Anyone who is both a supporter of non-league football and an advocate of natural turf will have been put into a real quandary over the situation that Sutton Utd are facing - which was highlighted by their manager Paul Doswell last week.

Sutton are flying high in fifth in the National League and having won away at fellow promotion chasers Dover on Saturday, are in with a very real chance of going up to League Two at the end of the season.

However Sutton play on a 3G pitch and EFL rules clearly state that artificial pitches are not permissible in their league. Furthermore, the National League has a new rule in place which imposes a double relegation on any club playing on 3G which finds itself in a promotion position at the end of the season but refuses to replace its 3G pitch with a natural grass pitch.

This means that should Sutton want to avoid this penalty they need to agree to rip up their current surface, which they say has proved a valuable community resource and a successful revenue model.

In a series of impassioned Tweets posted last Sunday, manager Paul Doswell said, “Really struggling at moment to make sense of Sutton’s situation.

“Have always loved non league football and very proud that we are playing at the highest level through sheer hard work and prudence, never spending more than we have and building a community club which welcomes all.

“If we gain promotion, it will cost half a million pounds to replace the pitch and deny hundreds of children the chance to play football. Every chance as well that we would suffer huge financial pressures as all the basic award £472,000 would go on replacing the pitch.

“For those championing grass as a surface, we played on a cowfield yesterday and didn’t play the week before either. National League and League 2 pitches were shocking in the main this weekend.

"It’s a sad day when I know in my heart of hearts that I could be putting this great club at risk by winning promotion."

Paul went on to accuse the authorities of an "archaic approach" and damaging both Non League and League Two for years. "I guarantee they will look fools in years to come," he Tweeted. "American footballers worth £150 million each play on field turf the same company as Sutton use."

He concluded by saying, "It’s a disgrace that we could be relegated twice for deciding it’s not right putting our club at the risk of financial ruin as we’ve seen with NL these last few weeks.

"Ambitious yes, putting our club at risk NO. This has taken a lot of soul searching, it’s only my personal view and one that I’ve been worrying about for months. Instead of enjoying this season it would break my heart to rip up the pitch."

However much one advocates the use of natural turf as a preferred surface, it's hard not feel that Sutton and other non-leagues clubs like them, are being put into an impossible position with these rules.

Non-league clubs need to maximise their revenue streams as much as humanly possible. Which means getting all scheduled fixtures played and making the most out of their facilities by opening up their ground to community use.

The EFL are due to meet in the summer to vote on the issue of 3G pitches once again. It may feel against the grain for some, but perhaps for the good of non-league clubs like Sutton, long-held views that natural turf is the one and only way, might need to be rethought?