Wembley Stadium pitch to be replaced
13 July 2007

Following the end of a fantastic first summer of sports and music events, Wembley Stadium has this week begun to replace its pitch surface in time for The FA Community Shield which takes place at Wembley on Sunday 5 August 2007.

This pitch has performed very well given the very poor weather and Wembley’s busy schedule of events, including 18 major sports and music events and a high number of training sessions. Time has been set aside in the stadium’s schedule of events to replace the pitch both now, following the summer concert season and also at the end of the year after The Race of Champions. The stadium has a spare pitch growing at all times in preparation for this.

Wembley Stadium’s Head Grounds Manager Steve Welch said: “Our intention was to assess the condition of the pitch after our first summer of concerts with a view to replacing it in time for our autumn run of football and rugby events. This has been planned for and there is sufficient time for the pitch surface to bed in before our next event. We are very confident that with the correct maintenance and care that the stadium’s grounds staff can give it, the new pitch will be of a very high standard.”

Wembley Stadium has a number of very exciting sports events around the corner starting with The FA Community Shield between league winners Manchester United and FA Cup holders Chelsea. This is then followed by an international friendly between England and Germany, The Rugby Football League’s Carnegie Challenge Cup Final, England’s remaining qualification games for Euro 2008 against Russia, Israel, Croatia and Estonia, the first of a regular season NFL game outside of the United States between The Miami Dolphins and The New York Giants and finishing with The Race of Champions which will feature F1 drivers Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button and David Coulthard. For full details of all these events and ticket availability please visit www.wembleystadium.com