Wembley pitch to be dug up before cup final

THE controversial Wembley pitch is to be dug up immediately.

Arsene Wenger branded the surface “a disaster” after Arsenal’s FA Cup semi-final with Chelsea last Saturday, while Alex Ferguson called it “dead” in the aftermath of Manchester United’s penalty shoot-out defeat to Everton 24 hours later.

In the wake of such criticism, stadium officials decided to launch a thorough review of the pitch and have concluded the rye grass surface should be replaced with immediate effect.

The new pitch will be a different composition to the current one, which it is hoped will be better suited to the stadium design.

Although the FA had confirmed there would be a new “sand-soil” pitch installed, it was not anticipated the work would be done until after next month’s FA Cup final.

Instead, the new one will be down before the FA Trophy clash between Stevenage and York on May 9.