Source: Daily_Mail
FA face up to pitch problems as Wembley row rumbles on
The FA have accepted the much-maligned pitch at Wembley Stadium needs to be improved.
The debate over the surface has been rumbling ever since the new stadium was opened two years ago but it intensified over FA Cup semi-final weekend.
The turf proved problematic for Saturday's clash between Arsenal and Chelsea and again for the tie between Manchester United and Everton 24 hours later, with the top surface appearing spongy and giving way easily under players' feet.
Its harshest critics were the two losing managers. Arsene Wenger branded it 'a disaster' and 'laughable' while Sir Alex Ferguson said the soil looked 'dead' and withdrew three senior players from his starting line-up because of injury concerns ahead of the season's run-in.
The pitch has had to be re-laid five times in two years since the new £750million stadium opened.
The standard of the turf even prompted the Australian Rugby Union to investigate whether it contributed to injuries to two Wallabies in an international against the Barbarians in November last year.
The FA confirmed the state of the pitch is a concern and said they are focusing on improving it for the numerous fixtures in the next two months.
'Whilst recent changes to the surface have seen improvements in player traction, we accept there are still further improvements to be made,' a statement from the governing body read.
'Wembley Stadium will continue to work hard to address these issues for our next matches.
'The grounds team has made continual improvements to the pitch since opening in 2007, however, the stadium's unique environment continues to prove challenging.'
Before the end of the season, the turf will have to withstand three Football League play-off finals plus the Blue Square Premier play-off final, the FA Cup final and the finals of the FA Trophy and Vase.
England then play a World Cup qualifier against Andorra on June 10.
Aside from football, there is an AC/DC concert on June 26 and, in July, three Oasis dates and four Take That concerts.
It will be re-laid again for the Community Shield in August and the FA's statement added that 'this new pitch will be of a different composition and from a different turf nursery'.
David Saltman, formerly in charge of Millennium Stadium pitch and now the managing director of www.pitchcare.com, said Wembley will never be as good as a Premier League club's surface.
'This pitch is the most spotlighted pitch in country if not the world,' he told BBC Radio Five Live.
'The number of events on the grass and off it is staggering. One of the problems with Wembley and the Millennium is they're not just pitches for football.
'Managers such as Ferguson and Wenger are used to playing on pitches which are just prepared for football week in, week out and the levels are superb. The pitch is cut short and the players know what they are going to be going on to.
'At Wembley and the Millennium the pitches are turfed - they have to be because of the other events - so you're never going to have the same sort of perfect level you have with an in-situ pitch you get in the Premier League and the Championship.'
