THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WEMBLEY — Chelsea captain John Terry strongly condemned the state of the Wembley Stadium pitch after his team’s 1-0 victory over Portsmouth in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
Terry complained that the sandy, uneven national pitch was “not acceptable,” having been re-laid for an 11th time ahead of Saturday’s match.
“The pitch ruined the final — it’s probably the worst pitch we’ve played on all year,” Terry said. “It was not good enough for a Wembley pitch. The FA have to decide if this is a football pitch or multi-events stadium.”
Portsmouth manager Avram Grant agreed with Terry.
“Wembley is a temple of football, the pitch is not a temple of football,” Grant said.
Before the old Wembley was demolished in 2000, the lush surface was famous around the world for its quality.
The Football Association uses Wembley often — including for music concerts and auto racing events — to recoup some of the 800 million pound (then C$1.62 billion) cost, and the result is that the pitch usually has little time to recover.
Terry and his England teammates must use the pitch in a World Cup warmup against Mexico on May 24, prompting fears that players could be injured before going to South Africa.
The stadium will also host next season’s Champions League final.