Forest Green Rovers have disbanded their women’s team ahead of the 2026-27 season, with the Gloucestershire club citing the need to concentrate resources on returning their men’s side to the English Football League.
The decision, announced on Tuesday, comes despite the club’s long-standing reputation for progressive values under eco-millionaire owner Dale Vince, who has made Forest Green one of the most talked-about clubs in non-league football since becoming a major shareholder in 2010. Vince, whose renewable energy business made him a fortune estimated at around £100 million, has introduced a series of high-profile sustainability initiatives at the club, including banning red meat from being sold at the ground and launching what was described as the world’s most environmentally conscious kit, made from recycled plastic and coffee grounds.
The dissolution of the women’s side sits awkwardly alongside that identity. In a statement, the club said failed partnership talks with Hartpury University had made the women’s programme unviable. “We had been in discussions with Hartpury University about a partnership, but the uni made a decision that ruled out the possibility of a joint [women’s] team,” a club spokesman said. “This means we’ll also be stepping back from our joint involvement with Hartpury’s elite training centre for girls aged nine to 16.”
The club sought to frame the decision as temporary rather than permanent. “This isn’t goodbye to women’s football at Forest Green. We’d like to return to it in the future, when the time is right and when we can build a programme that is sustainable and successful for the long term,” the statement read. “Forest Green Rovers is committed to returning to the EFL as quickly as possible and that means concentrating our resources and efforts on strengthening the Club and achieving that goal.”
The FA had already confirmed Forest Green Women’s allocation into tier five for next season, but the team will now not take up that place. The men’s side have been in the National League since relegation in 2024. Manager Robbie Savage guided them to the playoffs last season after a seventh-place finish, but their promotion hopes were ended by defeat against Boreham Wood.
