Southern League Success Stories….Forest Green Rovers

Success stories from the league over the years.

The club were formed in 1889 and had several different names even way back then, including Nailsworth AFC, Forest Green and Nailsworth & Forest Green United.

They were originally members of the Mid-Gloucestershire League, the Dursley & District League, the Stroud & District League and the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League before being one of the founder members of the Gloucestershire County League in 1968, where they played until moving up to the Premier Division of the Hellenic League in 1975 under the management of Peter Goring.

Goring was a key figure in Arsenal's 1950 FA Cup Final triumph.

He impressed with Cheltenham Town before moving to Highbury in January 1948, scoring on his league debut in Arsenal's 2-1 win at Chelsea in August 1949.

Leading marksman that season, he also helped the Gunners reach the FA Cup Final in 1952 and win the league title in 1952/53.

He switched to wing half and had a spell as captain, scoring 51 goals in 220 First Division games prior to joining Boston United in October 1960.

When he took over as Forest Green manager, he became a greengrocer in Cheltenham.

Goring was in charge of Forest Green from 1968 until 1979 but the best he could achieve was two third-placed finishes in the Gloucestershire County League and third again in his final season in charge in the Hellenic Premier.

After a sixth-placed finish under Tony Morris in 1979/80, Rovers appointed Bob Mursell as manager and after a solid seventh-place finish in his first season in charge, the 81/82 campaign was the club`s most successful to date as they won the Hellenic League title and reached the FA Vase Final at Wembley, having never passed the Third Round stage before.

The Wembley side that took on then-Notts Alliance outfit Rainworth Miners Welfare included some experienced players like two-goal final hero Andy Leitch and former Bristol Rovers men Graham Day, Peter Higgins and Steve Millard, who was to later manage the club.

To reach Wembley, Forest Green had to beat West Country rivals Chippenham Town, Almondsbury Picksons, Odd Down and Shortwood United before seeing off then-West Midlands (Regional) League outfit Willenhall Town in the quarter-finals.

The semi-final saw Rovers take on Northern Leaguers Newcastle Blue Star and after a magnificent first leg in the North East, which Mursell`s side won 4-1, they were on their way to the Twin Towers, despite losing the second lef at The Lawn 1-0.

Leitch scored a brace in the final with captain Kenny Norman adding gloss to the victory with a fantastic chip from the corner of the 18-yard box top seal the 3-0 success in front of 12,500.

Earlier, the Hellenic League title was won by a comfortable eight-point margin from neighbours Moreton Town and so the Southern League beckoned.

The league were expanding and ten new clubs were admitted for the 1982/83 season.

Although the Gloucestershire Senior Cup came to Forest Green three years in succession between 1985 and 1987, league form was disappointing.

A number of managers came and went at The Lawn, including Steve Millard, another former player in John Evans, Bobby Jones, the ex-Bath City boss, and Ian Harris and Glen Thomas.

None of them could better their first season`s achievement of finishing in third place.

In 1988, chairman at the time, John Duff, decided to re-name the club again, this time calling the club Stroud in an effort to attract support from the town, even though the club played at Nailsworth, four miles away.

Duff was hoping that businesses would come forward to sponsor the club and that attendances would improve.

Things didn`t quite work out that way, however!

Support at the club became poor - perhaps a lack of identity was a problem.

The Board at the time, with no money coming through the turnstiles and little in sponsorship, soon found themselves in trouble.

The club were also tending to live a little above their means. However, a new Board, led by chairman Andy Coburn, took over the running of a club that were around £80,000 in debt.

It was a real struggle to turn that around, but a new spirit of optimism gathered at The Lawn.

That came when they decided to revert to their better-known name of Forest Green Rovers.

The `new` club was re-launched in May 1992 and then-First Division Portsmouth came to The Lawn to help Rovers celebrate their belated Centenary.

Geoff Medcroft took over as manager and the former Tuffley Rovers and Cheltenham Town youth team boss had a good reputation for spotting young talent.

However, it was under Frank Gregan, who took over in 1994, that the club`s fortunes really took off.

A switch to the Southern League South Division seemed to suit Forest Green better and they finished eighth in 1996/97 before winning the title in style by a four-point margin the following campaign, pipping St Leonards Stamcroft.

If people thought Gregan`s side would use season 1997/98 as one for consolidating in the Premier Division – the highest position the club had achieved in its history – they were very wrong!

In a division which included the likes of supposed bigger club neighbours Gloucester City and Bath City as well as well-established Southern League sides like Worcester City, Burton Albion, Nuneaton Borough and Crawley Town, Rovers went on to make it back-to-back championship wins by a five-point margin from Merthyr Tydfil.

St Leonards, who were promoted with Forest Green, finished bottom and went straight back down.

A good deal of work was undertaken to make The Lawn suitable for acceptance into the Conference so, just 16 years after being in the Hellenic League, `little` Forest Green were at the top of the non-League Pyramid and one step away from the Football League!

In Forest Green's first season in the Conference they finished twelfth, despite starting the campaign as firm favourites for relegation.

The pundits looked as though they would be proved right early on, however, as Rovers lost their opener at home to Rushden & Diamonds, drew at Farnborough Town and then lost the next four matches before Alex Sykes 75th minute equaliser earned them a decent 1-1 draw at Woking on August 31st.

That obviously gave Gregan`s side confidence as a Paul Hunt goal secured their first win at Conference level – and it was against a Doncaster Rovers side who had come down from the Football League the previous season.

It`s fair to say that Forest Green`s record since switching to the FA Trophy in 1983 had been poor – a Third Round defeat at Northwich Victoria as Stroud in 1991 being their best by far to date.

Now as a Conference club, they were exempt until the Second Round, so already they were in almost unchartered territory!

A home tie against then-Isthmian League Premier Division Boreham Wood side was comfortably overcome 4-1 with Sykes, Hunt, Ian Hedges and Dean Birkby all on target.

The draw for the Third Round was kind as Southern League Southern Division Witney Town had to make the relatively short trip to The Lawn and an Alex Sykes hat-trick and one from Hunt saw Rovers reach the Fourth Round for the first time after a 4-0 win.

Rovers were paired away to Southern Premier Division Weymouth and a tricky test was passed 2-1, thanks to a Marc McGregor brace seeing off an 88th-minute reply from Andy Mason.

The Fifth Round draw the following Monday saw Gregan`s side once again avoid Conference opposition as a visit to Isthmian League Premier Division Hitchin Town`s Top Field stood in the way of a quarter-final spot.

Goals in the 4th and 5th minutes from Forest Green`s former Bristol Rovers forward David Mehew gave them a cushion, and although Adam Parker pulled one back on 33 minutes, the visitors` experienced defence, especially central defensive pair Mike Kilgour and Chris Honor, saw Rovers through.

Southport, struggling in the Conference, came out of the draw second and had to visit The Lawn for the quarter-final and a crowd of 1,240 saw a Sykes brace and singles from Mehew and McGregor give Forest Green a 4-0 lead before Stuart Quinn pulled one back for `Port just past the hour-mark.

The last four that went into the hat for the semi-finals were Conference sides Kingstonian, Forest Green and fierce rivals and Trophy holders Cheltenham Town and Isthmian League Premier Division St Albans City.

And local football fans dreamed of an all-Gloucestershire Wembley final when the two rivals were kept apart, with Forest Green getting the lower league Saints.

Bob Dowie`s side proved to be no pushovers though.

The first leg at Clarence Park in front of 2,120 saw Jason Drysdale give Forest Green the perfect start with a penalty conversion in the very first minute.

But a Peter Risley goal after 21 minutes saw the teams go to Nailsworth all-square.

And a thriller at The Lawn in front of the biggest crowd in the club`s history to date, 3,002, saw City go in front on aggregate after just 2 minutes, thanks to a Mike Kilgour own goal and then stretch that lead to 3-1, courtesy of striker Steve Clark in the 41st minute.

Crucially though Alex Sykes reduced the deficit right on the half-time whistle.

Then on 74 minutes, Ian Hedges levelled the tie on aggregate and the stadium erupted 8 minutes from time when Gary Smart made it 4-3 to the hosts – a scoreline they held on to, therefore becoming the first team to play in the final of both the FA Vase and the FA Trophy.

Locals` hopes of a Wembley derby was thwarted as Cheltenham lost 5-3 on aggregate to Kingstonian, although the Robins had the consolation of winning the title and promotion to the Football League!

Forest Green were fairly confident heading to Wembley Way as they had done the `double` over K`s in the league, winning 1-0 home and away.

In truth, the final itself was disappointing for the 20,037 crowd, who had to wait a quarter of an hour for the first threat at goal arrived through Marc McGregor.

The breakthrough came just 4 minutes after half-time when Rovers` keeper Justin Shuttlewood flapped at a cross and the ball fell kindly to full-back Tarkan Mustafa, who volleyed the ball home.

Managed by three-times Trophy winner Geoff Chapple, Kingstonian managed the remainder of the game expertly, although keeper Steve Farrelly was forced into a couple of decent saves, notably from McGregor.

But K`s held on and the first winner of both the Vase and Trophy had to wait a while longer!

Season 1999/2000 was not a good one for Forest Green though and after finishing fourth-from-bottom, and following a poor start to the next campaign, Frank Gregan`s long spell in charge came to an end in November 2000.

Former England international goalkeeper Nigel Spink and his ex-Aston Villa team-mate David Norton took over as joint managers and, although they finished 16th in the league, they were back in the Trophy final again, although with Wembley being re-developed, it was Villa Park – Spink`s home for 19 years – who would host the final which, for the second time, Forest Green lost 1-0 to Isthmian League Premier Division underdogs Canvey Island.

A succession of managers such as Colin Addison, Tim Harris, Gary Owers, Jim Harvey, Dave Hockaday and Adie Pennock maintained Forest Green`s place in the Conference/National League.

A third consecutive play-off campaign was secured with a third-place finish in 2016/17 under Mark Cooper.

After beating Dagenham & Redbridge 3–1 in the semi-finals, Rovers defeated Tranmere Rovers by the same scoreline in the final at Wembley, earning promotion to League Two, making Nailsworth the smallest town ever to host a Football League club!

In 2018 Forest Green Rovers became the first football club in the world to be certified carbon neutral under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change initiative Climate Neutral Now.

And the 2018/19 season saw them finish fifth in League Two before losing 2–1 to Tranmere Rovers in the play-off semi-finals.

Before this season came to its unexpected halt, Forest Green were 11th in League Two, and although they weren`t the first former Southern League club to obtain promotion to the Football League, they were definitely the smallest and can be held up as a fantastic example to all clubs who are ambitious and showed what could be done with good housekeeping.