Wembley to re-lay pitch

April 27, 2009

After both Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson branded the Wembley pitch a disgrace after last weekend’s FA Cup games, Wembley bosses have decided to relay the surface ion time for the final.

The pitch is to be ready in time for the FA Trophy final on the 9th of May and then the Football league play-off finals and the FA Cup on May the 30th.

The pitch was originally set to be replaced in the summer but after the recent criticism the time frame has been moved forward. The surface has been relayed 5 times since it’s opening in 2007.

Arsenal manager Wenger called the pitch “a disaster” and “laughable” after his side’s defeat by Chelsea on Saturday.

He said: “It is really embarrassing when you see how much this stadium has cost and you still can’t get a proper football pitch. Somebody must give an explanation.

“I am not sure the pop concerts (held at Wembley) are an answer (for the pitch’s condition). This pitch was never good since the start.”

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said his worries over the pitch were the reason why he fielded a weakened Manchester United team, who were beaten by Everton in a penalty shoot-out on Sunday.

“When I saw the pitch what I didn’t want was to go into extra-time with my strongest squad,” said the Scot after his side were beaten 4-2 on spot-kicks following a 0-0 draw.

“They’ve got all these lights around the perimeter to help the growth and the standard of the soil but it looks dead to me.”

Everton boss David Moyes added: “I thought it looked very spongy and a poor playing surface - not in a way that it was all bobbles and divots but it just looked as if it was very soft, spongy and quite slow at times.”

The pitch has come under continual criticism so it will probably only be a matter of time before it has to be re-layed again.

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.