Forest Green Rovers

Forest Green Rovers FC is a professional football club based in the town of Nailsworth in Gloucestershire, formed in 1889 as Nailsworth & Forest Green FC. For the first eighty years or so of their existence the club competed in local competition.

In 1894 Forest Green became founder members of the Mid Gloucestershire League. The club went on to play in other competitions, where they picked up numerous league title honours; the Dursley & District League being the first in 1902–03.

The club moved forward to branch into more regional football, where they collected the North Gloucestershire League title in 1920-21 and 1921-22, which local Stroud league honours were also picked up by the club around the same time.

The Gloucestershire Northern Senior League was next on the agenda, with Rovers collecting the league title in 1937-38, 1949-50 and 1950-51 before becoming founder members of the Gloucestershire County League for the 1968-69 season.

Rovers progressed to join the Premier Division of the Hellenic League in the summer of 1975 under manager Peter Goring; becoming champions in 1981-82. The team were to make it the most memorable to date as they completed a very special double thanks to FA Vase success.

Worrall Hill, Ledbury Town, Chippenham Town, Almondsbury Greenway, Odd Down, Shortwood United and Willenhall Town were all defeated before Blue Star were beaten in the semi-final to secure a trip to Wembley Stadium to face Rainworth Miners Welfare.

The “Little Club on the Hill” as they would become known, defeated their Nottinghamshire rivals 3-0 before being rewarded with a place in the Midland Division of the Southern League; finishing in third place in their debut season.

For a spell between 1989 and 1992 the club changed its name to Stroud FC after the nearest decent sized town to Nailsworth to try and make themselves more recognisable on the football map. However, the name change did little to aid performances on the pitch.

Rovers were moved to the South Division of the Southern League in the summer of 1995 where they were crowned as champions in 1996-97 under manager Frank Gregan. The club won the Premier Division the following season to win promotion to the Football Conference.

In their debut 1998-99 season among non-league’s elite, Rovers reached the FA Trophy final at Wembley; where they went down 1-0 to Kingstonian having seen off the likes of Boreham Wood, Weymouth, Southport and then St Albans City in the semi-finals.

The following season saw the club reach the “proper” rounds of the FA Cup; going out 3-0 in the second round to Torquay United at The Lawn, with first and second round appearances becoming the norm for Rovers.

In 2000-01 under new manager Nigel Spink, Forest Green embarked on another FA Trophy run. Rushden & Diamonds had been defeated before Hereford United were overcome in the semi-finals. Rovers lost the final at Villa Park to the only goal of the game against Canvey Island.

In 2004-05 Rovers were reprieved from relegation as Northwich Victoria were demoted over off the field issues. In 2007 moved a few yards further up the hill of Nympsfield Road to a new stadium, which was titled The New Lawn.

The 2008-09 season saw the team reached the third round of the FA Cup for the first time before bowing out to Derby County in front of a record home attendance. The following campaign saw a second relegation reprieve as Salisbury City failed to meet their financial obligations.

In August 2010 a local businessman and environmentalist Dale Vince put in a bid to buy the club and within a few months he'd taken over from Trevor Horsley. A few months later Rovers hit the headlines when all meat products were banned from The New Lawn..

Vince backed manager Dave Hockaday with cash as the club turned full time professional. The Ecotricity owner set about making the club more eco-friendly as red meat was cut from players diets, meat products were banned from the stadium and the pitch was treated with organic fertiliser.

The team finished in mid-table for three consecutive seasons under Hockaday and then Adrian Pennock; who led the side to a fifth place finish in 2014-15. In the play-offs the team were defeated on aggregate by Bristol Rovers in the semi-finals.

Pennock's team finished as the renamed National League runners-up in 2015-16. However, before the play offs the manager was sacked by owner Vince, with Scott Bartlett put in temporary control.

The Lawn, now without stands next door to The New Lawn

Dover Athletic were defeated in the semi-finals before Grimsby Town defeated Rovers 3-1 at Wembley in the final. Mark Cooper was appointed manager at The New Lawn immediately after the game.

In November 2016 plans for a new 5,000 capacity stadium to be made entirely of wood were revealed. The arena would be the centrepiece of a £100m sports and green technology business park proposal next to the M5 near Stroud.

Meanwhile, on the pitch, Cooper led the team to another runners-up spot and another challenge in the playoffs. Dagenham & Redbridge were dispatched before Tranmere Rovers were beaten 3-1 at Wembley in the final.

Forest Green Rovers promotion meant that Nailsworth became the smallest town to ever host a Football League club. After a shaky debut season Rovers reached the playoffs in 2018-19, where they bowed out on aggregate to Tranmere Rovers in the semifinal. Cooper was surprisingly sacked in April 2021 as the side reached the playoffs.

Defeat to Newport County ended hopes of promotion in a season in which Jamille Matt starred. Rob Edwards was appointed as manager, as Matty Stevens weighed in with the goals as Rovers won the League Two title. Edwards headed off to Watford to be replaced by Ian Burchnall.

He lasted until January 2023 when Duncan Ferguson was appointed, with Forest Green’s League One spell lasting just one season. David Horseman was put in charge of the team, prior to being succeeded by Troy Deeney in December 2023 as the team found themselves in the drop zone.

The experienced Steve Cotterill was given the manager's job within a matter of weeks, and although form improved, the team was relegated to the National League.

Forest Green Rovers FC will compete in the National League in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Forest Green Rovers 0 Scarborough 0 (Saturday 19th October 2002) Football Conference (att: 751)

This visit to Gloucestershire goes down in the books as of one of my most haphazard away trips. I met my friend Liz at Paddington for the journey west. Normally it would have been a relatively straightforward trip on the train with just a change required at Swindon. 

However, owing to the dreaded weekend rail replacement bus service being in operation, we had to alight at Reading to take a bus to Swindon. Fortunately the trains would be through running on the way back. This was as well as QPR were playing at Cheltenham Town the same day and were expected to take a large following.

We met Steve who had caught a bus from his home in Oxford to Swindon to take the connection to Stroud. Now I have been to some strange towns in my time, but Stroud was about to become one of the strangest. We had to get a taxi from the station through undulating countryside to the ground some five miles away.

There were some of the usual Boro fans in the clubhouse when we entered. Butch and his gang had travelled in a car, as had Bunner, Filey John, Jimmy, Carl and Meatloaf. The clubhouse was friendly enough and had an indoor skittle alley, but we forsook the delights of that local game. 

Rovers had former Boro star Matthew Russell on loan from Exeter City where his dad was now chairman before he was found guilty of fraud and was sent to prison. Matty was injured at the time so he was unable to play. I suggested that his dad’s mate Uri Geller should have forewarn him of such an accident and kept him fit and well. 

We went out into the arena to find a rather quirky but decent stadium. We got in down the side next to the raised Trevor Horsley Stand. This was a large seating deck with steep open terracing at either side. Behind the goal to the left was the clubhouse with thin standing areas to the front of it and then a covered area towards the corner flag. 

The far side was made up of flat open standing and then the covered Barnfield Terrace with the dug outs in front. This seemed to be built over the drop in the land at that side. Finally the far end was covered with a low basic roof in several sections to fit the natural slope of the pitch.

It was a very frustrating game that was there for the taking for Boro. We had most of the procession without creating anything too much. It all got too much for forward Neil Campbell who managed to get him sent off, much to the disdain of the following Seadogs. The game petered out to a draw. That is when the excitement started in earnest.

Butch had won the half time draw which turned out to be a bottle of whisky. Butch didn’t like whisky but he offered to give it to me in exchange for a couple of pints of Stella after the game. Deal done! We had a couple of pints before Liz ordered a taxi back into Stroud. She was meeting her mates who were staying over in the town. 

Steve and I had a beer with them before we set out trying to find somewhere to buy a lottery ticket. Not one shop selling them was open. Instead we embarked on a mini pub crawl having found the taste by now. The pubs were incredibly rough with the only customers being young chavs. We went back to meet Liz and await the thankfully direct train back to London. 

I haven’t a clue how we got back to my place but I know I felt like death warmed up the next day. It pulled into the platform and we got on, only for it to be packed full of QPR fans who were generally pretty well imbibed. 

We ended up drinking with a good gang near the buffet. They shared out their cans and we reciprocated. Before long after many sales the buffet ran out of beer. We bought anything we could before it was pointed out by the ever helpful Mr Walker that I had a bottle of whisky! Well I didn’t for much longer.

The Rangers fans were all in happy mood and were singing all their traditional songs including a favourite about the day they beat Chelsea 6-0. I bumped into Doug, a bloke I watched Middlesex with and had shared several evenings with in the good old days of the Lord’s Tavern. 

I was due to go to Loftus Road the following week against Oldham and they gave me details of which pub they drank in. If only I’d written it down! It then dawned on me that Steve had meant to get out in Reading but had missed his stop. It was decided he would have to stop on my floor for the night.s home. We went for a walk along the South Bank to try and revive ourselves before we partook in a “hair of the dog” before home.   

Forest Green Rovers 0 Scarborough 1 (Saturday 2nd October 2004) Football Conference (att: 686)

I went to this game with Simon on the train, which was not without incident. I had a heavy Friday night so wasn’t feeling in perfect condition. This was not enhanced when we got as far as Swindon to find that our connecting train had been cancelled with no reason.

We had wanted to get to the ground in good time that day as the occasion commemorated the 125th anniversary of Scarborough FC and there was to be celebrations and a decent away following expected. It would be a good chance to catch up with our old pals. Instead we were sat in a crappy pub next to Swindon station for an hour and I had a hangover from hell. 

We eventually got to The Lawn via a taxi ride where I bought an anniversary scarf. The rarity of a full sized supporters coach had been booked although it was only just over half full. Bunner, Keith and Gordon had made use of it so we settled down to chew the fat before the match.

The match was not dissimilar to my previous visit, with Boro having lots of the play without having a shot at goal. The match looked like it was heading to a stalemate when Keith Gilroy was played through in the last minute making no mistake.

Boro fans; Bunner, Gordon, Keith and John relax in The Lawn's clubhouse

We adjourned back into the club at full time where Supporters Club Chairman, Stuart Canvin made a presentation to a seemingly underwhelmed club Chairman Malcolm Reynolds. We booked a taxi after a couple of beers and went into one of the less hazardous pubs in Stroud town centre before our train home.

The pictures on this page of The Lawn; Rovers original ground, have been taken from the internet as I forgot to take any pictures inside the ground on my two visits. 

Forest Green Rovers 0 Exeter City 0 (Saturday 4^th May 2019) EFL League Two (att: 4,537)

The non-league season was more or less over, bar the play offs and I had the weekend off work. Scanning the fixtures, the match at Forest Green lit up, especially as it would mean I would recomplete the ninety-two League grounds.

Great Western Railways were their usual exorbitant selves when I looked at fares. It was time for a bit of ingenuity, and sure enough I managed to find a return by coach with National Express to Swindon for £16. Then the return to Stroud on the train was just £8.

After an early night I was up bright and early for some brekkie on route to Victoria Coach Station. My vehicle offered a nice uncrowded comfortable ride arriving into Swindon at just turned 11am. My train onto Stroud left at 12:15.

This offered me a window to head to The Glue Pot; a magnificent pub predominantly knocking out Hopback Brewery ales. Amazingly, it didn’t open until 11:30. It took me back to my youth, waiting outside a pub for it to open.

A fella came out and asked me to wait a couple of minutes while he had a fag. He was an amiable chap who was soon pulling me a pint of perfect Citra. There was just time for half of Summer Lightning before a ten minute walk to the station.

The train was pretty busy when I grabbed a seat. It filled up just before departure as plenty of oversized arrogant Gloucester Rugby fans got on. My music got me by along with some beautiful views out of the window of the Frome Valley. I was glad to get out into fresh air.

The idea of arriving early was to take a bus to Nailsworth. I eventually worked out the way to the stop through the Merrywalks Shopping Centre. There was a wait for the service as crowds built; mainly of away supporters.

The double decker arrived and immediately pointed out why systems such as London’s Oyster Cards are such a great innovation. The driver was inundated with punters not knowing the fare or where to ask for and needing change from notes.

We were at the stop for around fifteen minutes before we could head on our way. I was slightly surprised special fans buses weren’t laid on, as in Germany where fans are transported seamlessly. But, hey, we don’t need telling how to do things by pesky foreigners do we!

We eventually crawled along the route, through Nailsworth and up Nympsfield Road to jump out a hundred metres short of the ground. I was another five minutes queuing for my £18 terrace ticket, despite there being two in front of me. Perhaps London life had got too much into my psyche?

The good news was that I got access into the busy Green Man; the clubs social club and bar built into the back of the Main Stand, with the old pitch just across the car park staging some kid’s games. Top marks to the club for installing a queuing system to the bar.

However, no marks to those who queued in a group when one person could have stood in line and then ordered. The pleasant bar man just shook his head knowingly when I mentioned it to him. I grabbed a couple of pints of IPA from the local Stroud Brewery and found a seat.

A group of well imbibed young Frenchmen were on the next table fully laden in team shirts and green wigs. I watched the end of the Bournemouth v Tottenham game on the TV before walking around the corner to find my entrance for the South Stand.

This was a covered terrace the length of the penalty area; with the North Stand a mirror image behind the other goal. The East Stand was the main area, with bar underneath and corporate boxes along the back of the covered seats.

The West Stand predominantly consisted of open terracing, with a small raised covered seating area close to the corner changing rooms block. The 1,223 visiting Grecians fans seemed in decent voice trying to boost their sides hopes of a play-off spot.

Basically, Exeter required a victory, while FGR were already assured their place. There was also big interest at the other end of the division, as either Notts County or Macclesfield Town would be relegated to the National League at full time.

I’d enjoyed a couple of beef rolls on the train as I know that The New Lawn was an all vegan stadium. Signs for eco friendly products were in abundance. It’s not my sort of thing, and I don’t like not having a choice, but the owner had pumped the cash in.

It was a cagey encounter on a bright but blustery day. It was certainly colder than I envisaged; but the ground is on top of a hill after all! It was certainly scenic, with more hills and fields of grazing sheep behind the away fan’s enclosure.

Rovers had the first half chance as Shawn McCoulsky took possession but couldn’t quite feed Dayle Grubb. City came close to opening the scoring on twenty five minutes. Ryan Bowman got past Udoka Godwin-Malife and crossed for Lee Holmes who put his effort narrowly over the bar.

Bowman was soon back in the action as he collected a through ball. Keeper Nick Montgomery had advanced, so Bowman tried to hook the ball over him, but put his effort wide as the noise from the Exeter support grew in volume.

A perfect cross just past the half hour mark found the head of Lee Martin whose attempt crashed onto the post and away as Rovers goal led a charmed life. Hiram Boateng saw a speculative effort for Forest Green go just wide as the interval neared.

At the break I decided that hunger was beating me, and it was time to open my mind. My chips with curry sauce were OK, but the chips lacked the crispness that comes from frying in other oils. The sauce wasn’t the worst to be fair.

I managed to get a place back near my original position as news came through of Notts County taking the lead at Swindon, while Macclesfield went one down at home to Yeovil. If the scores remained the same, the oldest League club would retain their status.

Martin went close for City with a shot that went just over before Godwin-Malife saw his shot go wide of Christy Pym’s goal. Then Nathan McGinley got to the byline to cut back to McCoulsky who put his shot wide.

Exeter boss Matt Taylor tried to ring the changes from the bench as his side desperately needed a goal. They piled on plenty of pressure without really troubling the hosts defence. Indeed, Forest Green had a couple of breaks when they could have settled the game.

The showing of the additional minutes board was by cue to head for the bus. I heard the final whistle as I got to the far end of the stand. Elsewhere the Macclesfield and Notts County scores had reversed, meaning the Magpies were relegated.

Traffic outside the ground on the narrow road was chaotic as everyone tried to leave. The access roads really weren’t up to dealing with crowds of this size. The bus eventually got up to the hill but couldn’t get back round the roundabout because of the volume.

The crowd waiting for the service had grown and we had the same wait as on the outward journey while the driver issued tickets. I nodded off on the journey, which didn’t get back into Stroud until gone six o’clock; over twenty minutes late.

By the time I’d sorted myself out and walked to the railway station it was nearly time for the train. Lots of rugby fans poured off. When I thought they’d finished I stepped on board, only to be met with vitriol from another group. I wasn’t a mind reader!

I didn’t mid rugby union at all. I enjoy watching the Six Nations and some club stuff. Stewarding for Saracens years ago at Vicarage Road was a delight, but crikey, the supporters were something else.

The arrogance and snobbery when looking down piously at football fans from some of their ranks makes me sick. It is hypocrisy of the highest order when considering football fans as being thugs while they act up and calling it “high jinks”. But, there’s good and bad in all groups.

Back in Swindon I had ninety minutes of my own to play out. It was a no brainer as I headed back to the Glue Pot. The barman who served me at early doors was now at the bar enjoying a few pints of his own. There was a nice sensible appreciative crowd inside.

Well, apart from one. As I say, there’s good and bad in all groups. One fella in his twenties was plastered and being an absolute pain in the arse while telling anyone who’d listen what a top lad, he was among Swindon Town fans. The silence and lack of engagement worked after a while as he thankfully buggered off.

After four cracking pints I walked to the bus station a little in advance of the scheduled time of departure to try and get a good seat. I needn’t have worried as it was empty on arrival with just a handful of us wanting to get on.

The journey home passed quickly, and I even caught last orders back at JJ Moons in Kingsbury to round off a fantastic day out; despite a poor football match. It was a lot like a couple of hundred similar Saturday’s!

Click here to see a clip of the teams entering The New Lawn.