Wembley Stadium's problems brought its operating company to the brink of a collapse that could have dragged the Football Association down with it, the FA's latest accounts reveal. And the FA has warned its shareholders that the risk will not be fully averted until after the 90,000-seat venue is fully operational.

Just how close English football came to disaster is shown by the FA's accounts for the 12 months to last December, which lay bare the precariousness of Wembley National Stadium Limited (WNSL), a wholly owned subsidiary of English football's governing body. So serious was the situation that the auditor Deloitte & Touche refused to sign off the stadium company as a going concern.