The Electric Player Bus and Vegan Food: The Rise of the World’s Greenest Club

The most beautiful fairy tale in English football at the moment. A club ranging from amateur football to professionals in a city of about 7,000 inhabitants.

25 years ago Forest Green Rovers still played in the Southern Football League Midland Division, after four promotions village club Nailsworth will make its debut in League One, the third professional tier next season.

But the most special is yet to come: Forest Green Rovers is the most environmentally friendly club in the world.

On Saturday, the club was forced to promote from the Second Division after a 0-0 draw with Bristol Rovers. It was also Forest Green’s first away game to use the new electric team bus.

Not by plane, but by the player’s electric bus

With a purchase value of around 400,000 euros, this bus remains one of the club’s worries. The means of transport have a range of about 300 kilometers, which means that they cannot be used for all away matches.

However, the contrast with other English professional clubs is great. In the Eredivisie, teams regularly fly to an away game 200 kilometers away. Manchester United faced a torrent of criticism last year after a ten-minute flight to Leicester City.

The electric player bus is Forest Green’s next step in its quest for greener. He was appointed in 2010 when Dale Vince was club president. He is a director of the green energy company Ecotricity and a prominent environmentalist in the UK.

It’s not a burger, it’s a veggie wrap

One of Vince’s first jobs after taking office was making the food in the cafeteria vegan. In 2015, the stadium became completely vegan. Fans could no longer buy fish, chips or burgers during halftime. Vegetable wraps and organic fries were now on the menu.

Slowly but surely the club has become greener. Solar panels appeared in the stadium. Players were given electric cars, which they parked at the charging station next to the field during practice, and wore shirts made of recycled plastic and coffee grounds.

Unlike other professional clubs, no chemicals are used to protect the turf, but the playground is completely eco-friendly. The lawnmower runs on solar energy.

Praise from FIFA and UN

The club has received international recognition for its environmentally friendly approach. In 2018 FIFA named Forest Green the greenest club in the world. Two years later, the United Nations hailed Rovers as the world’s first carbon neutral club.

The biggest climate-friendly step is yet to come. In 2019, the club received permission to build Eco Park, the world’s first all-wood stadium. For this, the club will move to Stonehouse, a village about ten kilometers away, in a few years.

Advance without transfer fee

Forest Green didn’t achieve his success by throwing coins everywhere. The club is governed by a sort of Moneyball principle. In recent years mainly non-transfer players or mercenaries have been recruited, based on statistics, which help the club move forward step by step.

With two games left, Forest Green takes the lead in the Second Division, but number two Exeter City has the same points. The championship is therefore within reach of the greenest club in the world.

It is unclear whether the title party will later be celebrated with only organic beer and vegan snacks.