THE pitch Wanderers will play on next season is already looking good ... down in deepest Lincolnshire.

Turf specialists in Grantham have been commissioned to grow the new grass.

Next June it will be lifted, loaded on the back of lorries, transported across country and laid at the Reebok where, if things go according to plan, it will provide a surface for all seasons and all sports.

The project will cost Wanderers between £60,000 and £70,000 but it could already have paid for itself before it is even bedded down.

Groundsman, Richard Norton, and his team will not have to rush to dig up the old surface and re-seed, as they had to last spring. Since the new four-inches thick pitch will come ready grown, Wanderers could have time to slot in a couple of pop concerts before they turf out the old one!

"It's been on the go for two or three months now," Wanderers' secretary Simon Marland confirmed, "and everything's coming along nicely.

"The company in Grantham are the best in the country and they are overseeing the growing. When it's delivered it should all be done and dusted. It will take a bit of time for it to knit together but we won't have the panic we had last year."

Wanderers faced a race against time to complete an overhaul of the Reebok pitch last close season after hosting the play-off semi-final against Ipswich on May 14 and staging the first of three summer concerts on July 2.

Groundstaff were applauded for their efforts but there has been criticism of the pitch recently - noteably on Sunday when Sky TV commentators were particularly scathing. The surface looked poor, bare of grass in places and untidy with markings still showing from the Rugby League international staged two weeks earlier. It was described by Wanderers' matchwinner, Ian Marshall, as "looking a bit ropey".

In fact it is in much better condition now than it was at this time last season, despite adverse weather and a heavier workload.

"What we've got is a pitch that doesn't look fantastic but it isn't playing that badly," Mr Marland explained.

"We face a fine balancing act with the pitch. It's got to be right for football but we also want to be able to use it, periodically, for other events or other sports.

"We recently staged the Rugby League World Cup semi-final which, of course, was prestigious for the stadium. They are events we have to be looking to attract.

"Growing the new pitch before we lay it will give us an extra month in the close season and avoid the panic we had last summer."

Wanderers have never been entirely satisfied with the playing surface since moving to the Reebok in September 1997 but the fibre-sand construction has at least prevented drainage problems and they aren't alone in finding it difficult to hit on the right formula. Manchester United have had a variety of problems at Old Trafford in recent years while Ajax, who recently built a state of the art stadium in Amsterdam, are having a torrid time with their pitch.

"Considering the amount of rain we've had over the last couple of months, the pitch has been tested to the full and has stood up to it very well," Mr Marland added. "We're having to cope with extreme conditions and everybody's learning but it's interesting to note that very few games have been lost to the weather."