# 2017–18 Forest Green Rovers F.C. season

The 2017–18 season was Forest Green Rovers's 129th year in existence and their first in League Two following promotion via the play-offs last season. Along with competing in League Two, the club also participated in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy.
The season covers the period from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018.

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 1 July 2017 | CM | Reece Brown | Birmingham City | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | CB | Lee Collins | Mansfield Town | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | CM | Charlie Cooper | Birmingham City | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | LB | Callum Evans | Barnsley | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | LB | Scott Laird | Scunthorpe United | Free |
| 13 July 2017 | CF | Luke James | Peterborough United | Free |
| 19 July 2017 | MF | Jordan Simpson | Swindon Town | Free |
| 22 July 2017 | GK | Harry Pickering | Port Vale | Free |
| 24 August 2017 | CB | Mark Roberts | Cambridge United | Free |
| 22 September 2017 | DM | Isaiah Osbourne | Walsall | Free |
| 1 January 2018 | MF | Dayle Grubb | Weston-super-Mare | Undisclosed |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| 1 July 2017 | AM | Mohamed Chemlal | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2017 | LW | Anthony Jeffrey | Sutton United | Released |
| 1 July 2017 | LM | Marcus Kelly | Wrexham | Released |
| 1 July 2017 | AM | Louis McGrory | AFC Telford United | Released |
| 1 July 2017 | CB | Ethan Pinnock | Barnsley | Undisclosed |
| 1 July 2017 | CM | Sam Wedgbury | Wrexham | Released |
| 25 July 2017 | GK | Simon Lefebvre | FC Lourdes | Mutual consent |
| 4 August 2017 | CB | Aarran Racine | Free agent | Mutual consent |
| 23 August 2017 | CM | Rob Sinclair | Oxford City | Mutual consent |
| 9 October 2017 | CM | Liam Noble | Notts County | Mutual consent |
* ↑ Anthony Jeffrey joined Sutton United following his release.'"`UNIQ--ref-0000001D-QINU`"'
* ↑ Marcus Kelly joined Wrexham following his release.'"`UNIQ--ref-0000001F-QINU`"'
* ↑ Louis McGrory joined AFC Telford United following his release.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000021-QINU`"'
* ↑ Sam Wedgbury joined Wrexham following his release.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000025-QINU`"'
* ↑ Rob Sinclair joined Oxford City following his departure.'"`UNIQ--ref-0000002D-QINU`"'
* ↑ Liam Noble signed a pre-contract agreement with Notts County following his departure.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000031-QINU`"'

### Loans in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Date until |
| 7 July 2017 | GK | Bradley Collins | Chelsea | End of season |
| 22 July 2017 | CB | Jack Fitzwater | West Bromwich Albion | January 2018 |
| 31 July 2017 | CB | Alex Iacovitti | Nottingham Forest | 30 June 2018 |
| 30 August 2017 | LW | Will Randall | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 30 June 2018 |
| 31 August 2017 | CF | Toni Gomes | Liverpool | 30 June 2018 |

### Loans out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Date until |
| 11 August 2017 | MF | Jordan Morris | Shortwood United | 3 January 2018 |
| 11 August 2017 | GK | Harry Pickering | Shortwood United | 3 January 2018 |
| 25 August 2017 | CF | Olly Mehew | Taunton Town | 3 January 2018 |
| 1 September 2017 | MF | Jordan Simpson | Hungerford Town | 24 November 2017 |
| 8 September 2017 | LM | Fabien Robert | Aldershot Town | 9 December 2017 |
| 15 September 2017 | LB | Callum Evans | Torquay United | 17 December 2017 |
| 19 September 2017 | CF | Rhys Murphy | Torquay United | 21 December 2017 |
| 20 October 2017 | MF | Tom Anderson | Cirencester Town | 3 January 2018 |
| 6 November 2017 | FW | Shamir Mullings | Macclesfield Town | 13 November 2017 |
* ↑ On 9 October, Fabien Robert extended his loan at Aldershot Town until the end of October.'"`UNIQ--ref-0000004C-QINU`"'
* ↑ On 30 October, Fabien Robert further extended his loan with Aldershot Town until early December.'"`UNIQ--ref-0000004E-QINU`"'
* ↑ On 22 November, Tom Anderson's loan was extended until early January.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000056-QINU`"'
* ↑ On 13 November, Shamir Mullings' loan at Macclesfield Town was terminated due to injury.'"`UNIQ--ref-0000005A-QINU`"'

## Competitions
### Friendlies

As of 22 June 2017, Forest Green Rovers have announced nine pre-season friendlies against Bristol Rovers, Kidderminster Harriers, Bishop's Cleeve, Weston-super-Mare, Shortwood United, Brimscombe & Thrupp, Swindon Supermarine, Worthing and Farense during a training camp in Portugal.

### League Two
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 19 | Yeovil Town | 46 | 12 | 12 | 22 | 59 | 75 | −16 | 48 | |
| 20 | Port Vale | 46 | 11 | 14 | 21 | 49 | 67 | −18 | 47 | |
| 21 | Forest Green Rovers | 46 | 13 | 8 | 25 | 54 | 77 | −23 | 47 | |
| 22 | Morecambe | 46 | 9 | 19 | 18 | 41 | 56 | −15 | 46 | |
| 23 | Barnet (R) | 46 | 12 | 10 | 24 | 46 | 65 | −19 | 46 | Relegation to the National League |

#### Result summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 3 February 2018. Source:

#### Results by matchday

| Matchday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | D | L | W | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | D | L | W | W | W | D | W | L | D | L | L | L | L | L | W | L | W | L | L | W | W | D | W | D | L | L | L | W | L | L | W | W | D | L | L |
| Position | 13 | 21 | 15 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 21 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 21 |

#### Matches

On 21 June 2017, the league fixtures were announced.

### FA Cup

On 16 October 2017, Forest Green Rovers were drawn at home to Macclesfield Town in the first round. Another home tie was confirmed for the second round, against Exeter City.

### EFL Cup

On 16 June 2017, Forest Green Rovers were drawn at home to MK Dons in the first round.

### EFL Trophy

On 12 July 2017, Forest Green Rovers were drawn in Southern Group E against Cheltenham Town, Newport County and Swansea City U23s. After finished as runners-up in the group stages, FGR were drawn away to Swindon Town in the second round. A third round trip to Yeovil Town was next on the cards after seeing off Swindon Town in the previous round.
| Pos | Lge | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | ACA | Swansea City U21s (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 9 | Round 2 |
| 2 | L2 | Forest Green Rovers (Q) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 | Round 2 |
| 3 | L2 | Cheltenham Town (E) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | L2 | Newport County (E) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 0 | |

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | League Two | League Two | FA Cup | FA Cup | EFL Cup | EFL Cup | Football League Trophy | Football League Trophy |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | ENG | Bradley Collins | 16 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | GK | ENG | Sam Russell | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | ENG | Dale Bennett | 22 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | SCO | Scott Laird | 21 | 1 | 16+2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Lee Collins | 20 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | CMR | Manny Monthé | 12 | 0 | 5+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Jack Fitzwater | 12 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | ENG | Callum Evans | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | SCO | Alex Iacovitti | 16 | 1 | 9+4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | ENG | Mark Roberts | 14 | 0 | 9+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||||
| 4 | MF | CIV | Drissa Traoré | 22 | 0 | 16+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | ENG | Keanu Marsh-Brown | 11 | 2 | 7+2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Liam Noble | 11 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Reece Brown | 18 | 3 | 12+2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+2 | 1 |
| 15 | MF | ENG | Charlie Cooper | 16 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | ENG | Will Randall | 8 | 0 | 5+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 34 | MF | ENG | Isaiah Osbourne | 13 | 0 | 11+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 35 | MF | ENG | Jordan Stevens | 4 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 1 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | WAL | Christian Doidge | 23 | 11 | 20 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | LBN | Omar Bugiel | 18 | 3 | 3+13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | ENG | Shamir Mullings | 9 | 1 | 2+5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | ENG | Dan Wishart | 15 | 1 | 5+7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 25 | FW | POR | Toni Gomes | 10 | 0 | 5+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 33 | FW | ENG | Luke James | 15 | 1 | 7+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||||||
Last updated: 30 November 2017 Source: