The Wembley pitch

[beorhthelm]

Personally and without knowing the full facts I believe the construction (rootzone, soil, base layer and all that) is wrong and all that needs a rip out and re-do. Simply changing the top layer of Turf every 10 months wont solve anything apart from ripping out the bank balance!

i think they have a couple of times. they've apparently relaid it 10 times in 3 years, and not all of those can have been due to it being a poor surface, but planned. i think theres the problem. it cant hurt having rugby or even American thowball played there, not really much harder on a pitch than football. that race circuit must have lead to a re-lay, i dont think the pitch has ever had a chance to settle.

 

[strings]

According to the telegraph:

Wembley to get a new pitch every four months at £125,000 each

 

[Easy 10]

Joke.
There's only one solution now.....


Plastic.

 

[Zamoracomehome]

Daily Mail are saying pitch could be relayed AGAIN for the 11th time in three years in time for FA Cup final and England vs. Mexico. Mental.

 

[strings]

So, wembley is contracted to have.

-England home internationals (probably 7 or 8 in 2010)
-FA Cup final (1 Match)
-FA Cup semi finals (2 matches)
-Carling cup final (1 match)
-FA Vase Final (1 Match)
-Play offs ( 4 matches - Championship, L1, L2, BSP)
-Johnstones Paint final (1 match)
-Saracens Rugby Union (up to 4 matches/season)
-Race of champions (once a year, laying tarmac over the pitch)
-Rugby League Challenge cup final (1 match).
-NFL Match (1 match)
-Various concets (scheduled for 2010 - muse x2, Green Day x1)

That equals, in 2010 alone by my calculations:
18 Football matchs,
Up to 5 rugby matches,
1 American Football match,
3 concerts,
and the Race of Champions.

I never realised Wembley was so busy until I read this thread!

 

[bristolseagull]

2) after sacking the last head groundsman as a Scapegoat they only offered £50,000p/a for a new one....sorry but it should be at least double that!

100K?? for a groundsman


do me a favour...what planet are you living on?

 

[Easy 10]

The Race of Champions is an annual event that goes to venues all over the world. I believe it was a one-off for Wembley (its not been back since the last one, in December 2007).

 

[Zamoracomehome]

Yeah right so that's a lot of events but spread over a much bigger period of time than a football season...why is you look at something like the Emirates, always used as an example, cost much less than Wembley, and that pitch seems perfect everytime

 

[strings]

Yeah right so that's a lot of events but spread over a much bigger period of time than a football season...why is you look at something like the Emirates, always used as an example, cost much less than Wembley, and that pitch seems perfect everytime

I think this is perhaps one of the key issues. Wembley is used all year around. Most football pitches have two and a half months rest over the summer. I know for instance that Molineux is re-sown every year. This summer it was totally dug up and re-laid (I work next door, so get to see these things going on). Once this has happened, the pitch lays dormant for almost 2 whole months.

Maybe a similar break could be built into the Wembley schedule?

 

[Gritt23]

Joke.
There's only one solution now.....


Plastic.

Don't rule it out .....

1. Artificial pitches have come a long way since Loftus Road in the 80s. I thought that one in Russia played very well.

2. MONEY. Just think how much use the stadium could have with a plastic pitch. I know the likes of Luton and QPR used to hire their pitch out for all sorts of events, and football matches, as there is no wear and tear from extra games / events taking place on it.

Wouldn't get my vote, but reason 2. does rule EVERYTHING in football, while reason 1. makes it possible. The idea of having an artificial pitch at such an iconic place as Wembley is to spit on tradition, but that's what football seems to do these days whenever a £ sign is waved in front of peoples eyes.

The Word Cup bid .... the artificial pitch would need renewing every so often, so they just stick one down now, rip it up for grass in 2018, and then put another artificial one down afterwards.

As I say, it's not for me, but it could very well happen.

 

[Easy 10]

Indeed, Mr 23. I wouldn't totally rule it out either.

There would of course be an initial UPROAR, but at the end of the day, if the FA are losing hundreds of thousands of pounds a year through constantly relaynig it (which is farcical), then it could just be a matter of time before they bite the bullet and start "investigating the possibilities".

 

[Gritt23]

Indeed, Mr 23. I wouldn't totally rule it out either.

There would of course be an initial UPROAR, but at the end of the day, if the FA are losing hundreds of thousands of pounds a year through constantly relaynig it (which is farcical), then it could just be a matter of time before they bite the bullet and start "investigating the possibilities".

Everything comes down to money these days, and for that one initial outlay, they save on groundsmen, constant relaying of turf, AND can have a whole load more events played there.

I bet they are looking into it already.

 

[Bozza]

Daily Mail are saying pitch could be relayed AGAIN for the 11th time in three years in time for FA Cup final and England vs. Mexico. Mental.

One of the BBC articles I read yesterday, after asking about what the problem actually was, included some quotes from the head groundsman at the Millenium Stadium. He said the problem was that the Wembley pitch had not been re-laid enough, suggesting it should have been done another 3 or 4 times already. He also said that with modern pitch technology it is possible to lay the pitch today and have a perfect playing surface tomorrow, literally.

 

[Zamoracomehome]

Don't rule it out .....

1. Artificial pitches have come a long way since Loftus Road in the 80s. I thought that one in Russia played very well.

2. MONEY. Just think how much use the stadium could have with a plastic pitch. I know the likes of Luton and QPR used to hire their pitch out for all sorts of events, and football matches, as there is no wear and tear from extra games / events taking place on it.

Wouldn't get my vote, but reason 2. does rule EVERYTHING in football, while reason 1. makes it possible. The idea of having an artificial pitch at such an iconic place as Wembley is to spit on tradition, but that's what football seems to do these days whenever a £ sign is waved in front of peoples eyes.

The Word Cup bid .... the artificial pitch would need renewing every so often, so they just stick one down now, rip it up for grass in 2018, and then put another artificial one down afterwards.

As I say, it's not for me, but it could very well happen.

A friend and I were having this conversation about the plastic pitch the other day...

I think maybe more is made of a plastic pitch than other pitch issues...for example...if England were playing in a World Cup in a hot country, the pitch will be hard...and England would know that they have to adapt to that pitch. What's the difference with a plastic pitch? Everyone's pitches differ in quality, dimensions etc...so every club always know what to expect when playing away.

I think there's a debate though on the impact on the players...has it caused more injuries?

 

[Gritt23]

I think there's a debate though on the impact on the players...has it caused more injuries?

I think the NFL have done studies into it and it's inconclusive which is safer. Instead, studies tend to show that grass vs artifical throws up different injuries rather than significantly fewer or more. From memory, I think "Turf Toe" is more common, but ligament injuries are reduced. Just as the types of injuries have changed since the softer ground of a decade or two ago, to the harder ground these days which studs grip in too tightly at times.

Basically, it won't come down to injuries, as it's fairly inconclusive either way, as I understand it from the NFL.

 

[Zamoracomehome]

I think I'd really like to see it tried in England...

 

[Pavilionaire]

I'm a married man of 41 with 2 small kids, and that pitch is getting laid more often than me!

 

[Storer68]

I think this is perhaps one of the key issues. Wembley is used all year around. Most football pitches have two and a half months rest over the summer. I know for instance that Molineux is re-sown every year. This summer it was totally dug up and re-laid (I work next door, so get to see these things going on). Once this has happened, the pitch lays dormant for almost 2 whole months.

Maybe a similar break could be built into the Wembley schedule?

Wembley was SO expensive (£798 Million) to build that it HAs to be used for as many events as they can cram in (Approximately 1 every fortnight!).

From The Sunday Times November 1, 2009

Wembley Stadium warns it may default on bank debt

The owner of Wembley Stadium has announced it made a pre-tax loss of £31m last year and said it could default on finance agreements if wealthy patrons fail to renew their season tickets.

Accounts filed this weekend show that the huge cost of financing construction of the home of the England football team and one of Britain’s biggest entertainment venues continues to weigh heavily on the parent company.

Figures published by Wembley National Stadium, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Football Association, show that the company made an operating profit of nearly £6m in the year to December 31, 2008.

The group plunged into the red because of a £26.6m interest bill and the £10.9m write-off of bank fees associated with the stadium financing in 2002. The overall loss was £23m after tax, an improvement on the previous year’s loss of £36m.
U2 at Wembley Stadium
The company said that its business plan had always forecast that it would not break even until five years after the stadium opened in 2007 at a total cost of £757m, after eight years of rising costs and delays.

During the year, management refinanced the business, though it still has debts of more than £320m. The deal cut its interest rate from 7.8% to 6.9% and extended the repayment deadline from 2018 to 2023.

The company added that the new arrangements included cashflow covenants that it expected to achieve but could default on if there is a fall in the number of Club Wembley licence holders, who pay annually for boxes and premium seats.

The company said: “This uncertainty has been discussed ... with the FA and the directors are confident that additional support is available should this be needed.”

The sale of boxes and seats is an important revenue stream, accounting for 59% of the £90m annual revenue.

Club Wembley’s 4,500 private members license the seats for an average of eight to 10 years and pay annual season fees. In 2008, about 87% of the licensed seats were taken, up from 82% the previous year.

Corporate boxes are available on three-, five-, seven- and 10-year licences, starting from £79,350 a year. Wembley says these are its most popular offerings. Deals on premium seats start from £950 a year.

Last year Wembley hosted 1.7m people at 27 events, including four England football internationals, the FA Cup final and concerts by Madonna and the Foo Fighters.

David Bernstein, company chairman, said: “I believe that 2008 will be seen as a watershed year in our history as the stadium reclaimed its place on the world events circuit. I am confident that 2009 will further underline the status of Wembley as one of the world’s premier venues.”

 

[redneb]

I for one am sick of Pompey and not just coz of my legions.

Everyone seems to have sympathy for them, including the ref on Sunday evidently. People seem to have forgotten they've been artificially flying in the top half of the Premiership for the last few years including an FA cup success in 2008. All this with players they could not afford and SHOULD NOT have had.

They chose not to sell players they should have sold in January. They even got O’Hara back from Spurs when they clearly shouldn’t and because of that they've fluked their way to the FA cup final again.

They tried to flout the rules by selling in February, they were even considering asking Spurs to let O’Hara play on Sunday, they were looking at getting out of the minus 9 point deduction which will probably end up being a meaningless punishment anyway (going down even with the points) and now theyre there trying to wriggle there way into Europe.

Saints took a risk by buying a stadium we couldn’t afford outside the Prem, and how we suffered.

Pompey took a risk by buying world class players. How exactly are they suffering? If they get bought out they could start next season without a deduction.

That club has shown no humility so I aplore anyone who shows them any sympathy and congrats on their so called good spirit.

Redknapp has done well to zip it, wonder why? ****.

 

[Rookie]

I for one am sick of Pompey and not just coz of my legions.

Everyone seems to have sympathy for them, including the ref on Sunday evidently. People seem to have forgotten they've been artificially flying in the top half of the Premiership for the last few years including an FA cup success in 2008. All this with players they could not afford and SHOULD NOT have had.

They chose not to sell players they should have sold in January. They even got O’Hara back from Spurs when they clearly shouldn’t and because of that they've fluked their way to the FA cup final again.

They tried to flout the rules by selling in February, they were even considering asking Spurs to let O’Hara play on Sunday, they were looking at getting out of the minus 9 point deduction which will probably end up being a meaningless punishment anyway (going down even with the points) and now theyre there trying to wriggle there way into Europe.

Saints took a risk by buying a stadium we couldn’t afford outside the Prem, and how we suffered.

Pompey took a risk by buying world class players. How exactly are they suffering? If they get bought out they could start next season without a deduction.

That club has shown no humility so I aplore anyone who shows them any sympathy and congrats on their so called good spirit.

Redknapp has done well to zip it, wonder why? ****.

cor dear bitter much