240826 Altrincham Matchday Programme by ForestGreenRovers

FOREST GREEN V ALTRINCHAM

The Chief

WELCOME BACK TO THE NEW LAWN, WE'RE FOUR

GAMES INTO THE SEASON ALREADY AND IT'S GREAT TO HAVE EVERYYBODY BACK IN THE STADIUM.

This is the first of our new digital programmes for the 24/25 season; we have kept it short and focused. If you have any thoughts or ideas on the programme, please email them to reception@fgr. co.uk.

This season is now well underway with three league games under our belt as I type this, and it will be four games by the Altrincham match; all away of course and today will be our first home game. There are many more to come; still early days but some very encouraging signs for the season ahead.

The pitch has now been stitched and has continued to develop well; the recent warm weather has helped along with the sterling efforts of the Grounds Team. The benefits of this investment will be substantial and felt throughout this and future seasons, until we move to Ecopark at Junction 13.

The improved Fan Zone in front of the North Stand will be open for today’s game and this will only get better as the season progresses, including some new food vendors; offering supporters a range of different food on the day; along with live music and Truck Norris the BrewDog beer truck.

Today’s opponents Altrincham have had some mixed results (5-0 loss, two 1-0 wins) and it will no doubt be a difficult game. It will be an extra special occasion with the first home game of the season using the new pitch; a big moment for staff, players and supporters and one that hopefully ends with 3 points to FGR!

DANE VINCE CEO

Summer Roundup

IT'S BEEN A BUSY SUMMER HERE AT THE NEW LAWN WITH BOSS STEVE COTTERILL

ADDING TO

BOTH THE PLAYING AND BACKROOM STAFF.

Sean Long and Liam Sercombe from Cheltenham Town were the first players in the building with experienced defender Ben Tozer soon following from Wrexham.

Winger Tom Knowles signed from Walsall whilst midfielder Adam May agreed terms signing from Cambridge United.

Exciting goalkeeper Jed Ward, capped at England U20 level, was the first loan addition having impressed at League One Bristol Rovers last season.

Off-the-field, Cotterill has also been busy adding depth to the backroom staff.

51-year-old Rob Edwards – brimming with playing, managerial, and coaching experience – joined the ranks in July as a first-team coach.

Ex-Cheltenham Town man Russell Milton was brought in as the Chief Scout supported by recruitment analyst Tom Carter.

Wayne Brown – former Bristol City, Chester City and Hereford FC goalkeeper – joined the club in late June as our goalkeeping coach, too.

FGR stalwart Dan Connor is still heavily involved at the club in a first-team coach role.

We appointed a new CEO in Dane Vince who has overseen a number of changes around The New Lawn this summer including a pitch renovation that is on view in our opening home match of the season this Bank Holiday Monday.

The pitch refurb brings the surface in line with the impressive facility down at Junction 13 – The Candriam Training Centre.

This is a big investment into the club which will not only help first team performance but also drastically improve our ability to cope with exceptional weather that now occurs more frequently due to climate change.

It’s been a summer of change – but one that now brings excitement towards the opening home game of the season.

Graham Harvey

WE WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THE

PASSING OF OUR LATE DAD, GRANDAD, FORMER PLAYER AND SUPPORTER OVER 50 YEARS, GRAHAM HARVEY,

Graham lived in Nailsworth most his life at Blencathra Dark lane & played for Forest Green Rovers from 1948-1954, he was a 6ft 2 striker, and he could hit a ball. He used to tell us that he scored 5 goals in one game including one from the touchline! His brother Des also played for Rovers and his brother in law Wilf Riley. They got changed at a pub called The Jovial Foresters then walked up the hill and climbed over a drystone wall to get to the pitch.

Dad did two years National Service in Egypt and played a lot of football and cricket on pitches made in the sand by diesel powered rollers. He was playing at a high level and had three or four matches a week.

He is pictured in the book Something to shout about, published by Tim Barnard. He retired from football in 1952 to focus on work, he worked for a company in Tetbury called Reema, Building houses after the war, he was finance manager.

He liked being in the National League, meeting away fans in the green man having a chat, so it's fitting we are here today back in the national league, to celebrate and remember a former player. Thank you to everyone who made him feel welcome here at TNL and the old lawn ground. He was always busy chatting to players families, Trevor Horsley, Colin Peake, he formed good relationships with these people.

To see his beloved FGR in the EFL league, to be able to watch them on tv when his legs had gone, meant a lot to him.

He has left his son Phil and his grandson Mark, to carry the FGR torch in our family name.

Graham was being cared for in Winslow house in Nailsworth for the last 18 months. He lived to a great age of 96. He was born in 1927, in Nailsworth, he lived at park road with his sister and his brother's.

If you cut my grandad open He would have Nailsworth soil in between his toes! He spent many hours in the garden, and could hear the football going on from his garden home in dark lane.

A Opposition The

TYLAltrincham are the first visitors to The New Lawn this season, looking to build on their best league finish since 1995 ending the last campaign in fourth.

The Robins ended last season seven games unbeaten and dreams of promotion to the Football League for the first time in their history bloomed but were ended in the semi-finals by eventual winners, Bromley.

Progress has been steady under boss, Phil Parkinson, since his appointment back in 2017 as two promotions in his first three seasons saw the Robins return to the fifth tier of English Football where they earned play-offs for the first time last season.

Central Midfielder, Chris Conn-Clarke, played a huge role in the Robins’ success last campaign scoring 22 goals in the National League alongside six assists which earned him a summer move to League One side, Peterborough United.

Parkinson would need to replace his missing fire power and did so bringing in striker, Joe Nuttall, on loan from Oldham Athletic alongside midfielders, Tom Crawford from Hartlepool and free-agent Remi Thompson.

Nuttall spent the second half of last season on loan at Cheltenham Town where he found the net twice in 11 appearances. Crawford also made 39 appearances for Hartlepool finding the net on five occasions.

Preparation for the new campaign couldn’t have gone better for Parkinson’s side as they suffered just one defeat in eight matches during pre-season which included draws against League Two sides Salford City and Bradford City.

It was an enthralling encounter the last time the Robins visited Nailsworth back in 2015 in a game that saw three red cards and Rovers run out 2-0 winners thanks to a brace from Jon Parkin.

Established

Altrincham Football Club was so named in 1903, as a continuation of Broadheath FC, which was founded around 1891. (Broadheath is a southern area of Altrincham).

Crest

Altrincham operate with the Arms of the former Altrincham Municipal Borough Council as our primary, officially recognised club crest – one of the more complex badges in the footballing pyramid.

Stadium

Altrincham FC's home since 1910 has been at Moss Lane, Altrincham WA15 8AP. The official ground capacity (2023) is 5,450.

On 10 July 2013, it was announced that the stadium would be known as the J. Davidson Stadium, following a sponsorship agreement with the Club's main sponsor.

R B N O I S THE

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Rosenberg

BA (Hons) Football Business and Media student and Women’s Content Creator at Chelsea FC