Duncan Ferguson has called on the SFA to make grass pitches compulsory in Scotland, insisting that plastic surfaces give teams too much of an advantage.
Astroturf has been a controversial topic in recent years, especially with the likes of Livingston and Kilmarnock competing with the turf in the Scottish Premiership.
Derek McInnes' Killie now look set to bring back grass to Rugby Park and it is understood that SPFL chief Neil Doncaster is leading discussions to expel the contentious pitches from Scotland's top-tier completely.
That ruling would not impact the Scottish Championship, where Ferguson’s Inverness are currently, but he feels it should be introduced into the second tier too.
Asked if grass pitches should be compulsory, he explained: “Absolutely. I don’t think football should be played on a plastic pitch. It gives you so much of an advantage.
“If you’re playing on a plastic pitch every single day, and then in the game on a Saturday, that gives you an unbelievable advantage on the opposition.
“I noticed that on Tuesday against Airdrie. It is an unbelievable advantage, and that’s not taking anything away from anybody else. And you have injuries from it that concern me.
“I get the financial part of it, but in a decision like the Scottish Premiership and the Championship, it should be a grass pitch.
“Football’s played on grass, isn’t it? That’s the way it should be. It is too much of an advantage for the team that owns the plastic pitch.”
On the challenges of playing on plastic pitches, Ferguson added: “You’re playing on a different surface, aren’t you? How ,much of an advantage it is, I don’t know, but it has to be. I saw on Tuesday our players really struggling with the speed of the pitch.
“It was wet and the ball was flying. If you’re not playing on that or training on that regularly, and come across it maybe once or twice in the whole season, it has got to be a disadvantage. How can it not be?
“And of course, the team that has the plastic pitch is playing on grass every other week as well, so they are used to using both.
“I would prefer football on grass, especially in the top league in Scotland. I get it if you’re in Siberia or wherever else - maybe because of the weather.
“You want to smell the grass and the mud. Look at the old tapes from back in the day when you see the pitches they played on, it was great.
“The pitches are out of this world in England, but you don’t see any mud. We used to play on red ash when we were kids - I’ve still got cuts all the way down the side of my legs - and we shouldn’t go back to that.
“I like the smell of the grass, not the plastic pitch.”
