The World's First All Wood Stadium.

When you think of a stadium, be it soccer, rugby or even athletics the image that comes to mind is a big steel and glass structure that plants itself firmly in the forefront of the community. Well, Forest Green a little football club in the hills of Nailsworth, Gloucestershire like to do things a little differently. They have already been named by FIFA as the greenest football club in the world boasting a wide array of eco-facilities such as the solar panels on the roof, a solar-powered robot lawnmower, rainwater recycling system beneath the pitch, and the eco trail around the ground. Everything from the pesticide-free pitch to the all-vegan menu is built on a basis of eco-sustainability and in the near future, the stadium itself will follow suit.

How green are Forest Green?

While Adidas and Nike have in recent times tried their hand at creating kits from only recycled ocean waste, little Forest Green is making a mockery of the sport's bigwigs in their mission to be a lean green footballing machine.

Owned by Dale Vince the CEO of Ecotricity, a green energy company specializing in wind power. He first got involved in the club back in 2010 and since then he has changed the club from the ground up. In 2011 the 170 solar panels were first installed while it was 2012 when they introduced the first "mow-bot" which receives its power from the solar panels.

In 2015 they became the world's first ever vegan club with the menu now offering a range of vegan alternatives to the traditional match day grub. Dale Vince is a man on a mission, just hear what he has to say about the impact he hopes the new stadium can have on the sport in general,

"We have been able to display all of our thinking and the technology we use and the approaches we take in the world of football. This is an untouched audience for an eco-message.

"If you want to post-transaction rationalize it further, which we have: football fans are a passionate group of people and if they get the environment like they get the football club, then we can create a lot of good from that."

The New Stadium

Forest Green Rovers recently announced that their new stadium will be made entirely of wood. Zaha Hadid Architects who have designed stadiums for the Qatar 2022 World Cup and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games have designed this new age stadium and you can see how their vision for the development will look right here:

Dale Vince, Ecotricity founder and Forest Green Rovers chairman, said: "Zaha Hadid have built some fantastic sport stadia around the world, including one at the Olympic Park in London; they've designed one of the five stadiums for the next World Cup in Qatar, and now they've designed one for Forest Green"

The new wooden stadium is set to be the first of its kind and the fans will be even happier as no longer will they have to brave the elements of England's highest altitude pitch but will now be as close as five metres from the pitch, enjoying unrestricted views with the added bonus of protection from the elements with the aid of a clever roofing structure.

But that’s not all, the pitch will reside at the heart of a 100-acre Eco Park that aims to provide facilities for the community, as well as the club: gyms, all-weather pitches, and sports science clinics will all be offered, on top of hosting events and conferences. It is estimated to cost £100 million ($123M) and will bring approximately 4,000 jobs to the region.

When you think of a stadium, be it soccer, rugby or even athletics the image that comes to mind is a big steel and glass structure that plants itself firmly in the forefront of the community. Well, Forest Green a little football club in the hills of Nailsworth, Gloucestershire like to do things a little differently. They have already been named by FIFA as the greenest football club in the world boasting a wide array of eco-facilities such as the solar panels on the roof, a solar-powered robot lawnmower, rainwater recycling system beneath the pitch, and the eco trail around the ground. Everything from the pesticide-free pitch to the all-vegan menu is built on a basis of eco-sustainability and in the near future, the stadium itself will follow suit.

"The real standout thing about this stadium is that it's going to be entirely made of wood - the first time that will have been done anywhere in the world," Vince said.

"At Eco Park, we've started with a blank sheet of paper, and we'll be going further than anyone has done before - this really will be the greenest football stadium in the world."

Considering what he has done for the club so far, we cannot wait to see how this project looks on completion. Reckon they might be needing a few of our famous wood screws? Well, of course, they like you can order on our website, with your local sales rep or by contacting our telesales team.