The Remarkable Rise & Fall of Forest Green Rovers
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- čas přidán 11. 05. 2024
- Since being acquired by Dale Vince in 2010, Forest Green Rovers have become the world's first vegan football club, the world's first carbon-neutral football club, and the world's greenest football, according to FIFA.
Following twelve years of progress, which saw Forest Green climb from the National League all the way to League One, the Green Army have just suffered back-to-back relegations, dropping out of the EFL.
It was a remarkable rise, followed by a catastrophic fall, over such a short period of time, so in this video, HITC Sevens takes a look at the journey that Forest Green Rovers have been on, what makes the club unique, and why their supporters aren't as despondent as one might imagine.
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Sorry, We Need To Talk About Forest Green Rovers
Hahha good!
The content from this channel is so much better than we get from mainstream media.
Absolutely
I could not agree more I've only been following a year and I've learned so much from these videos
That is very offensive towards this content creator. MSM is shit and owned by the lobbys. Sadly this man is into the climate cbange hoax aswell.
Well the crap Sky puts it isn't that hard but I would definitely agree these videos are of a high quality compared to Sky's which seems like it was down off a Wikipedia page.
Interesting to learn that Forrest Green Rovers was their traditional name and not, as I suspected when I clicked on the video, a rebrand to coincide with their environmental policies.
They’re from the fringes of the Forest of Dean. They’re green. And they historically rove, between grounds. They’re a club, whose actual name, does what it says on the tin. You can’t take that away from them.
Well, about an hour away from the Forest of Dean. Depends if your definition of ‘fringes’ I guess.
Wrong side of the river. Cotswolds.
more than a club
You'll never sing that
Can't tell if you're genderqueer or awful
HITC Sevens. Your work is absolutely exceptional.
Surely a Bologna video is on the way soon 🔥
They are surely the best team named after a sausage
@@ninjalectualx Frankfurt are decent.
@@callumhayes7502Lincoln City ain’t bad either.
@ninjalectualx If you want named after a sausage follow next years Cumberland Cup
they taste nice
What annoys me is their colour isn't Forest Green, it is Lime Green, there is literally a shade of green that they share a name with and it is nowhere in their kit or crest. Grinds my gears
Does not matter - should be black and white stripes.
Gimmick cub
@@user-jd7hp7ce3l With a real history. Remember it being a great away trip at the old ground.⬛⬜⬛⬜⬛
That grinds your gears? I feel for you.
@@user-jd7hp7ce3lhow dare a small club try and make things cheaper and easier for them to stay in business
I'm a Bristol Rovers fan, Green got promoted with us in 21/22, n then beat us on the opening day of 22/23, thought they looked like a well run club, who d be OK.....we then beat them very comfortably later in the season, at that point the 2 teams looked very different........
I've also got a soft spot for The Pirates. Up The Blues of Liverpool and Bristol, as well as FGR.
@@KD21efc the badge is really cool
Real life FGR fan, never happy to see an HITC vid about them
Same😢
How’s Garrick played? I’ve seen he’s been released so would he fit my club (Harrogate)?
@@MpanzuSolos he was ahhhh,okay I guess,he only played 8 so idk,and scored 2
@@user-to3rx1id4f oh right, I feel stevens would probably be better then ?
@@MpanzuSolos garrick is amazing but the bad thing is hes been injured all season and idk about matty stevens he was excelent with jamile matt when we got promoted but this season eh hes been okay i guess
I'm a Valladolid fan, and while we're in position to get promoted, again, after being relegated, again, I'd love to have a video like this about Ronaldo's ownership of the club and why he's selling. I know some of the basic reasons, but I'd love to see an in depth video about a club I love and that rarely gets mentioned. Love your work!
Valladolid have a soft spot for me because R9 is my favourite player of all time. Will be interesting to follow this.
Finally an interesting video idea in the comments!
VfB Stuttgart are currently 2nd in the Bundesliga, meaning Bayern may even finish 3rd this season. They've been relegated twice in recent years, only narrowly surviving last season. They seem to have an interesting story 👀 Over to you Alfie
They by the way started as a rugby football club (by predominantly English students from Cannstatt boarding schools) before becoming a football Club
Not really, given how German footy works. They are one of only 5 teams to win the league in the last 20 years (Bayern, Dortmund, Wolfsburg, Leverkusen the others) and basically are one of about ten teams with a similar income and club size that can and should regularly compete for the Euro places. Holstein Kiel have just been promoted today from 2 Buli to 1st and could be 2 liga champions next week. Given they haven't been in the Bundesliga before but were a top side before the Bundesligas formation, they would be a far more interesting subject.
If it wasn't for Bayer, they would be reciving much more attention.
Omg I went to Nailsworth on holiday once when I was like 10 years old. I remember driving past this club!!! It really is tiny
Here to remind you that you still have that guy asking for the best German players in the prem. Apparently he's on day 632. This is just a little less than 2 years.
C'mon now Alfie, give this man his video 😂
But it's a boring idea
Uwe Rosler there you go job done....
or... he could wait until October 3rd, Germany's national holiday
@@doublejumpvideogames.... I'm not the guy asking. I'm the guy reminding everyone that that guy exists.
Also it said players, not player. Uwe Rosler and who else?
It's just gonna be 30 mins of Alfie talking about Pascal Gross (not a bad thing btw).
As a follower of the club from abroad, thank you for this❤️
Gay
@@learnedeldersofteemo8917 and?
Representating us Cotswolds bumpkins Alfie. The People's Channel.
Any time Forest Green are mentioned, I feel obliged to mention my region of New England’s gem of a club Vermont Green FC. The club is relatively new, and plays in the USL system, but were founded with very similar goals to FGR. VGFC has a mission built around environmentalism, sustainability, and community inclusion not just for the Burlington area, but around the whole state of Vermont. They’re the only pro club in the whole state, and seem to regularly get fantastic support from the community. Also I’ve gotta say Vermont Green really outclass FGR when it comes to kits, that PlayerLayer home shirt with the flowers on it is easily my favorite football shirt I own. Very cool club with a very cool mission.
I've read into Vermont Green. They're doing it the right way and building links with the local community, the same can't be said of FGR
I live in Nailsworth. Still find it unbelievable that there is a league club here
Well there's not anymore. But here's hoping to a rebound!
They’re a non league club though and due to their repugnant owner I hope they keep tumbling down the pyramid and drop down a few more leagues yet
@@charliezobel511 Is it the fact he doesn't want the planet to burn or his support for basic human rights you find so repugnant pal?
@leeroy3573 you lost all credibility the moment you mentioned burning planets, are you wearing your orange high vis right now by any chance?
@@charliezobel511 wow youre so triggered. Youre such a snowflake
They arent forcing you to be vegan or drive electric
They will be ok, Cotterill is a good manager and does well with teams in Gloucestershire, got Cheltenham to the Football League for the first time in their History
As a neutral, I like what they're trying to do, but don't let perfect be the enemy of the good.
They'd sooner fail but stick to "idealogical purity" rather than succeed by compromising even a little.
@@saltmerchant749 I didn't realise it was the vegan burgers in the canteen and the renewable energy powering the stadium that was making the team lose games
@@saltmerchant749Possibly the most irrelevant comment on CZcams 😂 Some achievement that 👏
@@saltmerchant749this is so stupid. The ground being ran on green energy and the nutrition has nothing to do with the successes and mishaps
All it shows is proof that clubs can make a difference and should do, but use excuses like what you would do…
@@saltmerchant749think hiring Troy Deeney was a bigger factor in their demise than the organic pitch.
It's quite funny to think that last season Ipswich were in the same League as Forest Green, next season Forest Green will be non-league, and Ipswich will be in the Premier League.
Yeah amazing how promotion and relegation worksn
Another brilliant video! Forest Green genuinely had a lot of support from a section of Evertonians, when Big Dunc joined. I, as an Evertonian and environmentalist (and having won the Champions League with them on Championship Manager 2001, as I liked their name), will always have a soft spot for FGR. Hopefully, they're back soon.
Alfie you are an absolute legend. The best football channel on YT! Cheers from Croatia!
Bahahaha hrvatska do kraja, Alfie bog
Love the channel and these type of videos, Birmingham city next plz
As a life long Villa fan , I freely admit that Gaby A, has no authority really to call anyone stupid !
Went for an away day there once, terrible food, amazing kit and we totally took over the little estate their ground is on lol.
Fr the vegan sausage roll 🤮
Who do you support?
Hopefully will soon get their black and white kit back. Used to be a great away day at the original ground.
@@MpanzuSolos Lol yeah proper rank. Port Vale, Jamie Proctor got a brace and we won 2-0, it was the season we both got promoted if I remember correctly.
@@OfficialFingazMC oh nice, sad for you this season, hoped you’d stay up. I’m a Harrogate fan so I’ll see you next year 😉
@@MpanzuSolos Yeah was gutted, but we really did deserve to go down our director of football really screwed us over.
Haha yeah, best of luck next season mate... Besides against us lol
Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 632)
I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored.
If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.
We're behind you buddy👍
That is true determination
Alfie here. You can stop mate.
🤝🤝🤝
NOp nop
Been hoping for a video on this. Utterly bizarre how they fell so far so fast
They never had a big enough fan base.
Don't really do much to attract normal people
Kind of hard too when the owner acts like a stereotypical holier then thou eco-friendly vegan.
They are a small village club who's owner is a twatwomble, the average fan isn't going to go out there way to look out for them. The main fans they would attract who haven't got a team, are the ones who will tell you they are a vegan before even saying there name.
@@vincefont4765, normal people ,lol , what are they ? Ones that don't give a shit? So British it's not funny.lol. you goose.
@@supersasukemaniac Yeah eco friendly people are the worst, hate how they try to make the world a better place and support a liveable planet. Why not just bathe in oil and enjoy regular extreme weather events like the normal people?
Got to be tough selling solar panels in the UK lmao
4hrs avg Sun a day between rain showers. Its ok as long as you own your own Electricity Company to sell direct.
Wind power: exists
Normies: "durrr but it's cloudy sometimes, haha gottem"
@@ninjalectualx Wind power is even more intermittent.
@@supersasukemaniachmmm weird it’s almost like a resilient renewable power system would be a network powered by a combination of wind, solar, and potentially even nuclear as well. Even wave energy could play a part but I don’t think the technology is there yet (could be wrong). Wind and sun are both intermittent, it’s true, but that’s not some condemnation of the whole concept of renewable energy. No matter what there’s no future in fossil fuels for our planet and our people
@@ninjalectualxwind power is worse. There was one three month period where there was so little wind that windmills couldn't produce any leccy at all. They had to use coal and gas to fill the hole.
Day 1 of asking Alfie NOT to do a video about the best Getman players ever in the premier league
Lmaooo, changing your tactics !
FGR fan here,great video,finally someone is talking about us
Great videos as always 😅
As an FGR fan in India, thanks so much for this!
Very interesting video once again, great one Alfie! How about you consider doing one about Mainz 05, their remarkable rise to the first tier and consistently punching above their weight and competing with financially more powerful clubs to remain a top tier club. Lots of interesting stuff to deal with, former managers like Klopp and Tuchel coming through their ranks as well as great academy work and a couple of great escapes when they looked pretty doomed. Would absolutely appreciate it. Have a great day 🙌🏻
I guess they will be OK and would not be surprised to see them again in League 2 sooner rather than later. Interesting video as usual!
Always been interested in this club since their green credentials became apparent. Actually drove down there last season from Hertfordshire to see it for myself. Such a great experience and the food was decent.
Gae
@@mrman2415respect, respect
Food? Genuinely curious, did you get to go down onto the pitch at halftime to graze? Or is there like a sort of trough situation?
How environmental of you driving that distance. I’m assuming you used a hydrogen powered car? Or solar? And not petroleum or EV (when most electricity is still produced by burning coal)
@@razerow3391 seeing as yours is the only sensible comment I got ill treat it with the respect it deserves. I myself could live far more environmentally friendly yes I agree. It was out of curiosity as I wrote a university paper on them and the impacts they are having as a football club. I drove in my petrol powered seat Ibiza, had my heating on for the cold, although I did use the park and ride 😉
Nice one Alfie top vid 🇾🇪✌️🔰
Kindly do a “what in heaven” video for Bologna
Great vid Alf, another remarkable rise video idea should be Stockport County please 🔵⚪️
By FAR my favourite football channel. LOVE this guys humour....and well written and informative too. Doesn't follow boring msm diatribe without being (directly) insulting. Huge thanks for all your hard work.
Genuinely enjoyed this video. 🤙🏼
I've got a Forrest Green shirt. I wrote to Ecotricity asking for a free one so I would advertise them in my shop. Nice that they sent one but its a bit bright to wear out.
I enjoyed it, it was a great video.
No way. This smacks I’m so lucky you just uploaded
Soo sad for such a beautiful team
They are not the green army that is Plymouth argyle. GRENN ARMY!!!!
It is a shame. FGR are my third team, and I've followed them ever since the late 90s when they were in black & white stripes after seeing them in Championship Manager, thinking what an amazingly odd team name. There's my lower leagues challenge. Piqued interest turned to support, and I visited the old Lawn once or twice. The Five Valleys and Nailsworth are picture perfect beauty by the way. Got a lot of away games in whenever they were in the same league as Exeter or Torquay.
It's been an amazing ride for them, and while I still love my meat, I'm certain it's not over for them.
Also, the current Arsenal away kit is an absolute rip of the current FGR home. So if it's bright and garish enough for the Prem it's good enough for anyone.
Never thought i'd hear Rainworth Miners Welfare ever mentioned in a video, things you learn!
I’m loving this FGR downfall, I’m still bitter about that playoff final. Such a dirty team.
I've been debating doing a Football Manager save with Forest Green for a while now. Not because I'm vegan or anything, but because they have pretty cool looking kits lol. It's been a shame seeing them slip back down the leagues, so I kind of want to bring them some success, even if it is in the virtual world.
I also respect that they do things a bit different. They're not just any other club, they have their own niche thing going on and have their own identity, and I can get behind that.
Birmingham City mentioned in the beginning of this video. Should have been deserved a video as well, after disastrous season in the Championship.
They were 7th in the first few weeks for potential playoff spots to Premier League, when John Eustace was disgracefully sacked. Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney came in and the club fell apart to the relegation zone, at which, despite some good results following the departure of Rooney, including a win vs Norwich City on the final day (who secured the playoff spot instead), the club was now relegated to League One, resulting in fans lodging a protests towards the management.
Good on you Alfie, good one mate☮️☯️❤️👍⚽
Can you please make a video about the 20 lowest stamnummers in Belgian football and were they are now(Also look at the fusion clubs out of the original teams, for example KVAV Beerschot have stamnummer 13 and went officially defunct in the 90's but they fusated twice, first with Germinal Ekeren and in the 2010's with Olympic Wilrijk,so these fans still support Beerschot but the stamnummer 13 is gone)
A few years ago my team, Tranmere, played them at home and got beaten. I was on my way to Devon straight after the game, stopping at a service station in Gloucestershire. Lo and behold, the entire squad of the world’s greenest football club was in there, tucking into their McDonald’s.
Haha. My uncle was at that game repping Tranmere 😂
As was mentioned in the video, the players are free to eat whatever they want away from the ground.
@@reddwarfer999it’s a funny anecdote nevertheless
@@northwestspinach9659It is, I grant you that!
All things considered McDs are probably much more green per meal than sourcing some rare manufactured vegan products like fake meat etc. That is if the meat and fries of McDs are actually grown in UK
Seeing the tables and spotting my team gravesend and northfleet gave me chills we are now ebbsfleet united. We will be playing fgr next season and I’m curious to see their ground
Day 2 of asking Alfie to make a video of the 7 greatest sell on clauses in football history, as seen with Abdul Fatawus permanent move to Leicester netting his youth team in Ghana team about 7-8 million Euros
Zealandism beat him to it... and managed to do so without browbeating his audience.
@@Eric_Hunt194 okay but he didn’t talk about the greatest other examples in history
5:45 what a beautiful region :O
The the Golden Valley that goes from Chalford through Sheepscombe, Frampton Mansell, Stratton (past the Daneway pub) all the way up to the gardens of miserden and the ancient Iron Age fort is breathtaking and genuinely some of the best example of English countryside, you also see early morning or late evening in spring or autumn, the mist go through the valley and some of the most beautiful light I've ever seen. I live there for five years, I never failed to have my breath taken away.
The closest my large town has had to a football league club was, it was considered a relocation for Wimbledon, before MK.
Weren't sustainable timber stadiums the thing football was trying to get away from after Bradford and Taylor?
I always pick fgr as a starting club in fifa player career mode because of how difficult they are to get promoted with (for me)
Please can you do a video on the rise of stockport county from national league north to league one
nailsworth mentioned 🔥🔥🔥
As a Tranmere fan im gonna say, sod forrest green and glad to see back of em!
The amount of times they beat us at Wembley.
Always had a soft spot for Tranmere due to Half Man Half Biscuit. Maybe if Nailsworth could produce an "international act with own PA & excellent light show"...
Cheltenham Town FC, pride of Gloucestershire! ❤⬆️🔴⚪🔴⚽💪
I remember this was going to be the newest club that hipsters were going to root for!! Hopefully it all gets sorted out
Do Stockport County next because they just got promoted twice since 2021 22
A video on why perpetual failures keep getting reappointed at Premiership and Championship clubs when every team Dave Challinor touches goes from dross to 24 caret gold within weeks.
Any organisation that employs Deeney needs to reevaluate their ethics.
Hi,
I’ve left it late, but I’ve commented before on videos & I’d love to see this a yearly thing, I’m more interested in premiership, but other divisions would be cool too.
Video idea.
Imagine a final game of season top half vrs bottom half.
1 player from each team, goalkeepers can be the exception.
As a Liverpool fan, I completly forgot to hat Hughes was at Rovers before Portsmouth. He really has had a meteoric rise
Portsmouth video would be class 💙💙
Ah, but those who claim Forest Green are the smallest club in the history of the league clearly aren't familiar with the story of Glossop North End - which is actually fairly similar to that of Forest Green...well, sort of!
Do Nottingham Forest next please!
Ah, the reprieves. Anyone would have thought FGR's chairman was also on the board of The Conference...
God bless Sneaky Peaky
7:50 this why u my favorite, Alfie
I discovered FGR through your video about Footballers who own clubs. I became a fan because of their message of sustainability and climate change. And now I'm here heartbroken we gotta talk about them again in this way.
They have become my second favourite team due to Dale and his principles I yearn for them to return.
Please do one on Bafana Bafana and the Irish Premier Division
Do a video about Holstein kiel(day 1)
Well I’m a Carlisle fan! I liked FGR! I liked their American Podcast.
Carlisle’s former Chairman Andrew Jenkins had ‘beef’ with FGR! Jenkins a butcher not impressed by Veganism.
I just like the philosophy of FGR and Dale Vince.
Currently doing an fm save with these lot 🙏🏻
They get a lot of stick from most football fans, probably because of their owner, but as someone who is very passionate about the environment I’ve had a soft spot for them since I found out about them when they joined the EFL. I hope they can bounce back from non-league soon, I’ll be watching closely how they do in the National League next year
Tbh, how many football owners actually puts their own necks out on the line with their opinions and passions… rarely
The investment with the club and what is being achieved is still ultimately a success and FGR proves that more and more clubs simply do not understand how easy it is
The New Lawn is genuinely unique among this season's 92 league grounds. I was very sceptical of their eco credentials given how impossible it is to get to their weeknight games unless you live in Nailsworth or drive, but it really is a charming day out despite the awful shade of green they're branded in.
5:00 - I did enjoy your pronunciation of Rainworth, however, as someone who lives nearby, it’s nowhere near. Locals essentially pronounce it “ren-eth”
hey Alfie can you do a video on the state of Manchester United and where it's all going wrong
I wonder what the most number of subs before actually releasing a video is
Gas fan here, They earned promotion to L1 in ‘22 & were dancing all over our pitch before we joined them after the 7-0 epic.
12 odd wins & 2 seasons later they’re back in non league.
I always detested going there on match days, at league level the club was too big for the village it’s situated in. With zero catchment area for new supporters, it was always going to be unsustainable.
Where they go from here who knows. If Dale pulls the plug, it could be another Torquay or Hereford.
Are their rivals really called Gas? That's amazing. Surely that makes you the villians, and not the ones from Aston
Bristol Rovers fans call their club The Gas and their fans are Gasheads, this is because their old ground was situated next to a gasworks.
7 greatest championship players since 2000 please mate
Day one of asking for a video on the History of Bath City Football club.
Alfie follows the interesting stories not autobiographies of fave teams
@@joso7228 worth a try isn’t it? 😂
Is it still true about the kits?
I know PlayerLayer do it for most their kits (same for their cricket shirts) but did Umbro do that when they became kit supplier?
A simplification of the title... The pinnacle of the rise...Rob Edwards ( Luton) the bottom of the Fall .....Troy Deeney ( Watford)
This will always be the case 🧡🧡🎩🎩
Where do you get the 100,000 population from for Stroud? Wiki only goes up to 60k for the entire Urban Area which includes completely separate towns and villages.
Also you said second largest town but obviously ignored the CITY of Gloucester.
But putting Troy Deeney as a coach was start of our downfall
As respectable the mission of the club is and has been, they deserved to be relegated due to the abomination of the owner's jeans throughout the video.
Lmao yeah he seems like a genuinely good guy who’s done some great things, but the man’s fashion sense is, quite frankly, disturbing
DO A VID ABOUT THE RISE, FALL, AND RISE AGAIN ABOUT OLVER GLASNER
You didn't once mentioned that Héctor Bellerín was a huge backer of them based on personal principal, it's not relevant, but I thought it was kind of interesting
Sir Gabriel of Agbonlahor 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 that got me good.
I like fgr.. they are a groovy little team.
With Dale Vince now being investigated by the Police, thanks to his Extinction Rebellion shenanigans, the future for FGR could be very interesting - hopefully they will not become the next Rushden & Diamonds.
Please do a video on what on eart is going on at Manchester United
Accrington Stanley mentioned