Picture this: England's new national stadium
Sunday, April 29, 2007 
Yesterday I took my 12-year-old son to an U16 international at Wembley. To be frank, it was a slightly underwhelming experience. The game itself (England beat Spain 1-0) wasn't great and the new stadium - which looks and feels like many other new stadiums (albeit bigger) - was barely one third full so the atmosphere relied heavily on thousands of screaming children doing the Mexican wave at regular intervals.
What struck me most was not Norman Foster's arch but the list of articles we were not permitted to take into the ground. You can't avoid it, there are signs at every turnstile. Some items are fairly obvious: knives, fireworks, smoke canisters, flares, laser devices, bottles, glass vessels and poles (?!). Others less so: cans and "any article that might be used as a weapon". This of course could mean anything - coins for example - so I advise anyone going to our national stadium to travel light with pockets empty of anything other than a hankerchief and a set of car keys (if you must).
Cameras are also on the banned list, hence my one and only rebellious act of the afternoon. Having smuggled in (under my jumper) my prized Fuji F810, I proceeded to join hundreds of other people taking pictures inside the stadium without an "appropriate licence". As evidence I reproduce the image above and ask for 15 other offences to be taken into consideration.
Reader Comments (1)
Although I would also think that the banning of cameras in the stadium is going a bit far I actually don't have a problem with the owners of private property making any rules they like. In this particular case though I'm not sure it really is private property. I think I heard some time ago that a good chunk of taxpayers' money has been put into it. If that is the case then I see it all in a rather different light. First we have had money taken away by threat of violence and then we have it spent on things we probably would not have voluntarily spent it on as a donation. And then to top it all if we do use the facility we are subjected to rules that we may well not agree with.
Another day at the office for the ruling classes.