Football Season Guide

League 2

England

League 2

2019/2020

Forest Green Rovers

In

Dominic Bernard (Defender, Birmingham City), Liam Kitching (Defender, Leeds United), Matt Mills (Defender, Pune City), Ebou Adams (Midfielder, Ebbsfleet United), James Morton (Midfielder, Bristol City, Season-Long loan), Kevin Dawson (Midfielder, Cheltenham Town), Aaron Collins (Attacker, Morecambe), Matt Stevens (Attacker, Peterborough United)

Out

James Montgomery (sp) Goalkeeper, AFC Flyde), Lewis Ward (sp) Goalkeeper, Reading, Loan ended), Gavin Gunning (r) Defender, Billericay Town), Haydn Hollis (r) (Defender, released), Lee Collins (sp) Defender, Yeovil Town), Paul Digby (sp) Defender, Stevenage), Scott Laird (Defender, released), Ben Liddle (Midfielder, Middlesbrough, Loan ended), Fabien Robert (Midfielder, released), Jordan Simpson (Midfielder, Bath City), Reece Brown (k) Midfielder, Huddersfield Town), Christian Doidge (r) Atttacker, Hibernian), Isaac Pearce (sp) Attacker, Weston-super-Mare), Reuben Reid (sp) Attacker, Cheltenham Town), Tahvon Campbell (Attacker, Forest Green Rovers)

It has been a hard summer for Forest Green Rovers as they look to match the ambitions of owner Dale Vince. They missed out on promotion last season after losing out to Tranmere Rovers in a two-legged play-off semi-final. Less than a month later they were dealt another blow when plans for a new 5,000-seat wooden eco-stadium were rejected by Stroud District Council. The new season will mark ten years since Vince took over the small club from Nailsworth and he is in a rush to take them into the Championship. Manager Mark Cooper has built a talented squad and has added to it this summer with the captures of defender Liam Kitching from Leeds United and striker Aaron Collins, who impressed in a short spell at Morecambe. Kevin Dawson is a shrewd addition from neighbours Cheltenham Town and brings league experience to add to some impressive youngsters which include centre-back Nathan McGinley, midfielder Dayle Grubb and striker Junior Mondial. The Green Devils have recouped significant transfer fees which will help soften the blow in losing the creativity of midfielder Reece Brown and the goals of striker Christian Doidge. The latter didn’t seem happy to be at the club after returning following an aborted move to Bolton Wanderers.

Target

Automatic promotion. Given the extent of ambition at the New Lawn, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be challenging for the top three.