Does Wembley have the power to turn fans green? · Issue 867

James Hinks look at how one of Britain’s biggest institutions, Wembley, is becoming a political platform for sustainable living

The typical student relishes in those moments where they are allowed to be ignorant and naïve. I mean, on a diet of Neighbours and How to Look Good Naked for current affairs, who needs to worry of the supposed wilting planet or those famished polar bears. Such topics can be expelled from thought and avoided among daily routine…or so you thought.

With the green issue creeping up the agenda like the poison ivy does with the drainpipe you will, worryingly, be set to account these social issues on cultural platforms that you never expected. Cue James Hinks and the review of the worldwide wonder of Wembley.

The old Wembley Stadium was an icon of Britain’s football success. It was a venue where Bobby Moore lifted the World Cup and where Wimbledon famously beat Liverpool in the FA cup final. The new stadium, however, does not hold any of these precious or familiar memories. It is an iconic symbol nevertheless.

For Wembley is the first major stadium in the world that uses 100% renewable energy from the official supplier, N power. Nor does it stop there, Wembley is infiltrated with other ‘green’ awareness promotions, like FA cup sponsors E-on. Conclusively, Wembley is striving to become a beacon of a ‘Greener’ footballing future.

This year’s FA cup sponsors E-on are attempting to engage the football fans in a conceivably less passionate topic than football: global warming. Their sponsorship slogan is “Help us make the beautiful game greener”, with this they have implemented a Carbon ‘footyprint’ (goddit?) promotion.

The scheme is attempting to reduce the carbon waste accumulated by football fans in this years’ FA cup. Unsurprisingly, this is the first national campaign of its kind. Carbon ‘footyprint’ has set up the ‘Green league’, where by teams are ranked on the level of their carbon awareness. It is considered that due to geographical placement, Newcastle fans are at the greatest disadvantage of the green-tinted premiership. It seems this is another league they won’t win!

David James, goalkeeper for Portsmouth, is the face of this eco-sport campaign. In a recent interview with the BBC James proclaimed that “Carbon footprints don’t come much bigger than football’s”.

Conveniently James’ team have reached the final of the FA Cup and it seems he is taking every opportunity to reinforce the potential positive effects this initiative could have. He said: “I think it’s a great way to get the environmental awareness message out to football fans. It shows that by making some very simple changes, fans can make a real difference.”

Additionally this project offers free National Express coaches to all fans travelling to matches during the third round of the Cup. Policies like this will aid the Carbon ‘footyprint’ campaign. It is hoped this will help offset 45,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in this year’s competition.

As E-on, Wembley and the legendary game itself try to persuade die-hard football fans to start supporting ‘Green’, instead of red or blue. The new challenge may now be convincing the major football stars to give up their gas- guzzling sports cars and ‘hummers’ and reduce their unnecessarily large carbon footprint.