The old Wembley Stadium was unveiled in 1923 and had a good reputation for developing one of the best pitches in England. Its wide open spaces would drain the energy from the legs of even the fittest players. Once the Empire Stadium eventually shut its doors in 2000, the magnificent playing surface was torn up along with the entire stadium.
England fans had to wait patiently 7 long years before the new Wembley Stadium opened its doors. The new 90,000 seater stadium was categorised by UEFA as a 5* Elite Arena and is the second largest in Europe after the Camp Nou in Barcelona. The initial full international was played versus Brazil on 1st June 2007.
The building of the stadium was late and well over budget yet the issues didn’t finish there. Operational problems such as defective escalators on match days were experienced but there is an on-going situation that so far has not be adequately tackled – the pitch.
Pitches at brand new stadia often take time to settle down but at Wembley the pitch is a predicament and is most certainly one of the worst around. It cuts up far too easily and players slip over too often. In a recent FA Cup semi final, at least one of the goals was due to a defender slipping at a critical point as the pitch gave way. By the close of the 2009/2010 season, the pitch had been relaid 10 times at a price of one million pounds and the stadium hadn’t even been in operation for 3 years.
All the same, relaying the playing surface every 3 months is not actually the best solution. The design of the stadium is the reason why the natural conditions of light and wind can’t get to the playing surface to inspire the turf to develop. Some stadia much like the one in Gelsenkirchen in Germany is on rollers so in between games, the full playing surface is transferred outside the arena. Most other stadiums have a good amount of ventilation in the stands permitting the air to move around and it is possible to use artificial lights to aid the grass to develop.
Regrettably, there are still difficulties and an answer needs to be found. In September 2010, England start their qualification for Euro 2012 and they are definitely the top team in their group. The last thing England really don’t need, is their opponents assisted by a poor quality Wembley playing surface. The games at Wembley are intended to give England home advantage.
Tags: euro 2012, euro 2012 poland, uefa euro 2012, Ukraine euro 2012