The old Wembley Stadium was opened up in 1923 and had a track record of for maintaining one of the very best pitches in Britain. Its wide open spaces would sap the power from the legs of even the fittest players. Once the Empire Stadium at long last shut its doors in 2000, the superb pitch was torn up along with the entire stadium.
England supporters had to wait patiently 7 more years until eventually the new Wembley Stadium opened its doors. The new 90,000 seater arena was classed by UEFA as a 5* Elite Arena and is the second largest in Europe after the Nou Camp in Barcelona. The first full international was played against Brazil on 1st June 2007.
The construction of the arena was late and well over budget yet the troubles did not stop there. Operational troubles such as defective escalators on match days were encountered but there is an on-going situation that so far has not be adequately tackled – the pitch.
Playing surfaces at new stadia in general take time to settle down but at Wembley the playing surface is a headache and is undoubtedly one of the worst around. It cuts up far too easily and players lose their footing too often. In a recent FA Cup semi final, at least one of the goals was because of a defender losing their footing at a critical point as the pitch gave way. By the end of the 2009/2010 season, the grass had been relaid 10 times at an expense of one million pounds and the arena had not even been in operation for 3 years.
Yet, relaying the playing surface every 3 months just isn’t the best solution. The layout of the arena is the reason why the natural conditions of light and wind can’t get to the pitch to boost the pitch to develop. A few stadiums like the one in Gelsenkirchen in Germany is on rollers so between matches, the complete pitch is transferred outside the arena. Other stadia have lots of ventilation in the stands permitting the wind to move around and it is possible to use artificial lights to assist the playing surface to develop.
Regrettably, there are still difficulties and an answer really should be worked out. In September 2010, England start their qualification for Euro 2012 and they are certainly the best team in their group. The one thing England don’t need, is their opponents helped by a sub-standard Wembley pitch. The fixtures at Wembley are supposed to give England home advantage.
Tags: euro 2012, euro 2012 poland, uefa euro 2012, Ukraine euro 2012