players walked up Wembley Way and saw the towers they realised it was the mecca of football. And we've lost that."

'White Horse Final'
The British government commissioned the building of Wembley in 1918 to host the British Empire Exhibition. The stadium was built in 300 days, at a cost of €1,130,000 and went on to host many memorable moments ever since the very first game beneath its towers, the 1923 FA Cup final, known ever since as the 'White Horse Final'. Organisers never dreamed that 200,000 people would flock to watch Bolton Wanderers FC take on West Ham United FC. Amid scenes of chaos, crowd-control was carried out almost single-handedly by policeman George Scorey and his white horse.

'Matthews Final'
A year later Britain's King George V, Queen Elizabeth II's grandfather, officially opened the stadium. Many great matches followed down the years, ranging from the 'Matthews Final' of 1953, in which Stanley Matthews's Blackpool FC roared back to beat Bolton 4-3, to England's stunning 6-3 defeat by Ferenc Puskás' Hungary.

Final match
Primarily a football stadium, Wembley also hosted the 1948 Olympics and the Live Aid concert in 1985. The last match to be played there was in October 2000, as Germany beat England 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier. "By the end of this month there will be some bits of foundation left but most of it will be gone," said architect Huw Thomas, who has worked on the new stadium project for seven years, on Friday. "It's fantastic to see it happening."

New arch
Despite the thrilling moments, Wembley also developed a reputation for cramped seating as well as poor facilities and transport links. Now designers boast that no building in the world will have more toilets than the new Wembley. The new stadium will be straddled by a seven-metre-thick arch rising 133 metres into the air, nearly triple the height of the old twin towers.