Noting that the Government is fiddling with the nation's economy and wondering about where energy is coming from, I thought I might remind you about the "Environmental football club", Forest Green Rovers, that ploughed its own furrow amongst the rich soils of the National League and presently in Football League 1. In the blog below, I promote the club's owner, Dale Vince, a leader in the field of environmentalism.
Dale Vince OBE (born Great Yarmouth, 29 August 1961) is a British "green energy" industrialist. Leaving school at 15, he became a New Age Traveller. In 1991, he saw his first windfarm ("I thought, either I can carry on by myself with the windmill on my van, or I can get into the big stuff") and in 1995 he founded the Renewable Energy Company In 1996, he launched his first wind turbine, supplying "green electricity".
He is the owner of the electricity company Ecotricity; Vince was appointed an OBE in 2004, for "services to the Environment and to the Electricity Industry".
Formed in 1889 by the local Nonconformist Church, the club joined the Mid Gloucestershire League in 1894. A hundred years later the club grew in stature and won the FA Vase beating Rainworth Miners Welfare at Wembley and Hellenic League titles in 1981-2.
They spent the next 13 years in the Midland Division of the Southern League and briefly competed under the name Stroud F.C. Reverting to the name Forest Green Rovers, the club won successive Southern League Southern Division and Premier Division titles in 1996–97 and 1997–98, winning promotion into the Conference. Reaching the 1999 FA Trophy Final, which they lost, they became the first club to reach the finals of both the FA Vase and FA Trophy. They also reached the 2001 FA Trophy Final, which again they lost.
Twice reprieved from relegation from the Conference National due to the demotion of other clubs, the club was transformed following investment from green energy industrialist Dale Vince in 2010. Vince became a major shareholder of FGR and three months later was appointed club chairman. In February 2011, Rovers players were banned from eating red meat for health reasons, and a few weeks later the sale of all meat products was banned at the club's ground, leaving only vegetarian options and free-range poultry and fish from sustainable stocks.
In 2013, he was given the Honorary Doctor of Philosophy by the University of Goucestershire.
Under Vince's chairmanship Forest Green became the world's first vegan football club in 2015, and the New Lawn was installed with numerous eco-friendly innovations. Investment in the playing squad saw the club compete for promotion into the EFL, which they achieved with victory in the 2017 National League Play Offs, having been beaten in the semi-finals in 2015 and in the 2016 Final. Forest Green were then promoted to League One in 2022 for the first time in their history, following their EFL title win.
Vince has also introduced a number of different eco-friendly developments at the club including the installation of solar panels on its New Lawn home ground, the use of a solar-powered robot grass mower, and the creation of the world's first organic football pitch. In September 2015, Vince revealed Forest Green were using a player recruitment method similar to the 'Moneyball' model that had been initially used in baseball to sign players by using computer-generated analysis. In October 2015, Forest Green became the world's first all vegan football club.
In 2021, the team became the first in the world to play in a football kit made from a composite material consisting of recycled plastic and coffee grounds.
In April 2022, Vince announced he planned to sell Ecotricity and go into politics. He said part of the reason was that a new owner "can achieve even more, faster. We’ve got a massive pipeline of projects that need to be built requiring £2 billion of investment." As well as developing his interest in politics, he would focus on renewable projects such as tidal lagoons and geothermal energy.
The United Nations has recognised Forest Green Rovers as the world's first carbon-neutral football club and it was described by FIFA as the “greenest team in the world”
Yes the grass is always greener at FGR a small village near Nailsworth, Gloucestershire.http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/eco-power-will-keep-rovers-charged.html
All this is changed though as there are plans to build an all wooden stadium as a centre piece to an Eco Park development, just off the M5. The company Zaha Hadid Architects who built the 2012 Olympic Aquatic Stadium and who are also responsible for one of the Qatar World Cup stadia, were awarded the contract. The facility will include the club stadium, training pitches and a sports science hub and is worth £100 million.
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