A homeland that's too far away

It will come down in a blaze of nostalgia. In many instances in football the final whistle is not the last act of a game, but unless there is some unseemly scrumdown in the tunnel next Saturday, when the final whistle of the England-Germany match goes, it will be the end of Wembley stadium as we know it. A few weeks later, after the fixtures and fittings have been sold off - got to cash in, of course - the wrecking ball will perform a crunching tackle on the Twin Towers and one of the sporting symbols of the 20th century will be no more. Cue much gnashing and wailing.

Well, in certain quarters and to certain degrees. Take Alan Shearer, for example. Shearer said they couldn't pull Wembley down too soon after Newcastle lost their FA Cup semi-final there in April. He was the captain of England at the time.

But he is also from the north of England. Therein lies a tale, and a different perspective, on what Wembley means to the nation that Claudio Ranieri romantically described as the `homeland of football' a fortnight ago.

Lest it be forgotten, England is a divided country. It is primarily a political divide reinforced by the ever-increasing economic disparity suffered by those above Watford and the money-saturated south-east. Talk to someone in Bolton or Bristol and their attitude to Wembley is likely to be fairly different from that of someone from Fulham. There is undoubtedly a Dome syndrome at work.

This is a modern phenomenon, traceable back to the day in 1979 when Gruppenfuhrer Thatcher marched into Downing Street. Every northerner from the ages of 30 to 100 will have a separate view of Wembley dating from then. This can be summed up as the Stanley Matthews Perspective: rattles, white horses, standing up, 100,000 crowds the minimum. Historic Wembley. Real Wembley. The Wembley of the 39 steps and childhood dreams. 1953, not 1993.

Over the past decade that opinion has been changing up north. Real Wembley has become Rip-off Wembley. Crap seats, crap views, but most of all, over-use. If anything has taken the lustre off Wembley then it has been, surprise, surprise, the money-motivated decision to stage everything from Leyland Daf trophy finals to FA Cup semi-finals up Wembley Way.

Familiarity has bred a certain contempt. Not only Shearer has complained. It was the gripe of every Newcastle, Bolton and Aston Villa fan that they had to travel hundreds of miles to watch last season's FA Cup semi-finals while Chelsea supporters leapt on the tube. Gareth Southgate, another England international, also dared to mention it.

And for footballers it must feel heretical to come round to this way of thinking. Imagine being in the privileged position of realising your boyhood fantasies and then having them soiled. Luckily for Shearer, he has some fond memories as well.

Everyone does. The first visit to Wembley is an unforgettable experience. Well, I think so. I first went there in the late 1970s on a guided tour. Up the tunnel we walked, they even turned the noise on. It was great even if it was empty.

I remember little about the next time - November 1985, I looked that up - except that it was a game England should have won. It was cold and the score was England 0, Northern Ireland 0. Gary Lineker missed two million easy chances. The England fans sang `It's a fix'. The Northern Irish fans burnt an England flag. Norman Whiteside nearly scored the winner towards the end with the first Irish shot. Both teams went to the 1986 World Cup finals as a result.

Other than that it was toilets, traffic and terrible views. I think it must be one of the reasons why Wembley never hooked after that. Going to Highbury that first time, or Anfield with the proper Kop, Old Trafford with the Stretford End, in the goosepimple test, these were vastly more exciting moments.

Because while foreigners always emphasise the magic of Wembley - and Arsene Wenger was at it again on Friday, forgetting Arsenal had stopped playing there - the ground is the opposite of what every other English ground is about - proximity. The first time trip to Anfield is special in that regard, you are literally on top of the ground, feet away from the players. Imagine going to see Tommy Smith playing there, you must have been able to hear the fear in opposing wingers.

At grounds all over England it is the same. Been to The Shay at Halifax? Fantastic. The old Baseball Ground at Derby was intense and atmospheric. Bournemouth is pretty good, too. Upton Park as well. Turf Moor, brilliant. But Wembley? Too far away, in more than one sense.