Fulham owner Shahid Khan has withdrawn his offer to buy Wembley Stadium.
The Football Association said on Wednesday that it fully respected the businessman’s decision and the national stadium would continue to thrive under its ownership and direction.
Here, Press Association Sport looks at the history of Wembley since the FA bought it from private owners in 1999.
March 11, 1999: The FA buys the old Wembley Stadium from private owners Wembley plc for £103million with the intention of redeveloping the site and building a new national stadium.
October 7, 2000: England are beaten in their final game at the old Wembley, losing a World Cup qualifier 1-0 to Germany. Kevin Keegan resigns as manager after the game.
May 12, 2001: The FA Cup final is staged at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff as preparations are made to redevelop the old stadium. Michael Owen scores twice as Liverpool beat Arsenal 2-1.
2002: Demolition work begins on the Old Wembley, including the dismantling of the famous Twin Towers.
March 9, 2007: With work complete, at a reported cost of £800million, the stadium is handed over by Australian builders Multiplex. An iconic arch, which replaces the Twin Towers as the main feature, also acts as support for the majority of the stadium’s roof structure.
March 17, 2007: The stadium is opened for public viewing, attended by the local residents of Brent.
May 19, 2007: The official opening of the new Wembley sees Chelsea defeat Manchester United in the FA Cup final. Didier Drogba scores the winning goal in front of a crowd of 89,826.
August 22, 2007: England return to Wembley against the same opponents and lose again, this time Germany triumphing 2-1 in a friendly.
October 28, 2007: The first regular season NFL game to be played outside North America sees the New York Giants defeat the Miami Dolphins 13-10 in front of 81,176 fans at Wembley.
May 28, 2011: Barcelona defeat Manchester United 3-1 in the Champions League final at Wembley. The final returns to Wembley two years later to mark the 150th anniversary of the FA, Bayern Munich defeating fellow German side Borussia Dortmund 2-1.
August 11, 2012: Wembley hosts the London Olympic Games men’s football final with Mexico defeating Brazil 2-1 to lift the gold medal.
August 21, 2012: The Jacksonville Jaguars, Khan’s NFL franchise, announce a four-year deal to become the temporary tenants of Wembley and play one regular game each year between 2013 and 2016.
September 14, 2016: Tottenham play a first European fixture using Wembley as their home ground as the club begin work to redevelop White Hart Lane. They lose 2-1 to Monaco. Tottenham play two other Champions League and one Europa League games at Wembley that season.
April 29, 2017: Anthony Joshua defeats holder Wladimir Klitschko to win the WBA (super), IBF and IBO heavyweight titles in front of a sell-out Wembley crowd of 90,000. Both fighters are knocked down before Joshua wins by technical knockout when the referee stops the contest in the 11th round.
June 28, 2017: Adele’s concert sets a stadium attendance record for a live music show of 98,000 fans.
August 20, 2017: Tottenham play the first game in a full season of fixtures at Wembley, losing 2-1 to Chelsea in the Premier League.
April 26, 2018: Fulham owner Shahid Khan announces he is in talks to buy Wembley from the FA.
18 July, 2018: Gary Neville described selling Wembley as a “short-term plan we’ll regret forever” at at a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee hearing, but sports Minister Tracey Crouch has backed the sale so the FA can accelerate plans to transform grassroots facilities over the next 20 years.
September 27, 2018: The plan to sell Wembley moved a step closer to completion after it was backed by the FA board.
October 11, 2018: The FA confirmed the proposed sale of the national stadium to Khan would go to a vote of the Football Association Council on October 24 after a “healthy discussion” of the deal’s merits.
Statement from The FA on the sale of Wembley Stadium: https://t.co/FPPMOtn6zM. pic.twitter.com/fRRe2Ao7Oa — FA Spokesperson (@FAspokesperson) October 17, 2018
October 17, 2018: The FA announced Khan has withdrawn his offer to buy Wembley.
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