Wembley takes a pounding
“£800m and we can’t grow grass!”
THE new Wembley pitch took more than a pounding from football boots as a host of ‘experts’ came forward to critiscise the surface after recent matches. BBC summariser, Mark Lawrenson
“A good-looking pitch that’s strong- wearing and fast to recover, the Head Groundsman promised. What he produced was, in the worst sense, a classic Wembley pitch: the grass had been given a No3 cut where a No1 was required, and was left dry in the hours before the kick-off, which meant that a ball played along the ground would hold up rather than run.” The Sun chipped in with “2,356 days
started the ball rolling by stating during commentary “£800m and we can’t grow grass!”. Gary Lineker went one step further by proclaiming that “we obviously can’t grow grass in this country”. Richard Williams in the Guardian said
saying “There will be difficulty. We expected better, but it is going to be difficult. For a new stadium, you do not expect this. The grass comes off.” Enter Pitchcare’s Dave Saltman to the rescue. Speaking in the Daily Telegraph he said “This is a brand new pitch, and it is a bit of a myth that the old Wembley turf was the best in the world. It suffered from Poa annua (weed grass), as we all do in this industry - along with other problems - but people have short memories.”
after England players last performed on the hallowed Wembley turf - and the new pitch cut up just minutes into their training session”. Even Brazil coach, Dunga, chipped in
“The pitch on Saturday cut up a bit, but I thought it looked great, with few divots. With this type of pitch, one that is laid rather than grown in-situ, it takes time to settle. In hindsight, perhaps the FA could have grown the pitch from scratch but they had commissioned turf to be laid and were not to know the stadium’s opening would be delayed.” “Head Groundsman, Steve Welch, has a good pedigree and has a good team with him and I know he will do his best,
with a fairly limitless budget, to get it looking as good as possible. These pitches get a lot of use.” The extent of Steve’s workload before England’s next competitive game at Wembley against Israel on 8th September is amply illustrated by the coming schedule of events at the stadium. Over the course of the summer the pitch will be used for two George Michael concerts, a further two from rock band Muse, the Diana, Princess of Wales tribute event, the big Planet Earth gig on 7th July, friendly football matches, the Community Shield and the Rugby League Carnegie Challenge Cup final. Steve, who colleagues describe as ‘a
workaholic’, has been hurt by the criticism. “Like everything it takes time. But, I’m
here for the long term and I will not rest until this pitch is the best in the world. I’m very proud and privileged to be the groundsman at Wembley.”
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