The old Wembley Arena was opened in 1923 and had a track record of for offering one of the highest quality playing surfaces in Britain. Its wide open spaces would drain the power from the legs of even the fittest players. When the Empire Stadium eventually sealed its doors in 2000, the magnificent playing surface was torn up along with the entire stadium.
England supporters had to wait 7 long years until the new Wembley Stadium opened its doors. The new 90,000 seater stadium was classed by UEFA as a 5* Elite Stadium and is the second biggest in Europe after the Nou Camp in Barcelona. The initial full international took place against Brazil on 1st June 2007.
The construction of the stadium was delayed and well over budget yet the difficulties didn’t finish there. Operational troubles such as defective escalators on match days were experienced but there is a continuing situation that at this point has not be sufficiently answered – the playing surface.
Pitches at brand new stadia regularly require adequate time to settle down but at Wembley the playing surface is an issue and is undeniably 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 due to a player slipping at a crucial second as the playing surface gave way. By the end of the 2009/2010 season, the grass had been relaid 10 times at a price of one million pounds and the arena had not even been in operation for 3 years.
The truth is, relaying the pitch every 3 months just isn’t the solution. The design of the stadium prevents the natural conditions of light and wind can’t get to the playing surface to encourage the grass to grow. Some stadiums similar to the one in Gelsenkirchen in Germany is on rollers so in between games, the whole pitch is transferred out of the stadium. Other stadia have a lot of air flow in the stands to permit the air to flow and it is possible to use artificial lights to encourage the grass to develop.
Regrettably, there are still challenges and a fix really ought to be found. In September 2010, England launch their qualification for Euro 2012 and they are definitely the best team in their group. The one thing England do not need, is the other team aided by a low quality Wembley playing surface. The fixtures at Wembley are meant to give England home advantage.
Tags: euro 2012, euro 2012 poland, uefa euro 2012, Ukraine euro 2012