Preserving 100 years of Wembley history at home

What began as a fascination has become a 40 year obsession for a man who now owns a vast Wembley collection documenting football finals, concerts and landmark moments in British culture.

Graham Cooksley's love of Wembley started as a teenager after seeing the stadium's "magic" on TV each year for the FA Cup final, which combined with a few school trips, he says "struck a chord" and "captured the imagination".

After taking home a programme or two from those visits, he got the "collecting bug" and dreams of one day curating his own dedicated museum.

Cooksley, 57, now has between 400 and 500 items in his Plymouth home, including items from the 1948 Olympics, Muhammad Ali's 1963 fight and Live Aid.

He said it was the "status" of Wembley that appealed to him.

"I think of the old twin towers from the original stadium, the fact that the biggest football game of the year was up until probably the mid 90s, the FA Cup final.

"It was pretty much the only game on TV, up until the 80s.

"It just had this kind of mystical status, especially with the twin towers, you know, going back to 1923, all the historic events, the 1948 Olympics, the 1966 World Cup, and of course, things like Live Aid."

His collection started with a football theme but has since spread to wider events.

He said: "It's probably anything but the football. When I look through it there's rodeos, there's circuses from the very early days of the British Empire exhibition, which Wembley was originally built as the centre piece of.

"We've kind of steered away from the football angle. There is a little bit of football, in important England matches like the 1966 items but mainly its the Olympics and the 1930s festival of youth displays which were common at big stadiums."

It was following Live Aid in 1985 that he started collecting properly.

He said: "It was a big worldwide event at Wembley Stadium, which I thought, I'll get a programme for that."

He built his collection using programme dealer's catalogues and then "the internet came along and well known auction houses have changed everything".

His passion for collecting has been a key part of his life and led him to complete an Open University degree in art history.

He does not believe his collection is likely to earn him a fortune anytime soon.

He said: "Things that were relatively cheap then might have some value now. We try not to spend too much on it, there's more important things to life."

His most prized possession is a small book signed by Sir Stanley Rous.

He said: "It's dated 1951. So at that time, Stanley Rous was the head of the FA. He'd been a steward at the first Wembley Cup final in 1923. And by 1966, he was President of FIFA and was instrumental in bringing the World Cup to England in that year."

Cooksley shares pictures of his collection on social media and some have caught the attention of Wembley representatives.

He said: "We had meetings with Wembley Stadium prior to their centenary celebrations. We've worked for Disney Plus, and we're also working with Wembley Arena regarding some social media posts."

His collection largely remains boxed away in his home office but he has no plans of stopping anytime soon.

"It's not complete. No collection, I don't think is ever complete," he said.

"We'll rehome any items that are maybe getting under people's feet or clogging down their wardrobes.

"It does take up space, so we won't be allowed to to move house on the back of it."

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