Wembley Pitch

[Midostouch]

As for the watering, they are operated by pop up sprinklers, and they decided to water the pitch at the Playoff final last year when I was working and muggins here was divoting next to one of them - soaked in seconds!

You're reminding me of a certain Robbie Savage moment at the Lane! I'm sure that's the only thing you have in common with him!

 

[eddiev14]

Screw the excuses.

They spent close to 800 million on a FOOTBALL stadium. To not have a 'Frist Class Surface' (as they promised they would deliver) is a complete joke, and makes a mockery of that place supposedly being the 'home of football'.

To say that the stands are too high, or the concerts ruin the surface is not good enough, and it also means that they gave all of that money to architechts who never consulted the head groundstaff about what the pitch (arguably the most importatnt part of the stadium) needed. I just can't accept that this was the case, it doesn't add up.

The longer it goes on, and the more high profile games that are played there, they will be under increased pressure to deliver... especially given that the Champions League Final will soon be hosted there.

FA muppets...Sort it. Now!

 

[Wellspurs]

Unfortunately it will never be the best pitch in England until they stop ripping it up every few months to accomodate Take fucking That and the like, a good pitch needs time to settle, to knit together and bed down and establish itself. Added to that the lack of sunlight it receives due to the high stands it's made even more difficult to make and maintain a good pitch.

This pitch will be used for the Final, and will play better than today/tomorrow because it has been down longer.

There's a rugby match between tomorrow and the final.

 

[ShelfSide18]

Screw the excuses.

They spent close to 800 million on a FOOTBALL stadium. To not have a 'Frist Class Surface' (as they promised they would deliver) is a complete joke, and makes a mockery of that place supposedly being the 'home of football'.

To say that the stands are too high, or the concerts ruin the surface is not good enough, and it also means that they gave all of that money to architechts who never consulted the head groundstaff about what the pitch (arguably the most importatnt part of the stadium) needed. I just can't accept that this was the case, it doesn't add up.

The longer it goes on, and the more high profile games that are played there, they will be under increased pressure to deliver... especially given that the Champions League Final will soon be hosted there.

FA muppets...Sort it. Now!

Sorry mate, they're not excuses it's the reality of the situation.

I don't like the fact that they rip the pitch up every few months for concerts etc but the Fa will say they need to generate revenue apart from a handful of games a season. Saying it's not good enough is ill informed, because ripping up the pitch for a concert means a new pitch has to be laid and you can't just lay down a perfect pitch - it's not like instant coffee. And yes the fact that the stadium is just very high is a massive factor. What does grass, or anything that grows for that matter need? Sunlight, and if you cut off the sunlight, then it makes it difficult. If you add a lack of sunlight to the constant ripping up and laying new pitches to house music events then you don't have a conducive situation for creating and maintaining a good pitch.

 

[ShelfSide18]

There's a rugby match between tomorrow and the final.

Yet I don't think the pitch will be ripped up and a new one laid.

It can cope with a rugby game on it, because the pitch will still be knitting together and settling down despite the fairly superficial damage the rugby will do to it.

 

[ShelfSide18]

You're reminding me of a certain Robbie Savage moment at the Lane! I'm sure that's the only thing you have in common with him!

Cheers :grin:

 

[Wellspurs]

Hope JD takes full advantage, if I were a Pompey defender I would be crapping myself.

 

[eddiev14]

Sorry mate, they're not excuses it's the reality of the situation.

I don't like the fact that they rip the pitch up every few months for concerts etc but the Fa will say they need to generate revenue apart from a handful of games a season. Saying it's not good enough is ill informed, because ripping up the pitch for a concert means a new pitch has to be laid and you can't just lay down a perfect pitch - it's not like instant coffee. And yes the fact that the stadium is just very high is a massive factor. What does grass, or anything that grows for that matter need? Sunlight, and if you cut off the sunlight, then it makes it difficult. If you add a lack of sunlight to the constant ripping up and laying new pitches to house music events then you don't have a conducive situation for creating and maintaining a good pitch.

Fair enough, and I understand all of that. I'm not really trying to argue that they aren't now faced with a problem.

However, the question we have to ask is, what is the purpose of this stadium? Is it there as a world class arena for football matches, or is it just a multi-purpose arena whose sole purpose is to make bucket loads of cash for the FA, so they can pay off the massive amount of money that was piled into it?

My feeling is that it should be both but, for the time being anyway, it is just the latter. At the expense of the playing surface, and therefore at the expense of the quality of football played there. And therefore at the expense of the enjoyment that millions of people crave when watching the 'showpiece' games they are hosting.

This makes me incredibly sad, as one of the things that made the old Wembley so special was that the pitch was the best in the country. Like a bowling green, and beautiful football could be played by the best teams there.

 

[ShelfSide18]

Fair enough, and I understand all of that. I'm not really trying to argue that they aren't now faced with a problem.

However, the question we have to ask is, what is the purpose of this stadium? Is it there as a world class arena for football matches, or is it just a multi-purpose arena whose sole purpose is to make bucket loads of cash for the FA, so they can pay off the massive amount of money that was piled into it?

My feeling is that it should be both but, for the time being anyway, it is just the latter. At the expense of the playing surface, and therefore at the expense of the quality of football played there. And therefore at the expense of the enjoyment that millions of people crave when watching the 'showpiece' games they are hosting.

This makes me incredibly sad, as one of the things that made the old Wembley so special was that the pitch was the best in the country. Like a bowling green, and beautiful football could be played by the best teams there.

I share your frustrations, and I'm no expert by the way, just passing on knowledge from my old man who is in the business.

It's a tough one, because showpiece events should have the best pitch around, but Premiership pitches only have football played on them, and then get a nice rest every summer. I also think that the pitch at Wembley was always considered the finest around because of the fact that most pitches back in the day were terrible mudheaps, and that the old Wembley didn't have high stands and had a huge running track in between fans and pitch which meant the stands were lower but still held 90,000. If they did that to the new Wembley there would be uproar that the fans were miles from the pitch - so horses for courses as they say.

It's a tough one, but I think the only chance you have of getting a top quality pitch at Wembley is by not hosting concerts meaning the pitch isn't ripped up every matter of months - fine by me but I guess the financial bods wouldn't allow that!

Old Trafford suffered when they started building higher stands, and they didn't rip the pitch up all the time, it's just an unfortunate circumstance. All modern stadiums use translucent roofing material to let sunlight in, and many use those artificial lighting rigs, even that WC stadium in Japan prepared the pitch elsewhere and wheeled it in for games in 2002. It's just a symptom of building higher stadia, and as I say if you don't let a pitch settle and establish itself there's not an awful lot groundstaff can do apart from prepare it to the best standard possible, then sit back and await the flak.

 

[rez9000]

A question, SS18. What about at the old Wembley? They had concerts there too. I saw U2 there back in '97. What kept that surface so good, if it was multifunctional, and can they not do the same thing on the new turf?

 

[shelfsideyid]

A question, SS18. What about at the old Wembley? They had concerts there too. I saw U2 there back in '97. What kept that surface so good, if it was multifunctional, and can they not do the same thing on the new turf?

Yeah... I went and saw GunsN'Roses 2 years running at the ol' Wembley, and sure they just covered the pitch with a plastic flooring ???????

 

[ShelfSide18]

A question, SS18. What about at the old Wembley? They had concerts there too. I saw U2 there back in '97. What kept that surface so good, if it was multifunctional, and can they not do the same thing on the new turf?

Firstly let me make clear I am no expert at all, it's just my dads profession so I have a passing knowledge, and having worked on the pitch at Wembley (basically replacing divots!) was there when they were receiving an all manner of stick from everyone.

I'm not sure to be honest, and as SSY commented, they used to lay down pallets over the pitch.

I think a lot of it was that back then the pitches in the premiership, whilst improved from the mudheaps were still generally not as good as todays pitches so it was the contrast that people noticed, although it was always recognised that the pitch at Old Wembley was top notch.

New Wembley does have a lot more events on now, from the big concerts to corporate events and the like, and when they keep laying new pitches then ripping them up again just as it is settling down and knitting together together then you will have problems. I can also say, as an amateur footballer, I'd love to play on the so called 'poor' Wembley surface, copared to the quagmires I'm used to!

As I said, I'm no expert by a long stretch, just passing on info that I have gathered. I would ask my old man but he's currently at Wembley now helping repair and prepare the pitch for us tomorrow!

COYS.

 

[ShelfSide18]

Just got a call from the old man at Wembley, he told me that Villa and Chelsea actually requested the pitch to be watered before Kick Off. The pitch was apparently very firm underneath and by watering it would make it very slippy but slicker for passing. Apparently a lot of the players were wearing blades in the first half but changed to studs in the 2nd meaning a lot less players were stacking it.

Also, strangely, the pitch will be ripped up once again and a new one laid after the rugby, so should we get to the final we will be playing on yet another surface.

 

[paddy30]

Yeah i've heard those things before but don't why the designers didn't factor those points in? or develop some work arounds, like closing the roof at night and putting UV and high intensity lights in the ceiling to simulate sunlight?

We had the same problem in Ireland with Croke Park when it was done up!They never gave the pitch time to settle it led to 2 players doin their cruciate ligament just by slipping on the surface!They finally seen sense and left it settle now its one of the best surfaces in the world:clap:Unfortunately money always comes into the factor and they dont really care what state the pitch is as long as they are making money:shrug:

 

[DC_Boy]

cheers for the info 18, I'd rep ya but can't

that info puts wilkins praise of the pitch into better context

i wonder if both us and pompey will ask for it to be watered tomorrow

pompey may say no - presumably that would veto it

it may be the watering will be enough yesterday to mean the pitch is a bit better today

obviously the players need to be mindful in the warm up of what the pitch feels like in helping to determine their footwear

 

[PT]

Wembley pitch 1 Spurs 0

 

[Legend10]

That pitch really is diabolical, there is zero excuse for it!