Wembley Webchat

Friday, 03 November 2006.

Webchat with Steve Welch

Wembley Head Groundsman Steve Welch fielded your questions live on TheFA.com and now you can read his answers.

Wembley Webchat

Jordan	How environmentally friendly are you when you carry out your duties?
Steve Welch TheFA.com	We are very proactive when it comes to this, we will always look to cultural methods prior to chemicals, the fertilisers we use are organic based where ever possible. With regards to water shortages the irrigation system has been developed with all the latest technology which allows for the pitch's needs to be met without additional water being used. This is the best practise in terms of maintenance of the pitch, but also from a wider perspective of the environment. Thanks very much everyone for the questions and I look forward to seeing you at Wembley soon.
David Guildford	Hi Steve. How many tonnes of turf was used at Wembley?
Steve Welch TheFA.com	Each one of the turf rolls that came to the stadium weighed just over a tonne, and there were 750 in total, so that would be more than 750 tonnes of turf.
Jo Croydon	Hi Steve. How did you become the head groundsman at Wembley?
Steve Welch TheFA.com	Hey Jo, the first thing is that like any Groundsman you set your sights high in your career and you aim for the pinnacle and that's where I am now. I am coming up to my 30th year in the business and I think in that time I have walked the equivalent distance in tending to the pitch that would take to get to Australia. It was a thorough recruitment process for this job and you can find out more on Wembley's Official website.
Shirley Purley	I read about you in Steven Gerrard's book - it must make you proud to know you helped out the England team in the World Cup ?
Steve Welch TheFA.com	Hello Shirley from Purley, I only found out that this week and it brought a smile to my face - I haven't heard the end of since! It's great to know that what we did out there was appreciated by the players, it's an honour to be involved.
Richard English Wimbledon	What's the best tip for growing the perfect 'Wembley' lawn at home?
Steve Welch TheFA.com	To get the the perfect Wembley lawn, you'd need to use the same seed we use, the quality of the plant is in the seed We use predominately Rye seed, it has been incorrectly reported that we are using German-based seed, but they have actually come from the South of France. You need to start from that point, but then it's about correct maintenance going forward. A form of aeration, regular fertiliser dressing, and regular mowing - non of this leaving it to four or five inches and then cutting in one go.
Yvonne Yeovil	Steve. How do you go about mowing a pitch and getting the two different shades of green strip, like the old Wembley pitch?
Steve Welch TheFA.com	I'm totally responsible for that, but I'm not into all these fancy patterns on the pitch. What we are about with Wembley is traditional mowing of the pitch, that means length-ways and width-ways only.
James Shrewsbury	Hi Steve, how many hours a week do you think you and your team will have to spend maintaining the new pitch ?
Steve Welch TheFA.com	Hi James. A Groundsman's job is never based on set hours. What I would say is that whatever hours are required to achieve the World's best National stadium pitch, then me and my team are totally dedicated to doing it. In my team there's my deputy Steve Green, David Moulds and Karl Standley.
Sebastian Compton Dundon	Hi Steve. After all the hard work that goes into preparing the pitch, do you ever get annoyed when you see a centre-back take a big lump out of the turf?
Steve Welch TheFA.com	I never do, no. I'm confident in the ability of my team where the pitch will be of a standard that lumps won't get kicked out of the surface. Always remember that we are here to prepare the pitch for a match to be played on it, that's our brief so the football match is what we aim for.
Dave Basildon	My team always seems to have their games called of when it rains, the pitch gets really wet. How do you keep a pitch firm, even when it's chucking it down?
Steve Welch TheFA.com	Hi Dave. That comes down to the construction of the pitch, a lot of the lower league pitches are clay based and water can't get through. Here at Wembley we have a sand based surface which drains freely and that's the difference.
Beryl Bromley	Can you ever see the day that the pitch at Wembley will be 'artificial' due to new technological advancements?
Steve Welch TheFA.com	No!!! It's simple on this one, as long as Groundsmen of quality remain in the industry then the quality of a natural grass pitch will always be better than that of an artificial one.
Lois Gurney Catthorpe	How will the pitch stay great with the boards laid down for pop concerts and the like?
Steve Welch TheFA.com	The quality of the pitch is our top priority, that's the starting point in any situation. But we'll be covering the pitch terraplas cover during concerts, which is transluscent, allowing a certain amount of light through to the pitch. What it does, on the under-side it's almost like an eggbox where the feet rest on varied points on the grass to keep from squashing the turf. It keeps a lot of the weight even over the entire surface. The cover has thousands of air holes which again allow air through the pitch.
Daniel North London	Hi Steve. What would be your dream game at Wembley?
Steve Welch TheFA.com	In my opinion I'd dream of a World Cup Final, perhaps in 2018 that could be the case, but the biggest game in football is every Groundsman's dream to be part of. In actual fact I spoke to the Groundsman who took care of this year's World Cup Final. It was a Scottish chap at Berlin, I spoke to him out in Germany in the summer.
Will Wimbledon	Will the new pitch be the same size as the old Wembley?
Steve Welch TheFA.com	The pitch size is the standard size that UEFA and FIFA require, they are looking for all pitches to be a 105 metres long and 68 metres wide for International standard and Champions League. It is actually slightly narrower than the old Wembley pitch by around a metre or so.
Colin Ilkeston	Hello Steve. Do you have any advice for grassroots groundsmen?
Steve Welch TheFA.com	Stick to the basics of good groundsamanship. Do the important things well, divot your pitch after the game, the mowing of the pitch regularly, it depends on the time of the year and the budget and time requirements. There are a lot of unsung heroes who do it on a voluntary basis, it depends on the level they do it at, but it's about making sure the pitch is the right standard for the games to be played.
Rennie Romford	Apart from Wembley, what is the best pitch in the world? Thanks Steve.
Steve Welch TheFA.com	The best pitch in the UK will be at Arsenal, certainly over the last few years. Highbury and now Emirates. At whatever level you need to have forward thinking people in charge of the clubs who look forward to the key issues and don't overplay them.
Lenny Colchester	Hi Steve, what sort of turf was used for the pitch? Is it grown especially for Wembley, is it a special grade for football and is it available for home use?
Steve Welch TheFA.com	Hi Lenny, how are you? It's a reinforced fibre turf which has been grown especially for us, there are other fibre pitches in the country but the fibres within the construction are to hold the roots in place. In other words it won't cut up so badly.

Web Chat Ended

WEMBLEY WEBCHAT

03 November 2006