London Soccer Stadiums From The Air

Can you see London soccer stadiums from the airplane? Yes you can!

If you are lucky enough to fly into London on a clear day and pass over the central part of the city, you are treated to one of the great city views on Earth. You can also see quite a few of London’s soccer stadiums, if you know where to look. Here’s a quick guide to spotting soccer stadiums from the air.

(Special thanks to Daria, girlfriend of Groundhopper Michael, for supplying new photos in March 2025!)

You can skip ahead to a 2021 video I took that shows Chelsea, Fulham, Wembley and the old place at Brentford.

First, a map of the major stadiums, with Heathrow Airport circled and the rough location of Gatwick indicated. (For copyright purposes, I drew this on our Google Map of all the football clubs of England.

The major football stadiums around London.

The easiest way to start, assuming you fly over the northern part of the city (which seems to usually happen), is to look for massive Wembley Stadium  on the north side of town, notable for its giant arch and bright red seats:

Wembley Stadium

Bonus points for spotting The Hive, home of Barnet FC, just north of Wembley. Look for a bunch of soccer fields, one with a helicopter pad, and orange seats.

The Hive, home of Barnet FC (The Hive, Barnet FC, from the air by Mike Pennington, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Way up north and west, in the middle of a residential area, you might see the distinctive red and yellow seats at Vicarage Road, home of Watford FC.

Vicarage Road, home of Watford FC (via Football Tripper)

The Emirates, Arsenal’s home, is also on the north side and looks like a big silver oval with a hole on top. It’s massive! Nearby is their old stadium, much of which still exists; it got turned into apartments.

The Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal FC

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium also in North London, northeast of Wembley and due north of Arsenal.

Stamford Bridge (Chelsea) is pretty central on the southwest side, next to a big park with a keyhole-shaped structure in it. The blue seats have “Chelsea” on them in all capital letters.

Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea FC. (Credit: Daria Dubois)

Fulham’s Craven Cottage is right on the Thames, west of the center.

Craven Cottage, home of Fulham FC. (Credit: Daria Dubois)

Due north of Craven Cottage is QPR’s Loftus Road, a small rectangle with blue seats and two red roofs.

Over on the east side, look for the sprawling Olympic Park and West Ham’s perfectly round London Stadium, with a bizarre-looking swirly red sculpture next to it.

London Stadium, home of West Ham FC. (Credit: Daria Dubois)

If you can spot the famous 02 Arena (it looks like a circus tent) on a bend in the Thames east of town, look just to the southeast for Charlton’s The Valley, with CAFC on red seats.

The Valley, home of Charlton Athletic (photo by Mark Fosh, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

On the southeast side of the central city, south of the river, look for Millwall’s home; it’s between a railroad junction and a housing project, with THE DEN written in yellow on blue seats.

Millwall’s The Den (via The Daily Mail)

Especially if you’re flying into Gatwick, you should see Selhurst Park, home of Crystal Palace. It’s a rectangle whose sides don’t match; one is huge and flat, one is tall and curved. The seats say EAGLES.

Off to your left as you get lower, you might be able to spot the new AFC Wimbledon stadium, Plough Lane. It’s a perfectly rectangular white roof with three housing towers on one end.

Brentford Community Stadium (photo Brentford Community Stadium from the air by Thomas Nugent, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Very near Brentford — just past it on final approach, actually — is the national rugby stadium, the 82,000-seat Twickenham Stadium. But that’s for another book.

Also, if you happen to see this one, it’s the world-famous Kennington Oval, a cricket ground.

The Kennington Oval, a cricket ground. (Credit: Daria Dubois)

And while we’re at it, here is a video I shot on a glorious day, showing several of the stadiums above. I really wish I had started filming earlier — I took the above pictures of Wembley and Arsenal on the same day — but I did zoom in on Chelsea, Fulham, Wembley (from afar) and Brentford.

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