THE EXILE - Newport County AFC v Forest Green Rovers

the exile

N E W P O RT C O U N T Y A FC O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G RA M M E 2 0 2 1 - 2 2 | I S S U E 2 1 | £ 2 . 0 0

V FOREST GREEN ROVERS

01/03/22

Kick-Off 7.45pm SKYBET LEAGUE TWO

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Chairman: Gavin Foxall Directors: Bob Herrin, Colin Faulkner, Joe Crocker, Kevin Ward, Mark Crook, Mike Everett, Paul Marks, Peter Madigan, Shaun Johnson.

Honorary Club President: David Hando Manager: James Rowberry Assistant Manager: Carl Serrant Goalkeeping Coach: James Hollman Senior Physiotherapist: Tom Gittoes Head of Analysis: Jason Windsor Kit Man: Neil Leek General Manager: Nigel Stephenson Club Secretary: Matthew Higgins Academy Manager: Damien Broad Media Manager: Ben Wills Commercial Manager: Matthew Owen Supporter Liaison Officer: Donna Linton Community Development Officer: Norman Parselle Club Chaplain: Keith Beardmore

STADIUM ADDRESS NEWPORT COUNTY AFC RODNEY PARADE RODNEY ROAD, NP19 0UU CONTACT US t: 01633 302 012 e: office@newport-county.co.uk

JAMES ROWBERRY I would like to begin by welcoming you all back to Rodney Parade for this re-arranged Tuesday evening fixture with Forest Green Rovers as we head into March and the start of the end of season run-in.

I was pleased following Saturday’s game and felt that the boys once again showed fantastic character and determination to go on and get all 3 points after being pegged back from a 2 goal lead.

This evening will be another tough game against a strong opponent who have had a successful season so far, seeing them sit with a healthy lead at the top of the League 2 table. I want to welcome Rob Edwards, the technical staff, directors, players and supporters from Forest Green and hope they have a safe journey to and from Rodney Parade.

We have now entered the final 13 games of the season and it’s important we remain in the mindset of taking each game as it comes, not getting to high or low after results respectively.

One of the strongest parts of our performances this season, especially at Rodney Parade has been the intensity in the way we approach our play and opposition and I hope that we can continue that under the lights at Rodney Parade this evening, spurred on by another evening of fantastic support from you, the County faithful.

Get behind the boys and enjoy the game.

James O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E | 3

AMBER FROM THE ATTIC with Chris Shingler

A warm, welcome to all supporters tonight for this top of the table fixture against high-flying Forest Green Rovers.

I wonder how many of today’s bumper crowd were at Spytty Park just over 10 years ago when we hosted Rovers in an FA Trophy First Round tie?

In all honesty, given the official attendance was a paltry 724 which included a decent 106 from Gloucestershire, then obviously not that many were there on that briskly cold, 10thof December 2011 afternoon.

The County fans that were present were almost definitely not thinking too much about this competition at the time though, and little did we know that this was the first step in our first ever journey to Wembley!

Indeed, most of the Amber Army were, after keeping warm, wholly more worried about an impending relegation fight; one that had been boosted by an upturn in results since the much-loved and missed Justin Edinburgh had been appointed in charge, back in October.

Our three-pounds-priced, 48page programme opened with the former Spurs defender and his ‘From the Manager’ column, where he was honest enough to admit our recent league wins at Hayes & Yeading (40) and at home to Lincoln City (10) hadn’t been pretty to watch but were professional performances and had given the players some much needed confidence.

The ‘Player Profile’ article which bounded along next gave the chance to salute the popular Scott Rogers, who had just left the club for Eastleigh, and this was presented to our beady eyes over a lovely twopage spread that included several photos, including the iconic snap of Scotty “Doing a Terry Butcher” when he’s seen in a blood-soaked shirt complete with gashed head, being led off the pitch during a clash earlier in the season with Grimsby.

Scott, who only last month turned out at Caerleon FC in a County Legends XI charity match had in fact signed off his time at Spytty with an unstoppable longrange effort in a November Welsh Cup clash with plucky Barry Town.

Heading towards extra time at 2-2, up stepped Scotty and his trusty right-foot hammer, after good work from Felino Jardim, to launch us into a Fourth-Round clash away to TNS. Justin Edinburgh summed up the piece on the former Bath and Forest Green midfielder by adding … “He’s been a fantastic servant for the club and the ultra-professional ever since I arrived.”

In ‘Amber Archive,’ Ade Williams took the chance to look back at some former cup clashes with Forest Green from the late 1980s and 90s,

4 | O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E

including Newport AFC’s Welsh Cup victory over Stroud (as the Greens were then) played at our “home” deep in the Cotswold’s at London Road, Moreton-in- Marsh.

Hmmm, try explaining all that to a younger fan today and you may be needing an extra nip of Yuletide whisky afterwards!

I n ‘ T h e Pe o p l e’s G a m e, ’beautifully penned by the ever-

W W W. N E W P O RT- CO U N T Y.CO. U K

knowledgeable Colin Everett, he tells the tale of how recently Wrexham had to play an English cup tie away at Brentford, and their second XI in tandem for a Welsh Cup tie at Airbus UK. Colin notes that we in fact played Barry in the Welsh Cup just 24 hours after hammering Hayes; and, little did he know at the time, we would join Wrexham in the two-gamesin-one-day fiasco – or useful pub quiz question - early in 2012 when, on the same day, our first XI were dramatically staging a jawdropping late comeback by three goals to two at Gateshead in the Conference while our youngsters were well beaten 3-0 at TNS to exit the Welsh Cup. The FAW really don’t help themselves, do they?!

On a more sombre note, however, Colin also covered the shock, recent passing of Welsh manager and former player Gary Speed, who had been at Spytty Park watching us only a few months previously.

Moving on and in ‘Meet the Amber Army’ another much-missed soul in Rob Dare is in conversation with Darren Williams, known to most online as “Phoenix 1331” who also ran the County website at the time. Darren rightly reckoned that the County have “The greatest fans in the world” and goes on to remember a time when he was too young to come to games, so instead he would sit with his Dad Roy at home and watch the scores coming in whilst excitedly waiting for his older brother to come back from Somerton Park with a programme for him to read. Darren recalls his favourite matches and, not too surprisingly, Weston away with Sam O’Sullivan’s late, late winner is up there, as is our 5-1 win over then top-of-the-table Histon when two of Darren’s sons were mascots.

Phil Tanner in his ‘Over George Street Bridge’ musing also takes up Mr Everett’s mantle and looks

at other times the club had played two games in two days.

He notes that way back in the mists of time, especially when fixtures were played consecutively on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, it was a fairly regular occurrence when often you played the same team twice and some strange, highscoring games were not a rarity!

Phil mentions a double-header we played towards the end of the 1990/91 season, where, on the Saturday, we lost 2-1 to Corby and then on the Sabbath itself we lost by the same score line at King’s Lynn! I remember it well as I saw both games, as did a fair few other fans by staying overnight in that particular slice of England.

The busy Phil is back again when covering the Forest Green ‘Visitors’ pages and, in a playedfor-both-teams snippet, he picks out a handful of the many that have played for both clubs.

H e n a m e - c h e c ks J o h n Relish, Paul Collicutt and Steve Doughty amongst others. In D a v e H o c ka d a y ’s squad meanwhile, we see the likes of other players of County connection past or in the future, in James Bittner, Chris Todd, Jamie Turley, Wayne Turk, Cutis McDonald, Yan Klukowski, Jake Thompson and Charlie Griffin!

On to the match itself on that chilly, wintry af ternoon, we were held 0-0 in this first tie, and the following Tuesday we played the replay in a b so l u te B a l t i c weather conditions at the “Club on the hill.”

In fact, I can honestly say it was the coldest I’d ever been at a football match, but goals from

Craig McAllister and Darryl Knights saw us though in front of a mad 368 people who had braved the artic blizzard, and we were off on a journey to the final at Wembley which saw a strong York City outfit lift the trophy with a deserved 2-0 win in front of nearly 12,000 County fans in a 19,884 crowd.

Teams: County: Danny Potter, David Pipe, Tom Millar, Gary Warren, Ismail Yakubu, Wayne Hatswell, Paul Rodgers, Danny Rose, Sam Foley, Robbie Matthews, Elliott Buchanan.

Subs: Craig McAllister (Matthews), Darryl Knights, Glyn Thompson, Felino Jardim, Luke Prosser.

Forest Green Rovers: James Bittner, Jared Hodgkiss, Chris Stokes, Jamie Turley, Yan Klukowski, Kieron Forbes, Matty Taylor, Luke Graham, James Rowe, Jake Thompson, Michael Uwezu.

Subs: James Norwood, Charlie Griffin, Jeffery Imudia, Callum Henry, Simon Locke.

O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E | 5

View from the

boardroom A warm welcome to all the Directors, Players and Officials of Forest Green Rovers for this evening’s rearranged EFL League Two home fixture.

Our club this evening is Pinchard Soccer School.

Their aim is to provide UEFA standard coaching, development, life skills, mental health awareness and wellbeing, enabling future opportunities for promising young players. They are passionate about football and helping children meet their full potential, working alongside grassroots football clubs to ensure each child has the very best training sessions. More can be found at www.pinchardsoccerschool.com. Our Charity for this evening is The South East Wales Branch of the Motor Neurone Disease Association. This is a local charity that fundraises to help support people with MND and their families, within the region. The Association has 3 main aims; To improve care and support for people with MND, their families and carers; To fund and promote research that leads to new understanding and treatments and brings us closer to a cure for MND; To campaign and raise awareness so the needs of people with MND and everyone who cares for them are recognised and addressed by wider society. More can be found at www. mnda-southeastwales.org.uk The Fan Engagement Index was published at the back end of last week for 20/21 season. Whilst we are ranked 6th out of 92, we were a little disappointed as our

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submission seemed to be subject to an administrative error, meaning it was never received. A real pity as we shared some of the positive engagement we have with various different diverse groups within our fan base. Still a great achievement but as always, we can improve and will strive to do so.

Following the above theme, I recently attended the regular EFL meeting where Rick Parry (Chairman of EFL) relayed that the number one priority of the EFL is the focus and indeed implementation of the Fan Led Review.

There is a clear view within the EFL, which we support, where increased distributions throughout the pyramid will ensure clubs are solvent. In parallel, the EFL support the introduction of an Independent Regulator to ensure appropriate financial controls are in place to make clubs sustainable. The two elements combined are crucial for a successful pyramid ensuring the communities that clubs operate within can continue to be served and prosper. There is now a passage through the legislative process, and we have been lobbying our two local MPs, Jessica Morden, and Ruth Jones, who are extremely supportive. Thank you to both MPs. Good luck to the lads this evening.

Thanks for your continued support.

Gavin

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COUNTY

APPEARANCES & GOALSCORERS 2021-22 SEASON * OUT ON LOAN ** NO LONGER AT THE CLUB. UP TO AND INCLUDING: 26.02.22

Statistics supplied by Gareth Swattridge League No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 21 22 24 26 28 30 31 41 42 43 49 50 55 56 4 11 27 29

Name Joe DAY Cameron NORMAN Ryan HAYNES Josh PASK James CLARKE Priestley FARQUHARSON Robbie WILLMOTT Matty DOLAN Padraig AMOND * Courtney BAKER-RICHARDSON Rob STREET Alex FISHER Aaron LEWIS Louis HALL * Timmy ABRAHAM Scot BENNETT Finn AZAZ Dom TELFORD Lewis COLLINS Kevin ELLISON Jake CAIN James WAITE Mickey DEMETRIOU Nick TOWNSEND Ollie COOPER Joe WOODIWISS * Lewys TWAMLEY * Ryan HILLIER * Iestyn EVANS Harrison BRIGHT Zack MAHER Aneurin LIVERMORE Ed UPSON** Jermaine HYLTON** Christopher MISSILOU** Jordan GREENIDGE**

Apps 20 (0) 32 (1) 24 (2) 7 (0) 22 (2) 6 (4) 23 (3) 19 (5) 0 (0) 23 (2) 1 (4) 7 (10) 11 (4) 0 (0) 3 (9) 18 (2) 21 (8) 23 (1) 3 (6) 1 (8) 11 (7) 0 (5) 28 (0) 13 (0) 25 (2) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 2 (1) 15 (1) 3 (1) 2 (2) 0 (1)

Goals 0 1 1 0 1 0 3 2 0 8 0 1 1 0 0 1 4 24 1 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Cup YC 0 7 2 1 3 1 2 1 0 5 0 1 2 0 4 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 5 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 1 0

RC 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

Apps 1 (0) 1 (0) 1 (0) 0 (0) 3 (0) 1 (0) 3 (0) 3 (0) 0 (0) 1 (0) 0 (0) 1 (2) 5 (0) 3 (1) 4 (1) 1 (0) 3 (0) 2 (1) 2 (2) 3 (2) 3 (0) 0 (0) 1 (0) 5 (0) 2 (0) 3 (1) 0 (1) 0 (1) 0 (1) 2 (0) 0 (1) 3 (0) 1 (2) 2 (0) 4 (0) 2 (2)

Goals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

LEAGUE TABLE 2021-22

Total YC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 1 2 0

RC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Apps 21 (0) 33 (1) 25 (2) 7 (0) 25 (2) 7 (4) 26 (3) 22 (5) 0 (0) 24 (2) 1 (4) 8 (12) 16 (4) 3 (1) 7 (10) 19 (2) 24 (8) 25 (2) 5 (8) 4 (10) 14 (7) 0 (5) 29 (0) 18 (0) 27 (2) 3 (1) 0 (1) 0 (1) 0 (1) 2 (0) 0 (1) 5 (1) 16 (3) 5 (1) 6 (2) 2 (3)

Goals 0 1 1 0 1 0 3 2 0 8 0 2 1 0 3 1 4 25 1 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

YC 0 7 2 1 3 1 2 1 0 5 0 1 4 0 4 2 0 1 1 0 1 0 5 1 6 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 7 1 3 0

RC 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

Up to: 26.2.22

Pos

Team

GP

W

D

L

GF

GA

GD

1

Forest Green Rovers

32

19

9

4

62

27

35

PTS 66

2

Northampton Town

33

16

8

9

38

26

12

56

3

Tranmere Rovers

34

16

8

10

36

27

9

56

4

Exeter City

31

14

12

5

46

31

15

54

5

Sutton United

33

15

9

9

50

39

11

54

6

Mansfield Town

31

15

8

8

42

33

9

53

7

Swindon Town

33

14

10

9

55

40

15

52

8

Newport County AFC

33

14

10

9

54

44

10

52

9

Port Vale

31

13

10

8

45

31

14

49

10

Bristol Rovers

32

13

9

10

45

40

5

48

11

Salford City

32

13

8

11

37

30

7

47

12

Hartlepool United

33

12

8

13

34

43

-9

44

13

Crawley Town

31

12

7

12

39

42

-3

42

14

Harrogate Town

32

11

9

12

50

49

1

42

15

Bradford City

34

9

13

12

37

43

-6

40

16

Rochdale

31

8

14

9

39

40

-1

38

17

Walsall

33

10

8

15

35

45

-10

38

18

Leyton Orient

31

7

12

12

38

32

6

33

19

Stevenage

34

7

12

15

30

52

-22

33

20

Barrow

32

7

11

14

30

39

-9

32

21

Colchester United

33

7

11

15

30

47

-17

32

22

Carlisle United

32

7

10

15

24

45

-21

31

23

Oldham Athletic

31

7

9

15

31

47

-16

30

24

Scunthorpe United

34

4

11

19

24

59

-35

23

O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E | 9

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1 0 | O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E

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Academyupdate HALF TERM AT THE ACADEMY

Its was a busy week for the Academy during half term as the players and staff had some great experiences.

Our Foundation phase and pre academy players from U7-U12 all got to travel away to Premier league side Wolves.

The tournaments across the week saw the boys take on not only the hosts but, Stoke City, Exeter City, Shrewsbury Town and Bristol Rovers.

The scholars had two fixtures during the week, playing the Welsh college representative side on Tuesday with 3 of our goals coming from Kiban Rai, Jonah Williams and Jack Karadogan. They also then faced Cheltenham Town on Friday afternoon in league action losing 3-2 with both goals coming from Zac Maher.

Throughout the week the players attended County in the community soccer schools alongside the first team manager James Rowberry to meet the local children who were based on the camps. They even got to show off their skills by joining in with the sessions!

The Youth development players also took part in a series of sessions and workshops with Troy Townsend coming in from Kick it out to educate the players on diversity in sport. Whilst the newly formed Girls centre had the opportunity to play premier League opposition in Aston Villa at USW Sports park.

Follow us on Instagram: @ncafcacademy Facebook: Newport County AFC Academy Twitter: @Youth_County O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E | 1 1

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HERE’S A ST AT I BET YOU DIDN’T KN W 1 6 | O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E

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OVER HALF A MILLION SKY BET CUSTOMERS USE DEPOSIT LIMITS TO MANAGE THEIR BETTING BUDGET. THAT’S ENOUGH TO FILL: 6 WEMBLEYS. 201 ALLY PALLYS. OR 8 CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP DAYS. (THAT’S A LOT OF TWEED)

ALL GOOD BOOKMAKERS HAVE DEPOSIT LIMITS. SO WHOEVER YOU BET WITH, SET AN APPROPRIATE ONE FOR YOU AND THEN ENJOY THE SPORT. DEPOSIT LIMITS

THAT’S BETTING BETTER.

O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E | 1 7

MATCHBYMATCH

Follow The Exiles throughout the 2021/22 SEASON DATE AUGUST Sat 07 Tues 10 Sat 14 Sat 21 Wed 25 Sat 28 Tues 31 SEPTEMBER Sat 04 Fri 10 Tues 14 Sat 18 Fri 24 OCTOBER Sat 02 Sat 09 Tues 12 Sat 16 Tues 19 Sat 23 Sat 30 NOVEMBER Sat 06 Tues 09 Fri 12 Sat 20 Tues 23 Fri 26 DECEMBER Tues 07 Sat 11 Sat 18 JANUARY Sat 01 Sat 08 Sat 15 Sat 22 Tue 25 Sat 29 FEBRUARY Sat 05 Tues 08 Sat 12 Sat 19 Sat 26 MARCH Tue 01 Sat 05 Sat 12 Tues 15 Fri 18 Sat 26 APRIL Sat 02 Sat 09 Fri 15 Mon 18 Fri 22 Sat 30 MAY Sat 07

OPPOSITION

V

COMP

ATT

AWAY F-A POS

Oldham Athletic Ipswich Town Mansfield Town Tranmere Rovers SOUTHAMPTON Salford City PLYMOUTH ARGYLE

A A A A H A H

L2 CCR1 L2 L2 CCR2 L2 PJT

4094 6144 3793 6160 5920 1687 1032

317 131 156 181 1031 277 155

1-0 1-0 1-2 1-0 0-8 0-3 2-0

6 -13 9 -15 --

Day Townsend Day Day Townsend n Day Townsend

Norman n A Lewis Norman Norman Lewis n Norman Bright n

Haynes Hall Haynes n Haynes Hall Haynes Lewis n

Farquharson Woodiwiss Farquharson Farquharson Farquharson Farquharsonl Woodiwiss

Dolan l J Clarke Bennett Bennett Dolan l (J)Clarke Dolan l

LEYTON ORIENT Harrogate Town NORTHAMPTON TOWN WALSALL Barrow AFC

H A H H A

L2 L2 L2 L2 L2

3845 2670 3168 3825 2427

396 110 161 547 91

2-2 2-2 0-1 2-1 1-2

15 14 19 12 14

Day Day Day Townsend Townsend

Willmott Norman l Norman Norman Norman

Haynes Haynes Haynes Lewis Lewis

Norman Farquharson Farquharson Clarke 1 Clarke

Dolan 1 l Demetriou Dolan l Demetriou n Demetriou Bennett l Demetriou 1 Dolan Dolan l Haynes

Bennett l n Bennett 1 Livermore n Upson l n Upson

SCUNTHORPE UNITED BRADFORD CITY ARSENAL U21 Exeter City CARLISLE UNITED Bristol Rovers STEVENAGE

H H H A H A H

L2 L2 PJT L2 L2 L2 L2

3213 4089 1426 5078 2962 7515 3439

98 450 91 614 108 1032 92

3-0 0-0 3-4 2-2 2-2 3-1 5-0

12 13 -14 13 12 8

Day Day Townsend Day Day Day Day

Norman Norman Lewis Norman Norman Norman Norman

Haynes Haynes Hall Haynes Haynes n n Lewis Lewis

Clarke Clarke Woodiwiss n Clarke Clarke Clarke n Clarke

Dolan Dolan Missilou n Dolan Dolan Dolan l Demetriou

Demetriou Demetriou Cain Demetriou Demetriou Demetriou Willmott l

Upson Upson l Livermore Upson Upson n n Cain AZAZ 1

Morecambe Swindon Town Hartlepool United SWINDON TOWN Crawley Town Colchester United

A A A H A A

FACR1 PJT L2 L2 L2 L2

1879 2125 5764 5141 1438 2401

167 157 114 1027 130 83

0-1 0-1 2-1 1-2 1-1 1-1

--5 8 9 9

Day Townsend Day Day Day Day

Norman Bright Norman Norman Norman n Norman

Lewis l Haynes Haynes Haynes Lewis n Haynes

Clarke Dolan l Clarke Clarke n Clarke n Clarke n

Demetriou Missilou n Dolan Dolan n Dolan l Bennett

Willmott Upson n Demetriou n Demetriou Demetriou Demetriou

Azaz Collins Upson n Upson l Upson l n Willmott

SUTTON UNITED PORT VALE Rochdale

H H A

L2 L2 L2

3368 4074 2232

90 340 344

3-2 2-1 0-3

8 4 6

Day Day Day

Norman Norman Norman n

Haynes l Lewis n Lewis l

Clarke l Clarke Clarke

DOLAN 1 Dolan Dolan l

Demetriou Demetriou Demetriou n

Willmott Willmott Willmott

Walsall SALFORD CITY HARROGATE TOWN Scunthorpe United Leyton Orient BARROW AFC

A H H A A H

L2 L2 L2 L2 L2 L2

4946 BCD BCD 2604 3413 4080

722 0 0 453 169 73

*3-3 0-2 4-0 1-0 1-0 2-1

7 7 6 5 3 3

Townsend Townsend Townsend Townsend Townsend Townsend

Norman l Norman n Norman n Norman NORMAN 1 Norman

Lewis Lewis l Haynes Haynes Haynes Haynes

Clarke Clarke Pask Pask l Pask Clarke

Dolan Demetriou

Bennett Willmott Bennett l Bennett Bennett Bennett

Willmott Cain l Cain Cain Cain l Cain l

Forest Green Rovers Northampton Town OLDHAM ATHLETIC MANSFIELD TOWN TRANMERE ROVERS

A A H H H

L2 L2 L2 L2 L2

3817 4255 3901 3956 4018

1224 228 343 339 431

0-2 0-1 3-3 1-1 4-2

5 7 7 8 8

Townsend Townsend Townsend Townsend Townsend

Norman Norman n Norman l Lewis Norman

Haynes Haynes HAYNES 1 Haynes l LEWIS 1

Pask n Pask Pask Pask Clarke

Bennett Bennett Dolan Dolan l Bennett

Cain n Cain l Bennett l n Bennett Willmott l

FOREST GREEN ROVERS BRISTOL ROVERS Stevenage Carlisle United HARTLEPOOL UNITED Bradford City

H H A A H A

L2 L2 L2 L2 L2 L2

EXETER CITY Swindon Town CRAWLEY TOWN Sutton United COLCHESTER UNITED Port Vale

H A H A H A

L2 L2 L2 L2 L2 L2

ROCHDALE

H

L2

1 8 | O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E

STARTING XI

DEMETRIOU 1

Demetriou Demetriou n

Demetriou Demetriou Demetriou DEMETRIOU 1

Demetriou Demetriou

Demetriou Missilou J Clarke l J Clarke J Clarke Bennett Livermore n

Upson Livermore l n Upson Upsonn Bennett l Missilou l Cain l

W W W. N E W P O RT- CO U N T Y.CO. U K WWW.NEWPORT-COUNTY.CO.UK

H

on

Key: Goalscorer(s) in Bold1; Sub 1 l; 1 Sub 2 l; Sub 3 l; Sub 4 l; Sub 5 l; Yellow Card n; Red Card n; * Own Goal.

Key: Goalscorer(s) in Bold ; Sub 1 l; Sub 2 l; Sub 3 l; Sub 4 l; Sub 5 l

Statistics byn;Gareth Swattridge Yellow Cardsupplied n; Red Card * Own Goal; (P) Penalty.

Statistics supplied by GarethSubs Swattridge

Bennett Abraham 1 Azaz Hyltonl Azaz l Greenidge Missilou Abrahamln Upson Fishe 1l Cooper

SUBSTITUTESL Collins l Willmott Azaz l Ellison l Willmott 1 l Missilou ln J Clarke Abrahams l Willmott lln Upsonl Hylton L Collins Azaz l l Willmott Fisher Greenridgel Hylton Abrahaml Willmott Ellisonl l Abraham 1 Willmott l

Upson Cooper Upson Cooper Cain l Willmott Livermore l Cooper Azaz 1 l Willmott

Hylton l Greenidge Abraham Ellison 1l lnMissilou Fishe1ll Hillier Telford LAbraham Collinsl Lewis Fisherl Missilou Lewis Telford 1

Abraham l Willmott 1 Collins l Telford

Fisher Fisher l Abraham Fisher l Baker-Richardson l Fisher Telford 1 l Telford l Ellison Telford l

Referee

REFEREE Missilou

J Clarke l Upson l Fisher l Greenridge Abraham S Lewis l Upson ln Woodiwiss Dolan l L Collins Ovendale

Ellison 1 l Abrahams l L Collins l n Telford l Greenridge l Collins l Townsend Ellisonl Karadogan OvendaleMissilou l Ellison l Livermore TownsendGreenidgel Lewis Greenridge TownsendAbraham l Bullock Maher l

Townsend Townsend Townsend Haynes Day

(J)Clarke (J)Clarke (J) Clarke Farquharson Farquharson l n

Farquharsonl Lewis l Dolan

Lewis Abraham l Lewis Baker-Richardson l Abraham Hylton l Abraham l

Telford 1 l Azaz l Azaz l Azaz l Ellison

Fisher l Fisher l Ovendale Townsend Townsend Townsend Townsend

Lewis Lewis FISHER 1 l Fisher l Fisher l Fisher Haynes

Abraham l Abraham ABRAHAM 1 l Lewis Lewis Abraham l n Upson l

Azaz l Azaz l Twamley Abraham Abraham Azaz l Fisher l

Townsend Ovendale Townsend Townsend Townsend Townsend

Haynes Hall l Fisher Fisher Haynes Fisher

Upson Greenidge l Lewis Lewis

Townsend Townsend Townsend

Upson Haynes Haynes

Greenridge Hillier S Lewis Lewis Mr T Nield Woodiwiss Lewis Mr N Hair L Collins L Collins Haynes Mr A Blackhouse (L)Collins l Ellison Mr R Lewis Stokes Williams

Townsend Karadogan Livermore Greenridge Hylton Townsend Hiller l

Evans l

Mr T Nield Mr N Hair Mr A Blackhouse Mr R Lewis Mr D Drysdale Mr. B. Speedie Mr. T. Reeves

Cain Telford Ellison l Ellison Missilou

Livermore l Cain Cooper l Missilou l Cooper

Mr. L. Doughty Mr. S. Allison Mr. C. Hicks Mr. L. Swabey Mr. R. Madley

Ellison Ellison Hillier Azaz l Azaz l Collins Abraham

Missilou Cain

Townsend Townsend

Ellison Ellison Ellison l Collins

Cain l Cain Missilou Ellison l

Mr. S. Martin Mr. S. Purkiss Mr. C. Sarginson Mr. T. Kettle Mr. D. Rock Mr. S. Oldham Mr. W. Finnie

Fisher l Twamley Ellison l Bennett Abraham Collins

Ellison l

Lewis

Dolan Woodiwiss l Abraham Abraham l Fisher l n Abraham

Cain l Ellison l Bennett Ellison

Collins l Livermore Missilou Cain l Cain l Cain

Mr. C. Sarginson Mr. J. Oldham Mr. S. Barrott Mr. J. Ball Mr. S. Allison Mr. C. Pollard

Fisher l Upson Upson

Lewis l Bennett l Abraham l

Bennett Collins l Cain l

Ellison Ellison l Woodiwiss

Cain l Cain (S) Lewis

Mr. O. Langford Mr. P. Howard Mr. C. Boyeson

Livermore Collins l Waite l Waite l Waite Waite

Rebecca Welch Mr. B. Huxtable Mr. O. Yates Mr. S. Purkiss Mr. J. Bell Mr. C. Hicks

Waite l

Mr. D. Rock Mr. B. Speedie Mr. R. Lewis Mr. W. Finnie Mr. D. Drysdale

Willmott Willmott Collins WILLMOTT 1 Willmott Willmott n Cain

Cooper 1 l Baker-Richardson 1 l Cooper n Baker-Richardson n GREENIDGE 1 l Hylton l BAKER-RICHARDSON Cooper l 1 n l Cooper l TELFORD 2 l TELFORD 2 l Cooper TELFORD 3 l Cooper

Cain l Ellison Cooper l n Cooper l Cooper Cooper n

Cooper l Hylton l n Azaz Azaz Azaz Azaz

Telford Abraham l TELFORD 1 TELFORD 1 TELFORD 1 TELFORD 1

Cooper Cooper n Cooper

Azaz AZAZ 1 l Azaz

COLLINS 1 TELFORD 1 l Telford

Cooper Cooper Cooper l n Cooper l Cooper Cooper

Azaz Azaz l Azaz Azaz Willmott l Azaz

TELFORD 2 l Baker-Richardson l n Baker-Richardson Telford TELFORD 2 l BAKER-RICHARDSON 1 BAKER-RICHARDSON 1 Telford l n Baker-Richardson Fisher l TELFORD 2 l Baker-Richardson l

Ovendale Day Day Day Day (GK) Day

Haynes l Haynes l Clarke Clarke l Clarke Willmott l n

Farquharson l Farquharson Fisher Willmott Farquharson l Dolan l

Fisher l Fisher Lewis l Dolan l Dolan l Street l

Collins Abraham Abraham Fisher A Lewis Lewis

Cain Bennett l Collins l Lewis Collins l Collins

Cooper l Willmott l Cooper Cain l Cooper l

Azaz Azaz Azaz Azaz AZAZ 1

Telford Telford TELFORD 1 TELFORD 1 TELFORD 2

Day Day Day Day Day

Clarke Clarke Clarke Norman l Haynes

Willmott Dolan Willmott l Clarke Dolan l

Dolan Street l Street l Willmott l Fisher l

Street l n Lewis Fisher Street Collins

Collins Waite Cain Collins Cain l

Baker-Richardson BAKER-RICHARDSON 1 l n BAKER-RICHARDSON 1 l

Baker-Richardson

Fisher BAKER-RICHARDSON 1 l

Baker-Richardson l

Ellison l Baker-Richardson

BAKER-RICHARDSON 1 l

Baker-Richardson l Baker-Richardson

Baker-Richardson l Baker-Richardson Baker-Richardson l Baker-Richardson n Street l

Baker-Richardson l

Ryan-Phillips

Ovendale Townsend Townsend Day

Cooper l n

Waite l Waite l Waite

YOUR TRUST YOUR CLUB For more details and to join simply scan our unique QR code

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or visit us at www.ncafctrust.org or email us at info@ncafctrust.org

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O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E | 1 9

Motor Neurone Disease Association South East Wales Branch

The South East Wales Branch of the Motor Neurone Disease Association is a local charity that fund raises to help support people with MND and their families, within the region. The Association has 3 main aims To improve care and support for people with MND, their families and carers.

To fund and promote research that leads to new understanding and treatments, and brings us closer to a cure for MND. To campaign and raise awareness so the needs of people with MND and everyone who cares for them are recognised and addressed by wider society.

About motor neurone disease (MND): MND is a fatal, rapidly progressing disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. It attacks the nerves that control movement so muscles no longer work. MND

does not usually affect the senses such as sight, sound, feeling etc. It can leave people locked in a failing body, unable to move, talk and eventually breathe. Over 80% of people with MND will have communication difficulties, including for some, a complete loss of voice.

It kills a third of people within a year and more than half within two years of diagnosis. A person’s lifetime risk of developing MND is around 1 in 300. Six people per day are diagnosed with MND in the UK and it kills six people per day in the UK. There is NO cure.

The branch is extremely grateful to all at Newport County for the opportunity to be at today’s match. We would also like to extend our thanks to all the fans for their support and donations today.

To make a text donation please text SEWALESMNDA NOINFO 5 to 70085 (to donate £5)

Further information can be found at… www.mnda-southeastwales.org.uk Twitter: @SEWalesMND Facebook: Motor Neurone Disease Association – South East Wales Branc

2 0 | O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E

W W W. N E W P O RT- CO U N T Y.CO. U K

Newport County AFC Academy

in Partnership with Carbon Fiit

Following his professional football career which included six seasons at Newport County AFC former Exile David Pipe, affectionately known as ‘Pipey’ set up his own fitness and training centre ‘Carbon Fiit’.

Fitness was always Pipey’s main strength so it seemed only natural for him to transition into it as a career following his retirement from the game.

This season ‘Pipey’ has used his experience by working with the Newport County AFC Academy,delivering sessions for all age groups ranging from u9 to u18, giving the players a fantastic opportunity to learn from a Newport County legend. These sessions have also been attended by the Academy’s sports science team who are working in collaboration with Pipey to strengthen the players physical profile, whilst also exposing them to the demands of being a professional football player.

Pipey says that he delivers these sessions to ensure the boys don’t neglect any area of their development but focus on a healthy combination of all areas that will contribute to their development as a football player at the highest possible level. As a local himself, in the longer term Pipey wants his involvement with the academy to progress the development of as many local boys as possible into the first team.

U16 player Findlay Coleman said: ‘The returns you get from the sessions with Pipey aren’t what you’d usually get in just a football based session, he pushes us to our maximum and when you feel like stopping, he motivates you to not want to give up.’

Pipey has been able to see many benefits as a result of these sessions: ‘the lads’ strength and fitness has clearly improved which we can see in their results but I’m more impacted by the development of their mental strength as they find sides of themselves they didn’t know they had and develop an idea of what it takes to succeed at a high level.

Damien Broad, Academy Manager noted that ‘ Pipey demands high standards on and off the pitch and when we met to discuss the partnership, I could see his passion and outlook on player development is perfectly aligned to what we want to achieve here at the Academy.

Helping the person off the pitch to become a better player on it. Being respectful, working hard,having the right attitude are just some of the core values these sessions are instilling in our young players, and this is another progressive step for Newport County AFC Academy.’

O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E | 21

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A: The Orion Suite, Enterprise Way, Newport, NP20 2DX T: 07770 773 323 E: info@theawardscompany.co.uk 2 2 | www.theawardscompany.co.uk O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E W:

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College Programme Newport County AFC 3 v 0 Cheltenham Town FC On Wednesday 9th February our boys made the short journey to take on Cheltenham Town in the EFL CEFA League.

The first half was an even contest with both sides playing some lovely Football. On 35 minutes a great through ball from Christian O’Donnell found Romario Clark who laced the ball into the top corner to put the County 1-0 up going into the half time break.

Second half Newport started very brightly and within minutes doubled their lead when Prince Onaro put a lofted pass in behind the Cheltenham centre backs for Romario Clark to run onto and calmly chip the ball over the goalkeeper. On 82 minutes a wide free kick put into a great area by Evan Manley found Iestyn Davies who headed the ball into the bottom right corner to put County 3-0 up.

Both teams on the day conducted themselves extremely well and we look forward to playing against each other in the new season.

Our third and final open evening is taking place on Tuesday 8th March at Llanwern High School where all information regarding both the academic and Football side of the programme will be outlined in detail.

To book your place on the evening please contact David Lewis on the email address below: Dave.lewis@newport-county.co.uk

24 | O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E

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O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E | 25

2021/2022 STAT PACK ENGLISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE - LEAGUE TWO TOP FIVES GOALS 2 3 4 5

ASSISTS 22

DOMINIC TELFORD

1

12

KANE WILSON

20

MATT STEVENS

2

11

MITCHELL PINNOCK

17

JAMILLE MATT

3

9

OLIVER COOPER

13

HARRY MCKIRDY

4

9

NICKY CADDEN

11

HARRY SMITH

5

8

JEVANI BROWN

100 92 75 67 100 88 81 75 74 100 85 84 83 82 100 96 95 94 100 91 78 60 50 100 90 82 77 100 98 90 87 86 100 80 51 49

1

TOTAL SHOTS 1 2 3 4 5

CHANCES CREATED

98

HARRY MCKIRDY

1

88

JEVANI BROWN

88

DOMINIC TELFORD

2

77

CALLUM COOKE

80

NICKY CADDEN

MATT JAY

3

71

80

MATT STEVENS

4

66

GEORGE THOMSON

75

FINN AZAZ

5

65

KANE WILSON

% OF GOALS INVOLVED IN

SUCCESSFUL PASSES

1

1

2 3 4 5

46

DOMINIC TELFORD

44.8 FREDDIE SEARS 41 JAMILLE MATT 40

1614 LOUIS REED 1365 AKINWALE ODIMAYO 1349 EOGHAN O’CONNELL

2 3 4

DAVIS KEILLOR-DUNN

39.5 MITCHELL PINNOCK

1334 DION CONROY 1322 OLIVER BANKS

5

DRIBBLES COMPLETED

SAVES

1 2 3 4 5

85

KANE WILSON

1

93

GLENN MORRIS

68

JACK DIAMOND

2

89

DEAN BOUZANIS

43

DAVID AJIBOYE

3

89

LIAM ROBERTS

43

DYLAN BAHAMBOULA

4

88

JOSEPH WOLLACOTT

41

ALEX GILLIEAD

5

87

PAUL FARMAN

ENGLISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE - LEAGUE TWO SPOTLIGHT Carlisle boss Paul Simpson has failed to win any of his last 5 league matches against Rochdale, most recently losing home and away against them with Shrewsbury in 2009-10 in L2.

Forest Green are unbeaten in all eight of their midweek matches in League Two this season (Tues, Weds, Thurs), winning five times while drawing the other three.

Data excludes games played after February 23rd

26 | O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E

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2021/2022 STAT PACK NEWPORT COUNTY

FOREST GREEN ROVERS

MATCH FACTS & TOTAL CARDS Newport are yet to beat Forest Green at home in the EFL, having lost each of their last two games against them, while they drew the first meeting in March 2018.

51

Forest Green have won each of their last two Football League games against Newport – both 2-0 – having won just one of their previous six games against them (D3 L2).

42 2

1

�� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� 50

61

GOALS

472

417

SHOTS

42.9

53

42

EXPECTED GOALS

51.7

25

35.2

GOALS CONCEDED

53.2

10.6

AVERAGE POSSESSION %

8

EXPECTED GOALS AGAINST

14.6

SHOT CONVERSION RATE %

26.3

11

10

14

CLEAN SHEETS

15

POINTS GAINED AFTER TRAILING

6

POINTS DROPPED AFTER LEADING

GOAL TIMES 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90

SCORED

CONCEDED

12 5 8 8 7 10

4 6 10 6 9 7

0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90

SCORED

CONCEDED

6 10 10 11 13 11

7 2 1 6 2 7

Data excludes games played after February 23rd

POWERED BY

O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E | 27

2 8 | O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E

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Join the Supporters’ Trust BRONZE £5 per month (or £60 per annum)

SILVER

Benefits include: a Voting rights a Regular Trust news & emails a Priority tickets for selected fixtures a Be a member of the Trust that owns & runs Newport County AFC All Bronze benefits, PLUS

£10 per month a 5% Club Shop discount (or £120 per annum) a Invites to selected training sessions All Silver benefits, PLUS

GOLD

£20 per month a Monthly ‘Golden Ticket’ draw (or £240 per annum) a One free hospitality experience All Gold benefits, PLUS

PLATINUM

a £50 per month a (or £600 per annum) a

CORPORATE £1,000 per annum

CLWB SPYTTY & TEEN EXILES £15 per annum

Player appearance at business or club Opportunity to purchase cup final tickets ‘Director for a Day’ experience

For local businesses: a Logo advertised on Club/Trust websites, teamsheets and programme a Advertorial in two programmes a Player appearance at business a Two boardroom experience places Exciting bespoke memberships for our younger supporters: a a

Clwb Spytty: 0 to 11 years of age #TeenExiles: 12 to 16 years of age

There is a Trust membership for everyone. To join, just go to www.ncafctrust.org/join or scan this QR code on your mobile:

Your Club, Your Trust Rodney Parade, Newport, NP19 0UU @ncafctrust

@ncfctrust

www.ncfactrust.org

info@ncafctrust.org

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3 0 | O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E

SCAN ME

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Newport County FC proudly presents the Exiles Picks App. Simply Download the App using the QR Code above, sign up and predict a number of match outcomes. Get those predictions right and you could bag yourself cash prizes! *T&Cs Apply. Please Play Responsibly.

O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E | 31

WELCOME

Forest Green ROVERS WITH Richard Taylor ROVERS STATS …

2017-18

League Two

21

2772

Formed:

1889

2018-19

League Two

5 (p/off)

2701

Previous Names:

orest Green (1889-93), Nailsworth AFC F 1895-96, Nailsworth & Forest Green United (1911-19), Stroud FC (1989-92)

2019-20

League Two

10

2541

2020-21

League Two

6 (p/off)

Ground:

he New Lawn, Nympsfield Road, T Nailsworth GL6 0ET.

Previous Ground:

he Lawn (1889-1924 and 1927-2006), park T in Nailsworth (1924-27).

Capacity:

ROVERS’ LAST 10 GAMES…

FA

Att.

11 Jan:

Colchester United

H 2-0

1829

15 Jan:

Northampton Town

A

5415

5,121 (2041 seated)

22 Jan:

Carlisle United

H 3-0

2864

Best League Position:

5th, League Two 2018-19.

29 Jan

Tranmere Rovers

A

4-0

10924

Best in FA Cup:

Round 3, 2008-09 and 2009-10.

1 Feb

Port Vale

A

1-1

4508

Best in League Cup:

Round 2, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20.

5 Feb

Newport County AFC A

2-0

3817

Best in FL Trophy:

Round 3 (South), 2017-18.

9 Feb

Rochdale

H 2-1

1923

Best in FA Trophy:

Runners -up 1998-99 and 2000-01.

12 Feb

Sutton United

A

1-1

3314

Best in FA Vase:

inners, 1981-82, beat Rainworth Miners W Welfare

19 Feb

Walsall

H 1-2

3122

A

2086

Record Win:

1 2-1 v Avon Bradford, FA Vase Preliminary Round, September 1977.

Record Defeat:

-10 v Gloucester, Mid-Gloucestershire 0 League, January 1900.

Record Attendance:

,836 v Derby County, FA Cup Round 3, 4 January 2009.

Record Signing:

drian Randall, £25,000 from Bury, August A 1999.

Record Departure:

than Pinnock, £500,000 to Barnsley, June E 2017.

Most Capped Player:

Omel Bugiel, 1 (7), Lebanon.

ROVERS’ LEAGUE JOURNEY …

1894-96 and 1899-1901 Mid Gloucestershire League; 1901-20 Dursley & District League and/or Stroud & District League; 1920-22 Stroud & District League and North Gloucestershire League; 1922-23 Gloucestershire Northern Senior League; 1923-26 Stroud & District League; 1926-27 Gloucestershire Northern Senior League; 1927-28 Stroud Premier League; 1928-34 Gloucestershire Northern Senior League; 1934-37 Stroud Premier League; 1937-68 Gloucestershire Northern Senior League; 1968-75 Gloucestershire County League; 1975-82 Hellenic League: Premier Division; 1982-95 Southern League: Midland Division; 1995-97 Southern League: Southern Division; 199798 Southern League: Premier Division; 1998-2004Conference; 200417 Conference Premier; 2017- League Two.

ROVERS’ LAST 10 SEASONS …

Season

League

Position

Av. Att.

2011-12

Conference Premier

10

1034

2012-13

Conference Premier

10

1202

2013-14

Football Conference

10

1194

2014-15

National League

5 (p/off)

1502

2015-16

National League

2 (p/off)

1750

2016-17

National League

3 (prom.)

1753

32 | O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E

26 Feb. 22 Crawley Town

1-1

1-2

Scorers: Stevens 20, Matt 17, Cadden 6, Aitchison 4, Wilson 3, Young 3, Adams 2, March 2, Moore-Taylor 2, Hendry 1, Bernard 1 IN THE BEGINNING …

Our Boxing Day visitors came into being in October 1889 as Forest Green FC, courtesy of local Congregationalist minister, Reverend Edward Peach. Four years later, they adopted the Rovers suffix and joined the Mid-Gloucestershire League. However, with local interest sparse at best, the tastefully-named committee member, Mr A Cakebread suggested a name change to Nailsworth FC, the village just down the hill from the tiny hamlet of Forest Green.

Unfortunately, Mr Cakebread’s idea proved less than fruitful, as 14 months later the club ceased to exist before returning as Forest Green Rovers in 1898.Another attempt to incorporate the village,with a switch to Nailsworth & Forest Green United in 1911, proved equally unsuccessful and led to a brief withdrawal from the Stroud & District League, while in 1989 the club again incurred the wrath of their small but loyal fan base by adopting the title Stroud FC, an experiment that lasted three years. Themany changes at Rovers this century have, fortunately, not included the name.

HIGHLIGHTS

Rovers’ first golden era came in the 1930s, with three successive Stroud Premier League championships immediately followed by a Gloucestershire Northern Senior League title. They remained at that level until their 1968 promotion to the Gloucestershire County League.

Forest Green reached national prominence in 1982, with their 3-0 FA Vase victory over Rainworth Miners Welfare at Wembley. Future Newport AFC striker Steve Doughty played for our visitors that afternoon, though Rovers’ love affair with the Vase started in 1978 when they recorded a club record 12-1 rout of hapless Avon Bradford.

Swindon born winger Kenny Gill scored a double hat trick in the

W W W. N E W P O RT- CO U N T Y.CO. U K win and found his way to Newport County in 1985, scoring three goals in 22 appearancesas a part-time player while working as a quantity surveyor during Bobby Smith’s brief Somerton Park tenure.

FANS’ VIEWS

Rovers also reached the FA Trophy Final twice in three years, losing 1-0 on both occasions, to Kingstonian at Wembley in 1999 and to Canvey Island at Villa Park in 2001.

‘Although I worry what a suspension might do to our momentum, or the fixture backlog it could create, there may be a few positives.We might end up playing more games on better pitches, winter isn’t kindest to grassy surfaces, which may suit our game. There would be fewer games for our better players to spend in the shop window during the transfer window...let’s be honest here, some of them are so far forward that their faces must be pressed up against the glass, I don’t think anyone wants to see key players depart even if it is to move on to a bigger club for fear of the impact on a promotion challenge.’

‘Foggy’ looking for positives.

It was third time lucky for Forest Green in 2017 with their playoff victory over Tranmere Rovers earning them promotion to the Football League. The previous two campaigns had brought semifinal heartache against Bristol Rovers and Wembley tears against Grimsby Town.

DON’T MENTION •

•

•

lack and white stripes. The Nailsworth club’s switch from their B traditional colours in 2012 to green and black split their fan base, with some longer serving fans bemoaning a loss of identity.

However, the move is certainly in keeping with the vision of green energy businessman and Ecotricity founder Dale Vince who arrived at the New Lawn two years earlier. Plus, Rovers also wore all green in their 1982 FA Vase win over Rainworth. he 1906-07campaign,as our visitors finished bottom of the T Stroud & District League with no points, despite winning a game.

An eagle-eyed official spotted that Rovers fielded an ineligible player and the two points were hastily deducted. The following season was even worse, as the team withdrew from the Dursley & District League without completing their fixtures. lay-offs! Apart from their 2017 win over Tranmere Rovers, the P Nailsworth outfit have lost in two Conference and two League Two play-offs. However, they were also unsuccessful in a 1920 precursor of the format, after they finished joint top of the Dursley & District League with Chalford and Stonehouse. The league subsequently held a draw to decide the championship, with Stonehouse beating Green 3-2 in a semi-final.

A possible suspension to the EFL season is topical on the FGR Forum.

‘I think a formal suspension after this week until we’ll into January would make sense given the levels of postponements and the possible unfairness as clubs experience different levels of infection.I know it is not a popular thought, but I am still worried about what happens to the whole season but assume that if it has to stop altogether, our promotion would be nailed on.’

‘Tommo’ looking to the future.

‘Seem to recall us throwing away a 3-0 lead very recently.... home to Newport in the play offs in May!Did not lose on the day but did lose the tie.’

‘T50 BOS’ reflecting on the Oldham game, where Rovers led 5-2.

THE COUNTY CONNECTION

ROVERS’ TODAY

Deadly duo Rovers’ last two scheduled home matches, against Mansfield Town and Colchester United, were postponed due to a number of positive Covid-19 cases in the squad, meaning that our visitors have been without a game since the chaotic 5-5 draw at Oldham Athletic 15 days ago. Deadly duo Matt Stevens and Jamille Matt both bagged a brace at Boundary Park, meaning they now have 31 goals between them in all competitions. Former amateur boxer Stevens has experienced a Dom Telford style resurgence in form under head coach Rob Edwards after spending the latter part of last term on loan at Stevenage, where he managed just one goal in 18 appearances, while ‘Jamma’ continues doing what he does best!

MANAGER’S VIEW

Head coach Rob Edwards, the 15-times-capped former Wales international defender, is pleased with progress so far, telling ‘Sky Sports’: ‘We want a culture where people can be brave and not afraid to try things. We donot care if they make mistakes. That is going to happen, it is human nature. I will make more mistakes than anyone. But we try to learn from it.There is a long way to go but we have put ourselves there. We want to stay there. We have to work hard and realise what has got us where we are so far. The word we keep using at the moment is relentless and being consistent. That is what we need to do now.You could already see there was a plan, there was an identity at this club anyway. The head coach gets time. That appealed to me. From day one, myself and [assistant] Richie Kyle have felt nothing but support. Everyone is pulling in the right direction.

You need that.’

Season

Competition

1989-90 1990-91 1990-91 1991-92 1991-92 1992-93 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1994-95 1995-96 2004-05 2010-11 2011-12 2011-12 2012-13 2017-18 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2020-21 2021-22

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O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E | 33

MEET THE PLAYERS & STAFF OF

FOREST GREEN ROVERS

by PHIL TANNER

01 Luke McGee

04 Dan Sweeney

Signed from Portsmouth on a two-year deal in July 2020, Rovers reportedly seeing off interest from Championship clubs, and played 35 EFL games last season including both playoff legs. The 25-yearold spent three years with Pompey after arriving from Spurs for an undisclosed fee in July 2017, before which he spent all of 2016-17 on loan to Peterborough. He also featured four times on loan for Bradford City in 2019-20.

England C cap Dan, 27, returned to the EFL in summer 2020 when he left Barnet, where he captained the side and was Player of the Year in 2017-18 and 2018-19. A youth player with Wimbledon, he played 102 games for Kingstonian at the same ground and moved on to Dulwich Hamlet and Maidstone United, and had a brief loan from Barnet to Hampton & Richmond.

Brother Ryan played for Mansfield and is now with Dundee.

GOALKEEPER

02 Kane Wilson DEFENDER

Twenty-one EFL starts last season, plus six games off the bench. Signed in July 2020 from West Brom, joining as a free transfer, Kane can operate as a wingback on either side of the pitch. He never made Albion’s first team but spent the majority of the previous three seasons getting experience on loan in League Two at Exeter City (two spells), Walsall and Tranmere Rovers. Capped

by England at U16 and U17.

03 Dom Bernard DEFENDER

Versatile fullback signed after a summer 2019 trial.

The 24-year-old had been released by Birmingham City and has now topped 80 appearances for Rovers.

Gloucester-born Dom was with Birmingham from age 12 and was knocking on the door of the first team before an Achilles injury sidelined him for almost a year. In 2018-19 he made more than 30 appearances on loan for National League side Aldershot Town.

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MIDFIELDER

06 Baily Cargill DEFENDER

January 2021 signing from MK Dons, who he joined in 2018 after being freed

by Bournemouth.

The centreback, from Winchester, played one league game for the Cherries and was loaned out to AFC Totton, Welling United, Torquay, Coventry, G i l l i n g h a m , F l e et wo o d and Partick Thistle, where he played 19 games in the Scottish Premier. A former England U20 defender, with seven caps in 2014 and 2015.

07 Ben Stevenson MIDFIELDER

Summer arrival from Colchester United. Ben graduated from Coventry City’s academy to make 48 first-team appearances, lifting the EFL Trophy. In January 2018 he was sold to Wolves - where he was coached by current FGR boss Rob Edwards - and then loaned to Colchester, scoring against County on his debut. After a loan to Wolves’ Spanish affiliate club Jumilla in 2018–19 he rejoined Colchester on a permanent basis.

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08 Ebou Adams

12 Taylor Allen

Gambian cap who was recently on Africa Cup of Nations duty. Ebou signed ahead of the 2019-20 season from Ebbsfleet United, where he made 37 appearances in 2018-19 after joining from Norwich City. The Londoner started his career at Dartford before becoming their record sale when he joined the Canaries. He had loans with Shrewsbury and Orient.

Treads a fine line with eight yellow cards and a red by mid-February.

From Walsall and began his career close to home with Romulus. Able to play centrally or wide left, Taylor made the short move to Nuneaton Borough three years ago and joined Rovers in summer 2019. He has had three loans to clubs in National League North - to Hereford and Gloucester City in 2019-20 and to Leamington in the second half of last season.

MIDFIELDER

09 Matty Stevens STRIKER

Enjoying a breakthrough campaign with 20 league goals by mid-February after ending last season on loan at Stevenage. From a boxing family, Matty won four national junior titles. He scored freely for Reading youth and was Barnet’s youngest ever debutant.

He was picked up by Peterborough United and went on loan to Cambridge City, Sligo Rovers, Kettering Town and Slough Town before joining Rovers in July 2019.

10 Jack Aitchison STRIKER

On loan from Barnsley, his second stint with Rovers.

Jack played 28 matches in the curtailed 2019-20 season, scoring five, when he came on loan from Celtic. He then left Glasgow for Barnsley and last season played 26 games on loan for Stevenage. Capped

by Scotland at four youth levels, scoring 11 in 17 games at U19. He also went on loan from Celtic to Dumbarton and Alloa Athletic.

11 Nicky Cadden MIDFIELDER

Six goals in 37 EFL games in his 2020-21 debut campaign.

Winger Nicky arrived at the New Lawn ahead of last season after clocking up more than 140 appearances in Scotland with Airdrieonians, Livingston, Ayr United (loan) and Greenock Morton, where he was Player of the Year for 2019-20. His twin brother Chris plays for Hibernian and father Steve won a Scottish Second Division title with Albion Rovers.

STRIKER

14 Jamille Matt STRIKER

Club captain “Jamma” arrived from County in summer 2020 after two seasons in amber and at 32 remains one of League Two’s most consiste nt scorers, currently netting roughly one goal per two games. Among other clubs he was a thorn in County’s side back in the Conference with Kidderminster Harriers before moving to Fleetwood for a record fee and then to Stevenage (loan), Plymouth (loan), Blackpool and Grimsby (loan).

15 Jordan MooreTaylor DEFENDER

Summer 2020 signing after he was freed by Milton Keynes Dons, having followed manage r Paul T isdale there from Exeter City with more than 180 first-team appearances under his belt.

Now in his tenth season in the EFL, Jordan was an Exeter academy graduate and made his debut in 2012-13.

He went on to captain the Grecians and guided them to fifth place and the League Two playoff final in 2015-16.

17 Opi Edwards DEFENDER

Yet to make his Rovers EFL debut at the time of writing after signing in the summer from Bristol City but has featured in the EFL Cup and Trophy. Before that the right back gathered experience over several seasons on loan from Ashton Gate to Bath City, Solihull Moors and Torquay United. Younger brother Owura began in County’s academy and is still with the Robins, currently playing on loan for Colchester.

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18 Jake Young

23 Sadou Diallo

From Huddersfield, 20-yearold Jake was playing in a Sunday league side before joining the academy at Guiseley. There he was scouted by Sheffield United, who took him to Bramall Lane where he featured for the U23s and earned a pro contract.

After moving to Rovers in summer 2020 he made an immediate impact and he ended the regular EFL season with eight goals in 10 starts plus 19 games off the bench.

England U19 cap who was born in Guinea and grew up in Rotherham. Sadou, now 22, joined Manchester City at the age of 13 and moved to Wolves in August 2018. He signed on loan for Accrington Stanley in September 2019 and played nine games on loan. While at Wolves he was coached by current FGR head coach Rob Edwards in the side that won the Premier League Division Two title in 2018-19.

STRIKER

20 Elliott Whitehouse MIDFIELDER

Signed in summer 2020 from Grimsby Town. Elliott joined the Mariners in 2018 from Lincoln but missed nearly all his debut campaign after a pre-season knee injury. He skippered Sheffield United to the 2011 FA Youth Cup final and after loans to York and Alfreton he spent 2014-15 with Notts County.

He moved on to Halifax and Nuneaton and was a regular in Lincoln’s 2016-17 promotion campaign back to the EFL.

21 Regan Hendry MIDFIELDER

Scottish U17 cap who played youth football for Celtic and made his senior debut on loan to Raith Rovers. Released by Celtic at the end of 2018–19, Regan returned to Raith on a two-year contract for a very successful stint when he helped win League One followed by third place in the Championship. Before joining FGR he was named by both PFA Scotland and the SPFL in their 2020-21 divisional teams of the season.

22 Udoka GodwinMalife DEFENDER

Played 50 games last season across all competitions. A centreback who can also play right back, Udoka was signed from Oxford City in January 2019 after coming through their reserve side, Oxford City Nomads. The 21-yearold joined on a two-and-ahalf-year deal, with clubs as high as the Championship reportedly keen, and made his debut that March. He had a brief loan to National League Eastleigh in January 2020.

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MIDFIELDER

24 Lewis Thomas GOALKEEPER

Seventeen first-team games last season and was between the posts when Rovers won here a year ago, but as of the time of writing limited to cup games this term. The Wales U19 cap was signed from Swansea City ahead of the 2018-19 season. Lewis helped the Swans to three Welsh Youth Cup wins and was part of the 2016-17 Premier League Two double-winning squad.

He spent time in 2018-19 on loan at Yate Town.

25 Kasey McAteer MIDFIELDER

Leicester City prospect on a loan deal until the end of the season, signed late in last month’s window. Born in Northampton, Kasey joined Leicester’s academy at the age of eight. The 20-yearold made his Premier League debut in a 4-0 win over Newcastle in December. He also featured in the Foxes’ FA Cup win over Watford last month, both appearances coming off the bench, and for their U21s in the EFL Trophy.

28 Josh March STRIKER

Back in the fold this season after ending 2020-21 on loan to EFL debutants Harrogate Town. Josh made 10 + 4 appearances for the Yorkshiremen, scoring five including one against County at Wetherby Road. He was picked up by Forest Green after scoring shedloads in non-league, netting 24 in 27 games for Leamington and before that 81 in 184 for Newport AFC’s onetime Southern League opponents Alvechurch.

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29 Luke Hallett DEFENDER

Graduated from the FGR Academy in May and was handed his first professional contract for the current campaign. Luke had already made his EFL debut with a brief off appearance off the bench in March. The centreback, now 19, who started his time at FGR as a forward, was the third player from his year’s scholar programme to earn a deal, joining Vaughn Covil and Harvey Bunker in the firstteam squad.

ROB EDWARDS HEAD COACH

The third different holder of the role to bring a Rovers team to Rodney Parade in their last three visits, Jimmy Ball having been in temporary charge during last season’s playoffs and Mark Cooper at the helm when they won here in February last year.

He has had an outstanding debut campaign so far, with Rovers runaway leaders.

Rob joined the club in June, directly from the Football Association where he was head coach of the U16s and previously coached the U20s. Before that he spent several years with Wolves where he coached the U18s and then the U23s. In 2019 he led the older squad to the Premier League Division Two championship, taking

them into Division One for the first time in their history.

Born in Shropshire, he came through the youth ranks at Aston Villa as a defender and played in the Premier League before moving to Wolves, in the Championship at the time, where he made over 100 appearances.

Although knee and ankle injuries shortened Rob’s career, he played for Blackpool, Barnsley, Norwich, Fleetwood and Shrewsbury before hanging up his boots to concentrate on coaching.

Rob was joined at Rovers by Assistant Head Coach Richie Kyle, with whom he previously worked in the England youth setup.

O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E | 3 7

Football is a game of many opinions, but there is one that we must all share. There is no place for discrimination in our game. If you do not agree, then you are not welcome.

If you see or hear discrimination in this stadium, please report it to the nearest steward or via the Kick it Out App. Because we are all #TogetherAgainstDiscrimination Download the Kick it Out app for free from your app store.

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EFL.com

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COMPETITION WINNERS

Congratulations to our lucky winners Jon Vaughan & Kay Williams! To be in with a chance of winning a copy of Football Manager 2021 follow @fortisdothomes on social media.

O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E | 39

PLUMBSTOP KNOW THAT OUR CUSTOMERS WANT THE BEST PRODUCTS AT THE BEST PRICE. NOT ALL CUSTOMERS WANT THE SAME THING. PLUMBSTOP UNDERSTANDS THIS AND SO WE CARRY A FULL RANGE OF PRODUCTS FROM BUDGET TO PREMIUM RANGES.

NEWPORT COUNTY AFC SEASON TICKET HOLDERS ARE ENTITLED TO A 25% DISCOUNT OFF RRP OF ALL ESTEEM BATHROOM PRODUCTS AS PART OF OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE EXILES. FIND US AT UNIT A2 LANGLAND WAY, NEWPORT, NP19 4PT 4 0 | O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E

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O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E | 41

ROB SANTWRIS CARPETS NO GIMMICKS, JUST GREAT PRICES EVERYDAY

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57 TYRES WE ARE YOUR LOCAL INDEPENDENT TYRE FITTERS IN BRIDGEND AND NEWPORT. OUR MECHANICS PRIDE THEMSELVES ON DELIVERING A FAST AND FRIENDLY SERVICE YOU CAN TRUST AND RELY ON. WE HAVE TYRES TO FIT EVERY BUDGET, FROM ECONOMY CHEAP TYRES TO PREMIUM ULTRA-HIGH PERFORMANCE TYRES.

HTTPS://WWW.57TYRES.CO.UK/ 01633 290962 O F F I C I A L M ATC H DAY P R O G R A M M E | 4 3

SQUADCHECK NEWPORT COUNTY AFC

FOREST GREEN ROVERS

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HEAD COACH: ROB EDWARDS

Manager: James Rowberry

TONIGHT’S SKYBET LEAGUE TWO FIXTURES (All games kick-off at 7.45 unless stated otherwise)

BRISTOL ROVERS vs BARROW AFC CARLISLE UNITED vs ROCHDALE COLCHESTER UNITED vs LEYTON ORIENT CRAWLEY TOWN vs OLDHAM ATHLETIC HARROGATE TOWN vs PORT VALE NEWPORT COUNTY AFC VS FOREST GREEN ROVERS NORTHAMPTON TOWN vs WALSALL

Joe Day (GK) Cameron Norman Ryan Haynes Josh Pask James Clarke Priestley Farquharson Robbie Willmott Matty Dolan Courtney Baker-Richardson Robert Street Alex Fisher Aaron Lewis Timmy Abraham Scot Bennett Finn Azaz Dom Telford Courtney Senior Lewis Collins Kevin Ellison Jake Cain James Waite Mickey Demetriou Nick Townsend (GK) Ollie Cooper

Luke McGee Kane Wilson Dom Bernard Dan Sweeney Baily Cargill Ben Stevenson Ebou Adams Matty Stevens Jack Aitchison Nicky Cadden Taylor Allen Jamille Matt Jordan Moore-Taylor Jack Evans Opi Edwards Jake Young Elliott Whitehouse Regan Hendry Udoka Godwin-Malife Sadou Diallo Lewis Thomas Vaughn Covil Harvey Bunker Josh March Luke Hallett

INCHARGE Assistant: JOE CLARK

Referee: CHARLES BREAKSPEAR Assistant: GARETH VICCARS

NEXT UP AT HOME

BRISTOL ROVERS

SATURDAY 5TH MARCH 2022 KICK-OFF 3.00PM SKYBET LEAGUE TWO

Fourth Official: SCOTT TALLIS

ON THE ROAD

STEVENAGE

SATURDAY 12TH MARCH 2022 KICK-OFF 3.00PM SKYBET LEAGUE TWO

#ONECLUBONECOUNTY