FOREST GREEN ROVERS: WHEN SOCCER AND SUSTAINABILITY UNITE

In England, there is a soccer team in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, with a fascinating story: the Forest Green Rovers. This English soccer team is making a difference in the sports world by adopting a fully sustainable approach. Founded in 1889, the team is known for its environmental sustainability policy, which has led to a series of innovative initiatives drawing attention worldwide.

This transformation began in 2011, when the club, struggling with financial issues, was acquired by entrepreneur Dale Vince. Vince is a green energy entrepreneur, founder, and president of Ecotricity, where all profits are reinvested into new projects to create increasingly cutting-edge forms of sustainable energy.

Vince immediately implemented key measures to make the team environmentally friendly: solar panels were installed on the stands, and the playing surface was replaced with 100% organic grass maintained by a solar-powered robot lawn mower and irrigated using an eco-friendly rainwater collection system. Fossil fuels were banned, and electric cars and vans were purchased, with free charging stations made available at the stadium parking lot for fans and the community. The players wear kits made entirely from fabric derived from recycled coffee grounds and plastic.

These innovations earned Forest Green the Institute of Groundsmanship’s “Sustainability and Environment” award.

The players’ diet was also radically changed to a vegan one, educating team members to follow a dietary regime that minimizes environmental impact. For this choice, Forest Green Rovers received the support of the Vegan Society, the world’s oldest vegan organization, which provides nutritional and environmental education programs. Fans were involved in the project as well: vegan food stalls appeared outside the stadium, where staff educate supporters about making more sustainable dietary choices.

In 2018, the team was named the world’s most sustainable soccer club by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). That same year, it became the first soccer club globally to achieve “Carbon Neutrality” certification, balancing emissions produced and absorbed as per UN protocols.

This model seems to point toward success on the field as well. In just a few years, the green-and-black team became one of the strongest in England’s lower leagues, debuting this season in League One, the third tier of English soccer, for the first time in its history.

The next step is constructing a 5,000-seat stadium made entirely of wood. It will be the centerpiece of a sports complex called Eco Park, comprising many other sports facilities, offices, and scientific research labs. The choice of wood as the primary construction material perfectly embodies the ecological philosophy of the Rovers’ board. Additionally, the timber used will come from sources that respect tree regeneration cycles.

In short, seeing how a soccer club, even in the lower leagues, follows such a virtuous path suggests that other clubs could—and perhaps should—draw inspiration to make the soccer world increasingly sustainable.

By Marco Munari