At the start of the 2006-07 season the club moved to The New Lawn. The Sustainability in Sport terrace is at the north end of the ground. In 2013 the EESI Stand at the opposite end of the ground was converted from seating to a standing terrace. The East Stand is the largest capacity stand at the ground and is all seated. It contains seven boxes, the 'Green Man' public house, gym, dance studio and conference and leisure facilities. The western side of the ground is an open terrace available to away fans.
Up to 1,100 visiting supporters can be accommodated on the terrace on the West side of the stadium. The view from this stand is un restricted although the gradient is relatively shallow. Facilities are very good and there's a wide range of food and drink available at the refreshment outlets including the regular football fare starting at about £2.00.
The New Lawn seating plan:
The Green Man is the clubs own Public House and serves many beverages including real ale. You may have heard about some of the changes recently made at Forest Green Rovers. Red meat is no longer sold at the ground but they've recently improved the quality of all food and drinks available.
Parking is available at the stadium. If you're unfortunate enough to not get a space there is plenty of street parking close by. It's free to park at the ground at present and only a very short walk from your seat in the ground.
Need cheap and convenient parking near the stadium? Rent a local resident's driveway and book CNG Stadium parking with YourParkingSpace.Co.Uk
Get directions to the The New Lawn from your house by entering your post code or location below:
If travelling by public transport the closest train station is Stroud. Walk 3mins from the station to the bus stop outside Merrywalks Shopping Centre and catch the 63 bus to Forest Green which takes approx. 30mins.
Any big games
Travel: With it being an evening kick-off, public transport was out of the question. So we had to battle the M6 and M5 on a Monday afternoon which wasn't as bad as first feared. The ground itself is at the top of a very steep hill with very little parking. We had visited once before (also a night game) back in October 2016. There is free parking in Nailsworth centre after 6pm so we opted to leave the car there and walk up to the ground. The walk up to The New Lawn from the centre of Nailsworth is up a very steep hill. Okay for Mid-30 somethings like me but my stepfather in his late 60's found the hike very tough going. Forest Green also operates a park and ride service from Nailsworth on matchdays.
Refreshments: We had a few drinks and a bite to eat in the excellent Britannia Pub in the centre of Nailsworth prior to the game. Lots of room inside, good menu (Not Vegan only like Forest Green) and two outdoor areas. There were a small group of home fans inside who were friendly enough. Forest Green doesn't sell any meat products - only vegan ones. SO if you're after meat pies etc you'll be disappointed. The queues for the facilities were horrendous.
Impressions: I'd been to the New Lawn before during our National League days. The ground itself is very much stuck in the Non-League era - facilities are very basic and it certainly struggled to cope with 1200 away fans. Forest Green Rovers have moved the away section since my last visit. Visitors are now housed on an open terrace on the west side of the pitch. As I mentioned, with so many travelling supporters, it was very crowded and views of the game weren't great.
Atmosphere: The game itself was a tense affair. Forest Green erased our 1st leg lead after only ten minutes. Luckily for us we had the League 2 Player of the Year and leading goalscorer James Norwood in our side who equalised after 25 minutes. Forest Green were reduced to ten men with a quarter of the game to go and in the end, we saw the match out to win 2-1 on aggregate. Reaching Wembley for the third year in a row made it a joyous away section at full time! The stewards were good on the whole. Even at full time when several hundred Tranmere fans invaded the pitch, they didn't try and restrain anyone.
Exit: For most people, getting away from the ground was chaotic. The area just isn't suitable for crowds of this size. The locals must get so annoyed on matchdays. Fortunately for us, we were parked down in Nailsworth and got away okay. It was about a 20 minute walk back to the car park.
Enjoy: The night itself will live long in my memory as Tranmere reached a Wembley play off final for the 3rd year in a row! But it will be a first EFL play off final appearance since 1991. Forest Green is certainly not one of the best away trips. The locals are friendly on the whole but logistically, New Lawn itself isn't the easiest place to get to.
Ground Name: The New Lawn
Capacity: 4,803 (Seats 1,881)
Address: Nympsfield Road, Nailsworth, GL6 0ET
Main Tel No.: 01453 834 860
Team Nickname: The Rovers
Year Ground Opened: 2006
Site: www.forestgreenroversfc.com
