28th April 1923: Wembley Stadium opens with the White Horse Final between Bolton and West Ham

Wembley Stadium had originally been built for the British Empire Exhibition that was to take place in 1924, but it was finished ahead of schedule. Despite concerns that there wouldn’t be enough spectators to fill the enormous stadium, the FA chose to play the match there anyway. They also arranged for King George V to present the trophy to the winning team. An orderly queue of people made their way inside after the gates were opened at 11.30am. Just over two hours later the steady flow had increased to the point where stadium authorities decided they needed to close the gates. The pressure of the increasing number of people outside the stadium soon forced the gates open, leading to spectators flooding the pitch. Official figures placed attendance at 126,000 people – 1,000 more than the stadium’s capacity – but estimates suggest that the crowd was probably twice that size. It was only after mounted police arrived that the situation began to calm down. The police managed to clear the pitch enough for the match to begin just 45 minutes behind schedule. Although many other police horses were involved, it was a light grey horse called Billie who became the symbol of the day. Billie was ridden by PC George Scorey and appeared white on the black and white newsreel footage. This led to the match becoming known as the ‘White Horse Final’. The bridge outside the new Wembley Stadium was subsequently named White Horse Bridge. In terms of the football match itself, Bolton Wanderers beat West Ham 2-0.