There is a sad irony about the latest noises coming from the Football League about the possibility of clubs installing artificial grass pitches again.

The driving force behind the idea, mooted at this week's meeting of League chairmen, is the need to use the "new" pitches' revenue-generating potential to boost income. Yet it comes at a time when hardly anybody's got any money.

Therein lies the inherent flaw in the whole concept. Twenty-five years ago, when Luton Town, Queen's Park Rangers, Preston North End and Oldham Athletic boldly laid down plastic pitches, not only were the surfaces so far removed from traditional grass that teams virtually had to change the way they played on them, but there was a basic unfairness in the fact that visiting teams were at such a disadvantage.

Torquay United tried to cope, to their cost in an absolutely vital match. They took a 2-0 lead to Preston North End in the second leg of the 1994 play-offs, in the last match ever played on Deepdale's plastic pitch.

Wearing rubber-soled boots and tights under their shorts, and severely hampered by the highly-controversial sending-off of centre-half Darren Moore midway through the first half, they lost 4-3 on aggregate after extra-time.

Celebrating Preston fans made a pretty good job of ripping up the pitch afterwards. But, when they got back on the real stuff at Wembley a couple of weeks later, they lost to Martin O'Neill's Wycombe Wanderers in the final.

At least the new surfaces – 3G is already making way for 4G – are so good that most teams are comfortable on them. Indeed, there cannot be many League clubs that do not train on one regularly.

Torquay use Paignton Community and Sports College's 3G area most weeks in midwinter. But training is one thing. That basic unfairness remains, when it comes to serious competition, if all clubs are not allowed to lay one of the new pitches.

Can all 72 League clubs afford them? Most definitely not. Many clubs are living a month-to-month "which-bill-shall-we-pay-this-time?" existence, and most others are worried about cutting costs, not increasing them.

Can the Football League conjure up millions of pounds to bankroll the whole idea? Hardly. Would the banks suddenly be prepared to loan the money? In essence, we are back where we started.

No doubt with the help of a glossy presentation or two, and some persuasive words from a couple of their colleagues, the chairmen this week started dreaming again of their grounds, bars and restaurants busy each week with every club, pub team and school for miles around dropping in to use their all-weather pitches.

Then, one day, a team which could not afford a plastic pitch will have to play opponents in a life-changing all-or-nothing match at the end of the season. And we will all be back to the sort of scenario which faced Torquay back in 1994.

Or will the League then step in and order the match to be played on a neutral grass pitch somewhere else? Dream on!