The old Wembley Stadium was first used in 1923 and had a track record for having one of the very best playing surfaces in England. Its wide open spaces would drain the energy from the legs of even the fittest players. As soon as the Empire Stadium finally closed its doors in 2000, the superb pitch was torn up along with the entire stadium.
The nation had to wait 7 long years until the new Wembley Stadium opened its doors. The new 90,000 seater stadium was categorised by UEFA as a 5* Elite Stadium and is the second largest in Europe after the Camp Nou in Barcelona. The first full international took place versus Brazil on 1st June 2007.
The construction of the arena was overdue and well over budget and the issues didn’t end there. Operational problems like defective escalators on match days were experienced but there is an on-going headache that thus far has not be adequately answered – the playing surface.
Pitches at brand new stadia normally require adequate time to bed down but at Wembley the pitch is a difficulty and is probably 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 player losing their footing at a vital moment as the pitch gave way. By the close of the 2009/2010 season, the grass had been relaid 10 times at an expense of £1m and the stadium had not even been up and running for 3 years.
The truth is, relaying the playing surface every 3 months isn’t the answer. The design of the arena prevents the natural conditions of light and wind can’t get to the pitch to stimulate the turf to develop. A few stadiums including the one in Gelsenkirchen in Germany is on rollers so between matches, the entire playing surface is transferred outside the arena. Other stadiums have a lot of ventilation in the stands to permit the wind to move around and it is possible to use artificial lights to assist the pitch to develop.
Sadly, there are still complications and a solution really ought to be worked out. In September 2010, England begin their qualification for Euro 2012 and they are certainly the best team in their group. The one thing England really don’t need, is their opponents helped by a poor quality Wembley playing surface. The games at Wembley are meant to give England home advantage.
Tags: euro 2012, euro 2012 poland, uefa euro 2012, Ukraine euro 2012