Wembley goes plastic

The FA shelled out £750 million on the showpiece rebuild of England’s national stadium that was completed in 2007.

But a combination of the unusual Wembley micro-climate and additional use as a concert venue has left the pitch resembling a Sunday League playing surface.

England boss Fabio Capello and Chelsea captain John Terry have complained about the "embarrassing" pitch, while Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp called it a "disgrace" after their FA Cup semi-final loss to Portsmouth.

Constant turf re-lays - 11 times so far - have had little effect, so now the FA is looking beyond simply re-laying turf, with a £250,000 grass-plastic composite surface to be grown from scratch on the pitch.

"The pitch is at the heart of the stadium and football is our number one priority," Roger Maslin, managing director of Wembley National Stadium, said. "However, Wembley is a multi-use venue and developing our event calendar with a range of football, rugby, sports and entertainment events is key to the success of our business plan.

"The crucial balance for us is to maintain a good quality playing surface for football, whilst at the same time fulfilling our business plan commitments and maintaining our heritage as a multi-event venue."

Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool all have a mix of real and artificial grass in their playing surfaces.

Manufacturers Desso say plastic grass is weaved in between the natural grass to create a more solid pitch with better drainage and "playing comfort".

The first match on the new Wembley pitch will be the Community Shield between Chelsea and Manchester United on August 8, before England's friendly against Hungary three days later.

There will be no non-football events held there until a Muse gig in September.

FA chiefs need to show they can manage the Wembley pitch in time for the 2018 World Cup vote in December, with fears that continued problems would harm England’s bid.