Forest Green Rovers, recognised by FIFA as the “world’s greenest football club” has promoted its Manager, Mark Cooper into the newly created position of Head Coach, as it gears up its footballing structure for the future.

Following the example of clubs in higher tiers of the footballing structure, Mark’s new role sees him singularly focused on coaching the first team and developing footballing talent. Under Cooper, FGR has one of the youngest squads in the top four leagues.

Mark joined FGR in May 2016, and successfully led the 130-year old club into the Football League for the first-time, while narrowly missing out on promotion to League One last season.

Meanwhile, Richard Hughes becomes the club’s Director of Football – overseeing all other elements of ‘footballing’ activity at FGR – from its physios and sports science, through to its scouting network and Academy. Rich joined FGR in 2018 from a role at Everton.

Mark Cooper, Head Coach, Forest Green Rovers, said:

“This structural change lets me spend even more time with players – we’ve got a focus on making this young group perform even better on the pitch, and develop some valuable assets for the club. Concentrating on what happens on the pitch, is a good place for me to be.

“I’d like to thank Scott Lindsey – my former Assistant Manager, he played a massive role in what we’ve achieved at FGR so far, and I wish him the very best for the future.”

Richard Hughes, Director of Football, Forest Green Rovers, added:

“I’m really happy to have been given the opportunity to take on this new role at FGR – and I’m really looking forward to working more closely with Mark and Dale to drive us forward.”

Dale Vince, Chairman, Forest Green Rovers, commented:

“Adopting this modern footballing structure at the club is a logical next step for us, this will enable Mark to focus on the coaching and results on the pitch, while Rich takes care of all the other stuff that often a manager in the traditional role tries to cover. They work really well together, we all work really well together as a team.”