OK. A bit more..
Thanks PB!
We've been helped by Ecotricity money, but who cares, we now are the smallest conurbation ever to have a National League Football side.
We have a population of just under 6,000. We have two football clubs, the biggest of which, Forest Green Rovers, has been around for 128 years, being mostly promoted over the years, rarely relegated. I first heard of them when we moved here and they had just been promoted to the Conference. Until today we were the longest serving Conference Football club ever. You don't stay, you get promoted, or, most likely, you get relegated or put into receivership.
A few years back we were in dire straits. We'd moved to a new ground but did not have a sound financial base. Many people gave time up to help the club. But it needed a local green hero to come on board and set upon a new direction. To be the first (recognised) Vegan football club in the world. It was a long journey. First the cow meat went. Then the Chicken meat, then the fish, then the dairy.
Cow poo on the pitch. Vegan pies. Vegan chips. Vegan Beer. Vegan curry sauce. Vegan milk.
The food is delicious! And it generates more money than the traditional stuff did.
The Chairman put money in. Then more money. It is a funny relationship with him - this is two things - a project to show that Veganism can work (and what more hostile environment could you choose than the neolithic one of football?), and a marketing vehicle for his green energy company, Ecotricity.
Interestingly I didn't hear any of the standard chants today of where we can put our veggie burgers, or other opposition favourites.
Will the project last? I hope so, even though I have responsibilities to the town and the town will face difficult times when larger teams come to play. But that'a mainly logistics.
Hey! Some years ago I was entertained in a box at Highfield Road, when Coventry were First Division. Now we will be entertaining them (and other historical 1st Div teams like Luton) in our amazing community ground, the 10th highest ground in the football league (you know when you have walked up that hill!), with sheep on one side and llamas on the other.
Anyway - here are some of my memories of today