2020–21 Forest Green Rovers F.C. season

The 2020–21 season is Forest Green Rovers' 132nd season in their history and the fourth consecutive season in EFL League Two, Along with League Two, the club will also participate in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and EFL Trophy.

Forest Green Rovers

2020–21 season
Chairman	Dale Vince
Head Coach	Mark Cooper
Stadium	The New Lawn
League Two	8th
FA Cup	First round
EFL Cup	First round
EFL Trophy	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: Carl Winchester (2) All: Matty Stevens Carl Winchester (2 each)

The season covers the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2020	CB		Dan Sweeney	Barnet	Free transfer	[1]
3 July 2020	LM		Nicky Cadden	Greenock Morton	Free transfer	[2]
7 July 2020	LB		Jack Evans	Blackburn Rovers	Free transfer	[3]
8 July 2020	RB		Kane Wilson	West Bromwich Albion	Free transfer	[4]
15 July 2020	GK		Luke McGee	Portsmouth	Free transfer	[5]
16 July 2020	FW		Jake Young	Sheffield United	Free transfer	[6]
20 July 2020	CF		Jamille Matt	Newport County	Free transfer	[7]
21 July 2020	CB		Jordan Moore-Taylor	Milton Keynes Dons	Free transfer	[8]
10 August 2020	CM		Elliott Whitehouse	Grimsby Town	Free transfer	[9]
26 August 2020	RM		Scott Wagstaff	AFC Wimbledon	Free transfer	[10]
7 January 2021	CB		Baily Cargill	Milton Keynes Dons	Undisclosed	[11]

Loans in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Date until	Ref.
23 September 2020	RB		Jayden Richardson	Nottingham Forest	End of season	[12]
16 October 2020	AM		Odin Bailey	Birmingham City	End of season	[13][14]
11 January 2021	LW		Isaac Hutchinson	Derby County	End of season	[15]
19 January 2021	CF		Josh Davison	Charlton Athletic	End of season	[16]

Loans out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Date until	Ref.
15 August 2020	GK		Adam Smith	Yeovil Town	End of season	[17]
8 October 2020	CF		Vaughn Covil	Salisbury	November 2020	[18]
12 October 2020	LW		Taylor Allen	Hednesford Town		[19]
27 November 2020	LW		Taylor Allen	Leamington	December 2020	[20]
1 December 2020	LB		Jack Evans	Hungerford Town	January 2021	[21]
5 January 2021	CF		Josh March	Harrogate Town	End of season	[22]
5 January 2021	CF		Matty Stevens	Stevenage	End of season	[23]

Transfers out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2020	RM		Kevin Dawson	Gloucester City	Released	[24][25]
1 July 2020	LM		Elliott Frear	Heart of Midlothian	Released	[24][26]
1 July 2020	LW		Dayle Grubb	Weston-super-Mare	Released	[24][27]
1 July 2020	CB		Nathan McGinley	Motherwell	Free transfer	[28]
1 July 2020	CB		Matt Mills	Retired		[24][29]
1 July 2020	LW		Junior Mondal	AFC Fylde	Released	[24][30]
1 July 2020	CB		Farrend Rawson	Mansfield Town	Released	[24][31]
1 July 2020	RB		Liam Shephard	Newport County	Released	[24][32]
1 July 2020	AM		George Williams	Grimsby Town	Released	[24][33]
2 July 2020	MF		Oliver Artwell	Hungerford Town	Free transfer	[34]
31 July 2020	RB		Alfie Saunders	Aldershot Town	Free transfer	[35]
8 August 2020	LB		Joseph Mills	Northampton Town	Free transfer	[36]
3 September 2020	RB		Daniel Bradshaw	Winchester City	Free transfer	[37]
5 January 2021	CB		Liam Kitching	Barnsley	Undisclosed	[38]
10 January 2021	CM		Carl Winchester	Sunderland	Undisclosed	[39]

Pre-season

15 August 2020 Friendly	Yate Town	0–2	Forest Green Rovers	Yate
15:00 BST		Report	Winchester  79' March  88'	Stadium: Lodge Road Attendance: 0

18 August 2020 Friendly	Melksham Town	0–6	Forest Green Rovers	Melksham
19:00 BST		Report	Collins x2 March x2 Stevens Whitehouse	Stadium: Oakfield Stadium Attendance: 0

22 August 2020 Friendly	Forest Green Rovers	4–3	Bristol Rovers	Nailsworth
13:00 BST	Cadden  20' Wilson  35' Adams  51' Winchester  67'	Report		Stadium: The New Lawn Attendance: 0

29 August 2020 Friendly	Plymouth Argyle	2–1	Forest Green Rovers	Plymouth
13:00 BST	Hardie  41' Jephcott  87'	Report	Sweeney  50'	Stadium: Home Park Attendance: 0

1 September 2020 Friendly	Swansea City	2–1	Forest Green Rovers	Swansea
13:30 BST	Lowe  9' Dhanda  28'	Report	Wilson  36'	Stadium: Liberty Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Dean John

Competitions

EFL League Two

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Cambridge United	26	13	6	7	41	24	+17	45	Promotion to the EFL League One
2	Forest Green Rovers	26	12	9	5	33	23	+10	45
3	Carlisle United	23	13	3	7	34	22	+12	42
4	Cheltenham Town	25	11	8	6	34	23	+11	41	Qualification for League Two play-offs
5	Tranmere Rovers	25	12	5	8	32	30	+2	41
6	Morecambe	25	12	5	8	33	34	−1	41
7	Newport County	24	11	7	6	35	27	+8	40
8	Exeter City	25	10	9	6	45	31	+14	39

Updated to match(es) played on 2 February 2021. Source: EFL Official Website
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Wins; 6) Away goals; 7) Penalty points (sec 9.5); 8) 12-point sending off offences[40]

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
26	12	9	5	33	23	+10	45	5	5	2	14	10	+4	7	4	3	19	13	+6

Last updated: 2 February 2021.
Source: BBC

Results by matchday

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A
Result	W	D	D	D	W	W	L	W	W	L	W	L	D	W	D	W	W	D	W	D	L	D	L	W	D	W
Position	5	8	10	10	6	4	8	4	3	6	3	5	5	4	4	3	4	4	2	2	2	4	4	2	3	2

Updated to match(es) played on 2 February 2021. Source: 11v11 for league tables and fixtures
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

The 2020–21 season fixtures were released on 21 August.[41]

12 September 2020 1	Bolton Wanderers	0–1	Forest Green Rovers	Horwich
15:00 BST	Comley  40' Greenidge  49' Baptiste  54'	Report	Kitching  35' Winchester  50'	Stadium: University of Bolton Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Seb Stockbridge

19 September 2020 2	Forest Green Rovers	2–2	Bradford City	Nailsworth
15:00 BST	Winchester  60' 63' Kitching  82' Collins  90+6'  90+6'	Report	Novak  49' O'Connor  62' Watt  66'  73' O'Connor  70'	Stadium: The New Lawn Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Will Finnie

26 September 2020 3	Salford City	0–0	Forest Green Rovers	Salford
15:00 BST	Turnbull  18' Hunter  84'	Report	Cadden  59'	Stadium: Peninsula Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Thomas Bramall

3 October 2020 4	Forest Green Rovers	1–1	Walsall	Nailsworth
15:00 BST	Matt  61' Kitching  75'	Report	Lavery  14' Holden  36' Jules  77'	Stadium: The New Lawn Attendance: 0 Referee: Antony Coggins

10 October 2020 5	Scunthorpe United	1–4	Forest Green Rovers	Scunthorpe
15:00 BST	Jarvis  9' Spence  61' Bedeau  79'	Report	Matt  24', 32', 83' Winchester  90+1' Stevens  90+5'	Stadium: Sands Venue Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Ross Joyce

17 October 2020 6	Forest Green Rovers	1–0	Stevenage	Nailsworth
15:00 BST	Young  23' Kitching  45'	Report	Prosser  49' Read  82'	Stadium: The Innocent [Insert Name Here] Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: James Bell

20 October 2020 7	Colchester United	1–0	Forest Green Rovers	Colchester
19:00 BST	Chilvers  2'  42' Eastman  67' Bramall  77' Pell  80'	Report	Stokes  52' Winchester  90'	Stadium: JobServe Community Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Carl Brook

24 October 2020 8	Morecambe	1–2	Forest Green Rovers	Morecambe
15:00 BST	Leitch-Smith  19' Lavelle  21' Hendrie  64' Wildig  74' Knight-Percival  87'	Report	Godwin-Malife  74' Young  79' Matt  83'  87'	Stadium: Mazuma Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Michael Salisbury

27 October 2020 9	Forest Green Rovers	1–0	Grimsby Town	Nailsworth
19:00 GMT	Young  24' Winchester  48' Godwin-Malife  90+4'	Report	Taylor  90+2' Green  90+3'	Stadium: The Innocent [Insert Name Here] Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: James Adcock

31 October 2020 10	Cheltenham Town	2–1	Forest Green Rovers	Cheltenham
15:00 GMT	Boyle  11'  14' May  26' Williams  57' Sercombe  58' Clements  73'	Report	Collins  73' (pen.) Adams  76'	Stadium: Whaddon Road Attendance: 0 Referee: Graham Salisbury

3 November 2020 11	Forest Green Rovers	2–1	Leyton Orient	Nailsworth
19:00 GMT	Bailey  30' Adams  79' Stevens  82' Wilson  90+1'	Report	Turley  29' Wright  41'	Stadium: The Innocent [Insert Name Here] Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Andy Woolmer

14 November 2020 12	Forest Green Rovers	1–2	Mansfield Town	Nailsworth
15:00 GMT	Cadden  38' Winchester  45+2' Bailey  85'	Report	Lapslie  6' Benning  22' Charsley  35'	Stadium: The Innocent [Insert Name Here] Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Brett Huxtable

21 November 2020 13	Barrow	2–2	Forest Green Rovers	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 GMT	Taylor  71' James  73' Angus  83' (pen.)	Report	Whitehouse  52' Moore-Taylor  62' Kitching  86' Cadden  90+6'	Stadium: Furness Building Society Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Christopher Sarginson

24 November 2020 14	Southend United	0–1	Forest Green Rovers	Southend-on-Sea
19:00 GMT	Dieng  62' McCormack  88'	Report	Young  63'	Stadium: Roots Hall Attendance: 0 Referee: Keith Stroud

1 December 2020 15	Forest Green Rovers	1–1	Newport County	Nailsworth
19:00 GMT	Matt  76'  86' Kitching  90+5'	Report	Labadie  9' Abrahams  45+2' (pen.) Shephard  90+5'	Stadium: The Innocent [Insert Name Here] Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Ben Toner

5 December 2020 16	Harrogate Town	0–1	Forest Green Rovers	Harrogate
15:00 GMT		Report	Matt  57' Winchester  87'	Stadium: The EnviroVent Stadium Attendance: 410 Referee: Marc Edwards

12 December 2020 17	Forest Green Rovers	2–0	Cambridge United	Nailsworth
15:00 GMT	Matt  45+1'  65' (pen.) Collins  58'	Report		Stadium: The New Lawn Attendance: 799 Referee: James Oldham

15 December 2020 18	Port Vale	1–1	Forest Green Rovers	Burslem
19:00 GMT	Smith  22' Stokes  34' (o.g.)	Report	Collins  41'  90+3' Adams  75'	Stadium: Vale Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Charles Breakspear

19 December 2020 19	Forest Green Rovers	1–0	Carlisle United	Nailsworth
15:00 GMT	Richardson  50' Matt  76'	Report	Alessandra  19' Riley  44' Farman  50' Charters  90+1'	Stadium: The Innocent [Insert Name Here] Stadium Attendance: 920 Referee: Alan Young

26 December 2020 20	Exeter City	1–1	Forest Green Rovers	Exeter
13:00 GMT	Collins  37'	Report	Collins  16' Godwin-Malife  71'	Stadium: St James Park Attendance: 1,767 Referee: Brett Huxtable

29 December 2020 21	Forest Green Rovers	1–2	Crawley Town	Nailsworth
19:00 GMT	Young  50'	Report	Nichols  16', 79' Craig  61' Davies  90+3'	Stadium: The Innocent [Insert Name Here] Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: James Linington

16 January 2021 22	Forest Green Rovers	1–1	Port Vale	Nailsworth
15:00 GMT	Cadden  20'	Report	Rodney  76'	Stadium: The Innocent [Insert Name Here] Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Kevin Johnson

19 January 2021 23	Tranmere Rovers	3–2	Forest Green Rovers	Birkenhead
19:00 GMT	Lewis  12' Vaughan  47' Feeney  76' Davies  87' Ferrier  90+2'	Report	Whitehouse  65',  72' Wagstaff  90+2',  90+3'	Stadium: Prenton Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Darren Drysdale

23 January 2021 24	Leyton Orient	0–1	Forest Green Rovers	Leyton
15:00 GMT	McAnuff  32' Happe  54'  64' Brophy  69'	Report	Cadden  23' Adams  29' Cargill  45+2' Davison  90+1'	Stadium: Breyer Group Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: John Busby

30 January 2021 25	Forest Green Rovers	0–0	Cheltenham Town	Nailsworth
15:00 GMT	Adams  44'  69'	Report	Clements  32' Boyle  49'	Stadium: The Innocent [Insert Name Here] Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Ollie Yates

2 February 2021 26	Carlisle United	1–2	Forest Green Rovers	Carlisle
18:00 GMT	Touré  72' Bennett  73' Riley  76'	Report	Collins  60' (pen.) Bailey  75',  76' Sweeney  82' Cargill  90+3' Mark Cooper	Stadium: Brunton Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Declan Bourne

FA Cup

The first round draw was made on 26 October 2020.[42]

7 November 2020 First round	Lincoln City	6–2	Forest Green Rovers	Lincoln
15:00 BST	Edun  10' Grant  17', 24' (pen.)  68' Johnson  64' Archibald  74' Scully  78', 88' Jones  90+2'	Report	Kitching  23' Whitehouse  82' Young  90+4'	Stadium: LNER Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Samuel Barrott

EFL Cup

  Win   Draw   Loss

The first round draw was made on 18 August, live on Sky Sports, by Paul Merson.[43]

5 September 2020 First round	Forest Green Rovers	1–2	Leyton Orient	Nailsworth
15:00 BST	Happe  23' (o.g.) Adams  88'	Report	Johnson  49' Wilkinson  52' McAnuff  80' Angol  90+2'	Stadium: The New Lawn Attendance: 0 Referee: Craig Hicks

EFL Trophy

  Win   Draw   Loss

The regional group stage draw was confirmed on 18 August.[44] The second round draw was made by Matt Murray on 20 November, at St Andrew’s.[45]

Pos	Div	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L2	Exeter City	3	3	0	0	0	11	5	+6	9	Advance to Round 2
2	L2	Forest Green Rovers	3	1	0	0	2	5	4	+1	3
3	L1	Swindon Town	3	1	0	0	2	6	7	−1	3
4	ACA	West Bromwich Albion U21	3	1	0	0	2	3	9	−6	3

Source: EFL.com

8 September 2020 Group stage	Exeter City	3–2	Forest Green Rovers	Exeter
17:00 BST	Ajose  45+1' Jay  57' 61' Key  67'	Report	Stevens  5', 51' Wagstaff  41' Evans  71' Allen  89'	Stadium: St James' Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Sam Allison

6 October 2020 Group stage	Forest Green Rovers	3–0	West Bromwich Albion U21	Nailsworth
19:00 BST	Stokes  17' Stevens  19' Young  29'	Report	Thorndike  37'	Stadium: The Innocent [Insert Name Here] Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: John Busby

10 November 2020 Group stage	Forest Green Rovers	0–1	Swindon Town	Nailsworth
19:00 GMT	Covil  49'	Report	Curran  38' Broadbent  90+3'	Stadium: The Innocent [Insert Name Here] Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Lee Swabey

8 December 2020 Second round	Oxford United	1–1 (4–1 p)	Forest Green Rovers	Oxford
19:45 GMT	Shodipo  64'	Report	Bailey  45+1'	Stadium: Kassam Stadium Attendance: 1,036 Referee: Craig Hicks
	Penalties
	O'Donkor Clare Shodipo Mousinho		Collins Bailey Godwin-Malife

References

1. "Forest Green Rovers signs Dan Sweeney". Forest Green Rovers F.C. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
2. "Forest Green signs Nicky Cadden". Forest Green Rovers F.C. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
3. "Forest Green signs Jack Evans from Blackburn Rovers". Forest Green Rovers F.C. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
4. "Forest Green signs Kane Wilson". Forest Green Rovers F.C. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
5. "Forest Green swoop for former Portsmouth goalkeeper". Forest Green Rovers F.C. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
6. "Former Sheffield United striker pens two-year Forest Green deal". Forest Green Rovers F.C. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
7. "Forest Green confirm signing of experienced striker Jamille Matt". Forest Green Rovers F.C. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
8. "Rovers capture Moore-Taylor from MK Dons". Forest Green Rovers F.C. 21 July 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
9. "FGR capture exciting attacking midfielder Elliott Whitehouse". Forest Green Rovers F.C. 10 August 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
10. "Rovers swoop to sign Wagstaff". Forest Green Rovers F.C. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
11. "Cargill checks into innocent New Lawn". Forest Green Rovers F.C. 7 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
12. "Wing-back Richardson joins on loan". Forest Green Rovers - Official Site. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
13. "Bailey re-joins on loan". Forest Green Rovers FC. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
14. "Forest Green extend Bailey loan deal". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
15. "Hutchinson makes Rovers move". Forest Green Rovers FC. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
16. "Davison links up with FGR". Forest Green Rovers FC. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
17. "Smith departs for Yeovil". Forest Green Rovers F.C. 15 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
18. "Covil makes Salisbury loan switch". Forest Green Rovers FC. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
19. "Allen Joins Pitmen On Loan From FGR". Hednesford Town FC. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
20. "Allen makes Brakes loan switch". Forest Green Rovers FC. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
21. "Evans makes loan switch to Crusaders". Forest Green Rovers FC. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
22. "Harrogate Town sign Forest Green Rovers striker Josh March on loan". Gloucestershire Echo. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
23. "Stevens makes Boro loan switch". Forest Green Rovers FC. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
24. "Forest Green Rovers confirm player releases". Forest Green Rovers F.C. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
25. "Dawson swaps the Lawn for Meadow Park". Gloucester City AFC - Official Site. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
26. "Robbie gets Frear factor". Heart of Midlothian - Official Site. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
27. "Weston bring back Dayle Grubb to the club following spell with Forest Green Rovers". The Weston & Somerset Mercury. 6 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
28. "Nathan McGinley: Defender joins Motherwell on two-year deal". BBC. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
29. "Former Nottingham Forest defender announces retirement with 'emotional' message". Nottingham Post. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
30. "Junior Mondal Joins The Coasters". AFC Fylde - Official Site. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
31. "Stags land commanding centre-half". Mansfield Town F.C. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
32. "Liam Shephard joins Exiles on one-year deal". Newport County A.F.C. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
33. "Grimsby Town sign Welsh international midfielder George Williams". Grimsby Telegraph. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
34. "Hungerford sign up Artwell". Non League Daily. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
35. "Ross McNeilly 30/7/20". Aldershot Town F.C. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
36. "Northampton Town Sign Joseph Mills". Northampton Town F.C. 9 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
37. "Trio sign for City". Winchester City - Official Site. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
38. "Kitching joins Barnsley for club record fee received". Forest Green Rovers FC. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
39. "Carl Winchester joins Sunderland". Forest Green Rovers FC. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
40. "EFL Regulations Section 3 – The League; subsection 9 – Method of Determining League Positions". EFL. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
41. "Sky Bet League Two fixtures 2020/21". Sky Sports. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
42. "FA Cup first round: Chorley, Skelmersdale and Marine to face EFL clubs". BBC. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
43. "Carabao Cup Round One draw confirmed". English Football League. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
44. "EFL Trophy Regional Groups confirmed". English Football League. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
45. "Papa John's Trophy Round Two draw". English Football League. Retrieved 27 November 2020.