Time for a new plan

BBC Sport's John Motson believes it is time to look at the prospect of building a scaled-down national stadium in a new location.

It is looking now as though the FA will have to look for a new site as it appears the possibility of financing what was going to be the new Wembley is getting more and more remote.

It's pretty plain the money will not be forthcoming from the City in the short term and the FA has said it is not in a position to finance the whole thing.

So if the Government is not prepared to spend money on it it looks as though the project may have to be scaled down and a more modest stadium built elsewhere.

There are alternatives of course.

The Wembley project was a bit too ambitious - with too many expensive accessories

John Motson

There is a site in the Midlands which I think Aston Villa and Doug Ellis have earmarked.

There is a site in Coventry where Coventry City's new stadium was going to be.

There is a site by Junction 10 of the M1 where Luton Town are hoping to build a new stadium which I am surprised nobody has mentioned.

And of course, there is the Commonwealth Games stadium in Manchester.

So I think the next step is to examine all the alternatives - unless someone can suddenly come up with a mega package for Wembley itself.

I think perhaps it's time we moved our attention further north

John Motson

I think one of the reasons it has all ground to a halt is because initially the project was a bit too ambitious - with too many "expensive accessories".

What people actually want is a comfortable football stadium where, like Cardiff, you can watch the match close to the pitch.

I don't think people are too worried about the hotels, conference centres and other glorifications that went with the original project.

What we are looking for is a stadium for football fans to watch England play.

I think perhaps it's time we moved our attention further north.

I have always thought the problem with Wembley is access and I've never quite seen however much was spent on roads and railways - and it would have to be an awful lot - how they would make Wembley more accessible than it is now.

Wembley has always been a bit of a dinosaur to me.

We do need a national stadium, but perhaps just a scaled-down version of the grandiose scheme which has hit the deck at Wembley

John Motson

It has great sentimental value and of course we all have very nostalgic memories of it.

But I think it's time to move on and move the stadium somewhere else where those fans, who travel the length and breadth of the country, will have less distance to go.

I think Wembley has had to become a political issue to some extent because the football authorities could not finance the new stadium themselves.

The Government got involved initially because of the possibility of having athletics there which is all water under the bridge now.

Adam Crozier has said football can not finance it themselves so they will have to look elsewhere for help.

Do we need a national stadium? Could the England team not go around the country playing on different grounds?

Well, I think when it comes to something major like a full-scale World Cup qualifier, or indeed if we want to host one of the big tournaments again, I think you do need a stadium which is regarded as the biggest in the country.

After all, you can't play all your games at Old Trafford, which is the only stadium which holds more than 60,000.

So yes, we do need a national stadium, but perhaps just a scaled-down version of the grandiose scheme which has hit the deck at Wembley.