FA lose Wembley war
The Football Association has admitted defeat as it has lost a battle to stop the Wembley pitch from being re-laid for the tenth time in just three years.
It is thought that a number of key England players made complaints about the pitch in recent games. The complaints seem to have carried enough weight to force the FA into paying for another pitch.
The new ground has been constantly changing since it was first opened. The Egypt players said the other week when they played England that they did not have any issues with the quality of the pitch.
However, Slavan Bilic, manager of Croatia, said a couple of years ago that he was shocked at just how quickly the Wembley pitch seems to deteriorate once the players start a match.
An FA spokesperson said: “The groundstaff did very well to stage the Carling Cup, despite around 80mm of rain in the week with a further 40mm the night before the match, and they used a canopy to shield the pitch from the rain on Saturday night and on Sunday. They worked round the clock and could not have done more.”
“Conditions were better ahead of the England match, but the pitch was still not good enough for our liking. Ultimately, it has not fared well through what has been an extremely harsh winter and it needs to be replaced. The stadium caters for football and non-football events, so replacing the pitch more than once a year is the reality of a multipurpose venue.”
The point is that there are so many talented groudsmen all over England that never got a look in at the top flight because of their association with some of the lower league clubs in England.
James Milner, Aston Villa player, said he had played on better League One and League Two pitches when he spent time on loan early in his career. This marks quite a contrast in the quality of pitch handling at the highest and lowest levels.
It is fair enough to say that Wembley does get used for other sporting occasions, but these sporting occasions are very limited. There is plenty of space to host NFL matches and still maintain a good quality pitch.
Many more football clubs have to keep their ground in a good condition and it gets played on every single week. Some teams also allow rugby clubs to play in their stadium, which drastically damages the turf.
Wembley should have one of the best pitches in the world because it is an iconic stadium for football and for many other sports. The cost of a relay each time is going to mount up and it is an area the FA could cut back on if they reviewed the people in charge of the pitch.
England also need to be playing on a slick and neat surface ahead of the World Cup in South Africa if they want any chance of having some success.





