Forest Green Rovers have disbanded their women’s team for the 2026-27 season, a decision that comes just months after the side lost only one league match all season and narrowly missed promotion. The Gloucestershire club’s women’s team finished second in their regional division of the fifth tier of the English pyramid, one point behind champions Torquay. Now, they will not play next season as the club “concentrate their resources” on returning the men’s team to the English Football League.
The men’s side was relegated to the National League in 2024. Managed by former Wales and Leicester midfielder Robbie Savage, they finished seventh last term before losing to Boreham Wood in the playoffs. In a statement titled “Forest Green Rovers will not have a women’s team for the 2026-27 season”, a club spokesman said: “We had been in discussions with Hartpury University about a partnership, but the uni made a decision that ruled out the possibility of a joint [women’s] team. This means we’ll also be stepping back from our joint involvement with Hartpury’s elite training centre for girls aged nine to 16.”
“Forest Green Rovers scrap women's team for 2026-27 to focus resources on men's return to the EFL after relegation.”
The spokesman added: “Our partnership with Hartpury has been worthwhile and valued, we’ll continue to support them as they explore ways to take the programme forward through Hartpury Women FC. Forest Green Rovers is committed to returning to the EFL as quickly as possible and that means concentrating our resources and efforts on strengthening the Club and achieving that goal. This isn’t goodbye to women’s football at Forest Green. We’d like to return to it in the future, when the time is right and when we can build a programme that is sustainable and successful for the long term.”
The club’s women’s manager Louise Fensom, who led the team to a near-flawless league campaign, now faces an uncertain future. The decision comes nearly four weeks after the Football Association confirmed Forest Green’s status, though the FA’s announcement was not detailed in the club’s statement. The club thanked “the players, staff, volunteers and supporters who have been part of the women’s programme” and wished them success.