Wembley's pitch

The Wembley pitch will be replaced for the 10th (TEN) time in the next few weeks at a cost of £90,000. It is just 3 years since the stadium opened.

Bad freakish weather and the use of the stadium for non-football events has been blamed but for someone who remembers the lush turf of the old Wembley it saddens me to hear James Milner after the Carling Cup final as "one of the worst pitches I've played on all year." Michael Owen's season-ending hammy has also been put down to the heavy playing surface witnessed during last week's Man U League Cup win over Villa.

A giant pitch cover had to be brought in before the game, I can't believe that this is not part of permanent Wembley kit? Head groundsman Steve Welch, now working for a Midlands lawn care franchise business ironically, was made the scapegoat for the unacceptable state of the ground for the FA Cup semi-finals last year, as was fired but the Wembley policy is to replace the pitch whenever it is felt necessary.

At £90,000 a pop and a fortnight to bed down. The first match on the latest surface will be the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final on March 28 between Carlisle and Southampton.

But surely rain and snow shouldn't be blamed, does anyone not remember club pitches in the 70's and 80's yet the old Wembley surface still resembled a snooker table.