The London Development Agency (LDA) has teamed up with BBC Radio 5 Live to decide the final shortlist of names and has announced the selection panel.

The LDA was bombarded with responses from across the world when it asked punters to nominate the most significant name in Wembley Stadium’s history.

These ranged from the sublime (Nelson Mandela, Pele, Stanley Matthews) to the ridiculous (Billy the Fish). More controversially, sports fans in several countries ran campaigns to get their pick to the top of the pile.

Now it’s down to the three selection panelists to sort through the stack of suggestions and come up with a shortlist of five. The shortlist will be announced on 13 May and voting will run throughout the last week of the football season until 23 May, when the winner is announced on Five Live breakfast. The panel is:

Jonathan Pearce - BBC Five Live commentator
Tony Winterbottom - as the LDA’s Executive Director, he’s at the centre of key developments throughout London, including Wembley and the Thames Gateway.
Michael Cunnah - Chief Executive of the new home of football and in charge of delivering the kind of stadium the fans and the players deserve.

Jonathan Pearce said: "Now this is a vote to capture the imagination. A real opportunity to make some history by commemorating one of the many great names to have lit up Wembley’s history - make sure you vote!"

Tony Winterbottom said: "There’s been a great public response to naming this bridge which has stirred up a few friendly rivalries across the world. Now we’ve got to negotiate our way through these names without creating any international incidents.

"This footbridge will be stunning and when it’s completed later this year it will connect the new national stadium with Wembley town centre. That’s why it deserves to have a name that reflects Wembley’s great history."

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has played a major role in driving forward the new national stadium and developments around it, and through his LDA and Transport for London is investing more than £120m in the Wembley area.

Alongside major public transport improvements, this includes building the footbridge, a new town square, contributing to the stadium project itself, business support and training to help people take advantage of new job opportunities.

The LDA website was stretched beyond capacity for the first round as 670,000 people made nominations and millions more logged on to the site. For the second round, the vote will be hosted by BBC Radio 5 Live (www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive), with listeners given the chance to hear the names debated and championed, before logging on to have their say. Further details can also be found on the LDA site: (www.lda.gov.uk/wembley).

Fittingly, following a much-debated goal-line decision in last week’s Liverpool v Chelsea match, the panel will also have to consider nominations for Tofik Bakhramov, the linesman who famously and controversially allowed England’s deciding goal against Germany in the 1966 World Cup Final.

Last week, though, there was a German on the benefiting side - Dietmar Hamann - who just happens to be the most nominated name.

Fans from Germany outdid campaigns in Australia (for John Eales), Scotland (James Baxter), Wales (Scott Gibbs) and Ireland (Roy Keane).

There were also several nominations for "Not the James Baxter Bridge" and even one for "My teacher told the class to call it ‘Scott Gibbs Bridge’, but please don't".

As the debate raged, the bridge’s name became the subject of Parliamentary motions in both Westminster and Edinburgh, and people have even demanded details under the Freedom of Information Act.