Before we start the preview, Forest Green are the greenest football club in the world. They produce nearly 20% of the energy needed to run the club through renewable energy that is produced in and around the stadium.
Their players mostly eat Vegan food( It is not forced on the players). You can only buy vegan at the stadium which means Owners are willing to forgo Earnings that are generated from Meat Products.
They don’t use insecticides for playing turf and use only organic components to grow their Scottish weed based turf. They collect rainwater and use it for pitch.
They are also planning to build a 5,000 seater capacity Eco Park centric stadium to play their home matches.
The plans will go forward if EFL gives approval to plans which are designed by Zaha Hadid, A famous Iraqi-British architect. But EFL is not happy with plans of building the whole stadium using Wood.
How did this all come about? It’s their current owner Dale Vince, A man who became a millionaire through his Renewable energy company Ecotricity.
Dale Vince made No-Ken-Do T-shirts after Bolton Wanderers FC chairmen Ken Anderson failed to pay four months worth of wages that Forest Green Rovers was owed for letting Christian Doidge on Loan to the championship club.
This move saw a lot of Bolton Wanderers fans visiting The New Lawn and also the feud between both chairmen became national news bringing in new eyeballs to Forest green Story.
Now moving on to On-field story Forest Green Rovers had a great season in 2018-19 considering their Terrible 2017-18 season. They had an amazing regular season that saw them finish in playoffs.
But Playoffs didn’t go as planned for Mark Cooper and his men, as they Lost 1-2 on aggregate to Tranmere Rovers. In the first game, Gavin Gunning was sent off for kicking out at Jay Harris and in the second game, Carl Winchester was sent off via two yellow cards.
Green Devils fans might feel hard done by poor refereeing but at the end of the day they are going to play in League two for 2019-20 season.
A total of 11 players left the club this summer but mainly three players pop up as important players.
The First major player to leave The New Lawn this summer is Reece Brown, The 23-Year-old Midfielder contributed to 38% of their goals last season. His talent at finishing key passes led him to record 15 last season, he has also scored 11 goals in 45 games.
Christian Doidge is another big name to leave this summer but many of The Green fans said goodbyes to him in January when he joined Bolton Wanderers. But that deal fell through as The Trotters failed to pay pre-agreed £1m. As we have learned above they weren’t even able to pay his wages.
Six months later he has joined Scottish Club Hibernian on a reported £250,000 plus add-ons deal.
The third major player is Reuben Reid who has joined Cheltenham town. He has scored 7 goals in 29 appearances for Forest green Rovers Last season.
Other players to be released by the club are Tahvon Campbell, Lee Collins, Gavin Gunning, Haydn Hollis, Scott Laird, Isaac Pearce, Fabien Robert, and Jordan Simpson.
Mark Cooper is the current manager of Forest green Rovers and has been in the job since 2016, He has won promotion with Green Devils from National League via playoffs in the 2016-17 season.
He is the son of former English international Left back Terry Cooper which meant football was part of his life from an early age.
As Player, he was on books at Bristol City, Exeter City, Birmingham City, Fulham, Exeter City, Wycombe Wanderers, Hartlepool United, Leyton Orient, and Forest Green Rovers among many others.
Which meant he had played under many managers and integrated that into his management style. Most noticeable from the above list is Forest Green Rovers which makes him one of the clubs Ex-Players.
Whilst still playing, he joined non-League club Tamworth as an assistant coach and subsequently became a manager.
Since then he managed 663 games as head coach and 14 games under Kevin MacDonald as an assistant coach.
With Forest green rovers, he has a record of 68 wins and 41 draws from 165 games in charge. His teams play a passing game.
Forest Green Rovers had great recruitment in 2018-19. So, Mark Cooper will undoubtedly try to follow last seasons policy and bring in quality players rather than quantity. They have signed these players so far this season.
Ebou Adams is an English born Gambian International Midfielder. He came through the ranks at Dartford but caught the eye of Norwich City as a 20-Year-Old and was part of The Canaries youth set up for two years.
He was part of the Gambian side that defeated a Moroccan side that defeated stars like Sofiane Boufal, Noussair Mazraoui, Hakim Ziyech in AFCON Qualifiers.
Last season he was with the National League side Ebbsfleet United and usually likes to play as Center Midfield player.
Taylor Allen is an 18-Year-Old winger who played the Second half of last season at National League North side Romulus FC.
He has joined Green Devils after a successful trial with the club.
Aaron Collins is a former Welsh U-19 forward. He doesn’t seem to have a nailed down position but usually plays in Attacking positions.
He was part of his home town Club Newport County’s youth set-up and steadily started becoming regular at the club before Wolverhampton Wanderers showed interest in him and signed him to their academy.
Whilst at Wolverhampton Wanderers he went on loan to Notts County followed by Loan back to Newport County, then to Colchester United in league two.
In January of 2019, he decided to terminate his contract with Wolverhampton Wanderers and joined Morecambe on a six months deal.
When he joined Morecambe FC, they were sitting just one point above the relegation zone in League Two. He scored 8 goals and created 4 more in 15 games to help guide them to an 18th placed finish last season.
Matt Mills is a 32-Year-Old Center Back will be a Player/Manager with Forest Green Rovers.
If reports are to be believed Matt Mills had offers from League One clubs but decided to join FGR because his younger brother Joseph Mills is at the club, Mark Cooper accepted his role of becoming a coach, and Nailsworth is closer to his family who is located in Swindon.
Matt Mills brings an experience of playing 317 Championship games, 46 League One games and not but not least 3 Premier League appearances which will undoubtedly help Young Forest green side.
He has joined them after leaving the Indian side Pune City. If you didn’t know football is still at a primitive stage in India. That means he must have learned to coach younger players, being patient even when the quality of the game was what he was expecting.
He has also trained with Forest Green Rovers before leaving to India which means Mark Cooper already saw what to expect.
Adam Smith is a 26-Year-old English goalkeeper who is the product of Leicester City Academy. He has been on the clubs books till 2015.
Whilst at Leicester City he has been on loans to Chesterfield, Lincoln City, Nuneaton Borough, Stevenage, Cambridge United, and Mansfield Town most of which were unfruitful.
But in 2015, Adam Smith was part of Leicester trio (including James Pearson, and Tom Hopper) who made a sex tape with a local women during Pre-season Thailand trip which included racist comments which resulted in him getting sacked.
After Leaving Leicester City, He joined Northampton Town and help them win promotion from League Two in the 2015-16 season. He was also named in League two Team of the Season the promotion season.
He played for Northampton Town one more season and moved on to play for Bristol Rovers but was unable to nail down Top goalkeeping spot and was subsequently released by Bristol at end of the 2018-19 season.
Adam Smith has proven that he is a quality player at this level. So, there is no doubt in saying he will give James Montgomery competition for starting berth.
James Morton is a 20-Year-Old midfielder who is the product of Bristol City Academy and has been with the club since he was 14 years old.
He is a technically gifted player who usually plays at Defensive Midfield but can also play in other midfield positions.
Forest Green Rovers fans have to travel 3082 miles if they want to attend all away matches, which means an average of 134 miles per game.
The longest trip for them will be the Carlisle United match for which they have to make a 257-mile trip.
Bookmakers are considering Forest Green Rovers to be Sixth favorites to get promoted this season.
| Odds | Effect |
| 12/1 | Title |
| 25/1 | Relegation |
To get all the Forest green rovers fixture updates for 2019-20 season click here .
To read more club preview click here or visit 72 in 72 section from the menu.
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