Wembley - putting the record straight


Head Groundsman Steve Welch talks about the problems he and his team had at the home of football


WEMBLEY grounds manager Steve Welch has publicly hit back at the “unfair criticism” that was levelled at him and his team over the condition of the National Stadium’s pitch earlier this year.


Speaking at the ‘IOG In


Action’ event he laid to rest a number of ‘pitch performance’ ghosts and slammed the misinformed commentators and industry rumour mongers who had incorrectly assumed that he and his staff were responsible for the pitch’s poor condition and performance. He said “I had nothing to do with the pitch specification, which was fixed in 2003. I was appointed in 2005. The turf was laid unnecessarily early - in June 2006 - at which time the construction of the stadium was incomplete and, for example, cranes were still being used around the site. The contractors were solely responsible for laying the pitch


and its initial maintenance - we could simply observe, with our hands tied, until the official handover in March 2007. From June 2006 until December 2006 the pitch was maintained by the contractors and even their hands were tied as the work that could be carried out to the pitch was dictated by the stadium build.” He continued: “As the pitch construction got underway - including drainage and irrigation - we flagged up a number of issues, but we could make no changes. The pitch was being constructed under very difficult circumstances; it was like putting together an enormous jigsaw! In the event every one of those concerns materialised into problems.” Steve Welch and his team


were allowed onto the surface for the first time in December 2006, “but from December to March the pitch just ‘sat’ there because for five months of the


year the stadium is in total shade.” “Aside from being unhappy with the surface levels, once the turf was laid, problems became increasingly apparent. For example, debris was left after mowing; the spread of meadowgrass was rampant; disease was taking hold; and there were thatch issues and lack of root development. “Frustratingly, we were


literally watching the pitch deteriorate; we simply couldn’t do a thing about it until the official handover - on March 10 - and we knew exactly what to expect. “When we were given control


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- just seven days before the stadium’s Community Day - there was only 75 per cent grass coverage and no root structure and, with only enough time to prepare the surface, mark out and set up the goalposts, we were in a position where we knew it wouldn’t perform. There were no surprises.” “Seven days later - for the England Under 21 game - the pitch looked good but still without root growth and, as expected, it didn’t perform well and was slated. But, what the commentators didn’t know, was that the pitch was used for training every day for the previous six days.” Despite a barrage of criticism Steve Welch and his team persevered and, with the help of Paul Burgess, Head Groundsman at Arsenal, who loaned their lighting rigs, the Wembley turf was reseeded for the FA Cup Final in an attempt to achieve some rootzone and, a degree of stability.


“The pitch was described as


‘slow’ during the Cup Final, but we couldn’t water it (as is the normal practice, to give the ball some ‘zip’) because of the various pre-match parades and events.”


Using the lighting rigs, and with increasing grass growth and root structure, the Wembley grounds care team was “delighted” with the pitch performance during May, when a total of twelve games were played in three weeks. Then came the concert season - a period of ‘juggling’ that saw seven events in five weeks - after which Steve Welch put into action his re- turfing programme in conjunction with Inturf (which for Wembley has four pitches at various stages of growth). “The result today is a fantastic stadium with a very good surface managed by a very good team of professionals,” he said. “There’s no thatch and we have an increased root structure, and the result is a stable playing surface. “Today, I call the shots; and the pitch is now being managed how it should be managed.”


In his address to the


attentive audience of 200 plus groundscare professionals, Steve Welch also commented that his door is always open and that he and his team are readily availablefor advice, if requested. “We will support this industry,” he confirmed, “and as you will see today, we operate an open book policy at Wembley as we aim to make it one of the best stadiums in the world.”


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