World's First Vegan Club Forest Green Rovers Win League Two and Reach League One

Forest Green Rovers, the world's first vegan football club, are League Two champions. A 2-2 draw at Mansfield Town on the final day gave them the point they needed, and next season the club from Nailsworth will play in League One for the first time in its history.

They made it hard for themselves. Matty Longstaff put Mansfield ahead before the break, and Ebou Adams equalized just after the hour. Jordan Bowery restored the Stags' lead late on, but a minute after coming off the bench, Josh March beat the offside trap and lifted the ball over the goalkeeper to seal it.

Rovers finish on 84 points, level with Exeter City but champions on goal difference, after Exeter lost at Port Vale. Promotion had already been secured with a goalless draw at Bristol Rovers last month, and striker Matty Stevens finishes the season with 23 league goals. Head coach Rob Edwards, in his first season in charge, said:

It still is a little bit surreal. I know we've been there for a long, long time but maybe I still didn't quite believe it was going to happen. But we've finished on top and it's incredible.

The vegan part isn't a gimmick. Since 2015, under green energy founder and chairman Dale Vince, Forest Green have been the world's first vegan football club. They finish the season with 75 league goals and the division's best goal difference, +31, on a plant-based menu.

We've charted the rise. In 2018 Forest Green became the first football club certified climate neutral by the UN, and in 2020 Arsenal's Hector Bellerin became the club's second-largest shareholder. Last month he set up the opener as Real Betis won the Copa del Rey.

League One, here come the vegans.