Praised to be the greenest and first vegan football club in the world, there are many things the Forest Green Rovers have done in a bid to make the sport more sustainable. Now, the planet-friendly football team is preparing to take it even further by building the world’s first wooden football stadium in Gloucestershire, England.
When complete it aims to be the world’s most sustainable football stadium, constructed entirely from timber and powered by renewable energy sources. A transparent membrane will cover the stadium, allowing the grass to grow under the sunlight and minimizing shadows that could distract players during the game.
Forest Green Rovers has already been named the world’s greenest football club by FIFA. The players have adopted a vegan diet to reduce their carbon footprint, and only vegan food is served on match days.
The current stadium has an organic grass pitch watered with recycled rainwater and uses solar panels to power its floodlights. The pitch is mowed by an electric “mow bot” that uses GPS technology to automatically cut the grass, with the grass clippings given to local farmers to put on their soil.
With such initiatives, the team hopes to inspire other clubs to put sustainability at the core of their ethos while bringing football and environmental consciousness together.
