A NEW pitch will be laid at Wembley Stadium in time for York City’s FA Trophy final clash with Stevenage on May 9.

The controversial surface, which came under fire after last weekend’s FA Cup semi-finals, is to be dug up.

After Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger branded the pitch ‘a disaster’ and his Manchester United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson called it ‘dead’, stadium officials have said the rye grass should be replaced immediately.

The new pitch will be a different composition, 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 final.

Although the FA acknowledge they will still need to change the pitch at regular intervals, the organisation is optimistic the work should at least allow Wembley to restore its previous reputation for a surface of the highest standard.

A statement read: “Wembley Stadium is a multi-purpose venue and needs to be able to offer both a quality playing surface and a quality calendar of events.

“The pitch has always been and will continue to be at the heart of the stadium and of the business.”