World Cup winner Gordon Banks carries Olympic Torch at Wembley.
With the London 2012 Olympic Games imminently upon us, Wembley Stadium welcomed the Olympic Torch on Wednesday morning and with it, one of England's legends of 1966, Gordon Banks.
Staff from The FA and Wembley Stadium joined local schools and members of the public to witness this historic occasion, as the former Leicester City and Stoke City goalkeeper Banks took on the Torch from GB Olympic badminton star Nathan Robertson, who won a silver medal at the Athens Games in 2004 and will be competing again this year at the neighboring Wembley Arena.
“It was fantastic, it really was,” enthused Banks. “Coming up Wembley Way brought back a lot of memories for me. It’ll be terrific [the venue]. I can’t believe the interest, the publicity and it can only be a good thing,” he continued.
“Seeing all the fans and the children here today, they will now watch these Games on TV and say ‘I want to do that!’ and it’s a terrific thing for this country.”
There were a number of officials on hand to represent The FA, Wembley Stadium and Wembley City at the event, including FA General Secretary Alex Horne, Wembley Stadium Chairman Melvin Benn and Managing Director Roger Maslin, who were also joined by Mayor Of Brent Michael Adeyeye and Wembley City CEO Maxwell James.
Wembley Stadium will host nine matches during the Olympic period, consisting of six men's matches and three women's matches, including the gold medal matches for both men and women.
Tickets are still available for a select number of the fixtures at Wembley and are on sale by
clicking here until midnight of the day before the game and from the Wembley Stadium Box Office on the day of the match.
