Wembley pitch to be dug up

The pitch at the new Wembley Stadium is to be dug up and replaced in the wake of damning criticism from Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, the Football Association confirmed Friday.

Wenger branded the surface ‘a disaster’ after Arsenal’s FA Cup semi-final defeat by Chelsea while Ferguson claimed his selection for Manchester United’s penalty shoot-out defeat to Everton 24 hours later had been influenced by fears the likes of Wayne Rooney could be injured on the “spongy and dead” turf.

The new pitch is to be laid in time for the FA Trophy final clash between Stevenage and York on May 9, the first of a series of high-profile matches next month, culminating in the FA Cup final on May 30.

It will be the sixth time that the pitch has already been re-laid in the two years since the stadium, which cost 750 million pounds to build, opened.