They may have only been playing in the Ryman League south last season but, in Sussex at least, Worthing Football Club are trendsetters.

After last year installing a third-generation artificial pitch into their Woodside Road ground, two more clubs in the county are now following suit.

Eastbourne Borough of the National League south have just started construction of a new synthetic pitch, while Crowborough Athletic of the Southern Counties East League are hoping to have their own 3G surface by July 2017.

So is it beneficial to go artificial?

Speaking to The Argus, Worthing chairman George Dowell explained how it made perfect sense for clubs of a similar stature to make the switch to 3G.

He said: “For lower-league teams, maintaining a grass pitch is a very expensive thing to do. Obviously the outlay is expensive as soon as you lay a grass pitch but 3G isn’t as much and you can use it all week long to hire out to the community too.

“In an ideal world, a nice grass pitch is better than any artificial pitch but realistically at this level it’s impossible to keep it like that. After the first few games of the season, it’s a boggy pitch again and you can only use it once a week.”

Worthing’s first season with a 3G pitch ended in success as the Rebels secured promotion through the play-offs with a 3-0 win over Faversham Town.

And co-manager Gary Elphick believes that the new pitch was an integral part of this achievement, despite the team winning more points away from home than at Woodside Road.

He said: “It was a little bit of a surprise to me when I found out (that Worthing won more points away) but I think it was just a bit of a coincidence. The reason why I like 3G pitches is because you can get the ball down and try to play a passing game.

“I wasn’t here last year but I heard Worthing did try to pass the ball. When it comes round to December or Christmas time though, the pitch starts cutting up and it becomes very difficult. That’s the reason why, I would say, Worthing didn’t get promoted last year.”

The Argus:

Albion Women are among the teams who enjoy the artificial surface at Culver Road (picture by Geoff Penn)

So with Worthing’s promotion at least partly attributed to their pitch, could this trend extend further? There were 22 synthetic pitches in Sussex registered with the FA for the start of the 2015-16 season but the only two football clubs listed other than Worthing were Brighton and Lewes, who both only use their artificial pitches for training.

Lancing play on an artificial pitch at Culver Road but that is owned by the Sussex County Football Association.

Dowell said: “You may never get 3G pitches at the top level in this country because those teams can afford to maintain a grass pitch but they will maybe feature in League Two and League One. Maybe even a few Championship teams who are struggling financially will use them but I think you’re going to see more artificial pitches just because they’re easier to maintain.”

 It is not all good news, though, with several press reports claiming that synthetic pitches may pose serious injury concerns to players who use them regularly.

Player-manager Elphick, however, disagrees.

He said: “If anything there could be an argument for the opposite, whereby a lot of the players can stay injury-free for a lot of the season because the pitch remains consistent and you’re not playing in atrocious conditions.

“Speaking out of experience, my injury record has not been the best in the last three years but I’ve managed to play 47-odd games this year. It’s the best season I’ve ever had fitness-wise.”

Worthing play Eastbourne Borough in the Parafix Sussex Senior Cup at the Amex tomorrow (7.30pm). Full preview in The Argus tomorrow.