Slip-up: Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor falls on the Wembley turfThe FA could be forced to relay the Wembley pitch up to seven times a year until 2023 and face an additional bill of more than £8million.
The loan repayments required to fund the £800m national stadium mean the venue must remain multi-purpose until 2023, which could see the pitch relaid an incredible 91 times.
Wembley receives increased revenue through NFL, rugby league and rugby union matches and pop concerts, but the quality of the football pitch suffers as a result.
Unless an alternative long-term solution is found, the turf will need to be re-laid up to seven times each year, at £90,000 a time. This could result in a bill of up to £8,190,000 over 13 years.
Work has already begun on relaying the pitch for the 11th time since 2007 after the surface was criticised during the FA Cup semi-finals.
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp called the pitch a 'disgrace' and Avram Grant and Martin O'Neill, the Portsmouth and Aston Villa bosses respectively, were equally scathing.
But the new surface will not have long to bed down. The FA Trophy final will be staged at Wembley on May 8, with the FA Vase final the day after. The FA Cup final is on May 15 and England also have a friendly against Mexico at the stadium on May 24. In addition, there are three Football League play-off finals and the Blue Square Premier play-off final to be played at the venue in May.
Nightmare: The Wembley pitch is tended to by groundsman during the FA Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Aston Villa Representatives of the Institute of Groundsmanship, the FA and the Sports Turf Research Institute, the consultants who oversee the Wembley pitch, met yesterday to discuss the problem.
Geoff Webb, chief executive of the Institute of Groundsmanship, was critical of the decision to remove the old turf without inspecting what was actually wrong.
He said: 'Clearly it would have been better to go in and actually see the pitch that was down. 'So, having not had the opportunity to do that, all we can do is ask the questions that everybody else is asking.'
Webb also criticised the role of the Sports Turf Research Institute. 'I think it's coming down to the management of the situation itself within the stadium,' he told Radio 5 Live.
'You've got to look at the decision-making process and you've got to look at the control of that process as well.
'Ironically, I think it's almost a year to the day that Steve Welch, who was well-respected within the industry and had a good track record at Nottingham Forest - he was Groundsman of the Year in 2002 - parted company.
'From our perspective we believe there are lots of people with the adequate skills to manage a pitch such as Wembley Stadium. 'We've been inundated with people offering help and assistance.'
source :dailymail
