Board Members & Co-Optees
Who's Running The FGR Trust?
Not all the committee members were available when the photos were taken - but here are the select few for the time being!
Meet the Committee Members
Tim Barnard ~ Trust Chairman & Match Day Volunteer
Firstly I will start by saying that the Trust has been set up to work with the Directors of the Club, not against them, maybe it is out of place to say that here but it is a key fact.
I grew up in Nailsworth and got my first Saturday job doing the milk round around Forest Green in the 1970s. I started watching Rovers with my mates (now flung far and wide) in the afternoons and have great memories of travelling to away matches at the back of the team coach as a teenager. I moved away in 1979 but continued watching FGR from afar and the 1982 FA Vase run cemented Rovers as my team.
I watched with something approaching fairytale disbelief as Rovers started rising through the leagues in the 1990s and was in dreamland when we reached the Conference. As a Civil and Structural Engineer running my own business I offered our services to Trevor Horsley in 2002 to help ensure that Trevor’s vision of higher things for the Club came true without the wheels coming off. Since that time I have been heavily involved with the Club on a voluntary basis and have written the book about the history of the Club “Something To Shout About”, which is now sold out.
I see the Supporters Trust as a way of keeping the supporters at the heart of the Club under its proposed new shareholding constitution, and the support it has received has vindicated this view. It also aims to increase the support for the club in any way possible.
No village club can survive at this level without supporters coming forward to help the club on a day to day basis, in any way that they see fit, and the Trust is also providing ample opportunity for this to happen, long may it continue. We are FGR.
Bob Savage ~ Former Acting Treasurer
A Scot by birth, and lifelong Glasgow Rangers supporter (it's in the blood). Retired for the past 5 years and loving every moment of it. Previously, 32 years service with the NatWest Bank/RBS.
Comparative newcomer to the Gloucestershire area and have only been a follower of the Rovers for the past 5 seasons. Became closely involved with the Club through friends who are Directors and have been very active on a voluntary basis since the move to the New Lawn in 2006. Was one of a very small band of regular painters under the direction of John Whiffen and there can be very few parts of the Stadium where I have not been on my knees. Voluntary help has continued in many areas, including assisting the commercial team, new website design and various administrative activities.
Bob has stood down from the Trust Board. Click here for more information
I am a great believer in the fact that 'our fans are the lifeblood of the Club'. I also believe that the Supporters Trust, professionally run, has a great part to play in the future of Forest Green Rovers Football Club. For any club to succeed, it is dependant upon that fanbase and, continually needs to engage with its supporters. In return, those same fans, through passion and loyalty, can help secure the long term future of 'their' Club through whatever means is available to them.
Phil ‘Pitchfork’ Butterworth ~ Community Liason & Match Day Volunteer
I grew up supporting the Shakers, BURY FC, so my love of the underdog was cultivated from an early age. We were always under the shadows of our larger, more illustrious neighbours and they even tried to change our name to Manchester North End. Tradition and fan power saved the day.
When I moved to Nailsworth my affections gradually changed and I became a regular when the club won successive promotions in the old Dr Martens League. My father and son have also become dedicated Rovers fans. I helped with the painting of the stadium, run the Prediction forum and subscribe to GRASS and the Supporters Club.
I am a Headteacher in Gloucester, work with Trainee Heads and support schools as an ‘Improvement Partner’. Headship isn’t very different from being a manager – we have to coach, lead, weld teams together and have an eye on the budget. If performance drops the knives come out!
Les Hudson ~ Acting Trust Secretary (Trust Co-Optee)
Bristol born now living in Emersons Green just 24 miles away from The New Lawn Stadium.I had youth team trials at Bristol Rovers but declined their offer in favour of continuing my apprenticeship in another trade.
I Started a business with my two partners 18 years ago and we are now working with the Printing Industry trade associations where we advise and part administer their industry wide pension scheme.
First time I watched FGR was in Bristol in 1968, the second time was last season against Cambridge. I like the style of football Jim Harvey plays and The New Lawn Stadium is one of the best in the Conference league.
However, if the modern game of football was just about style and facilities FGR would be top of the league, but money is essential for any football club to continue or have a future. I joined the Supporters Trust because of the aims of what the Trust will try to achieve. If these aims are achieved then the money brought in by the Trust will add to all the others sources of income the club generates so that the club can continue providing the style of football and facilities the supporters want and ask for.
Richard Overthrow ~ Web Support & Match Day Volunteer
Born and bred in Gloucester but never got round to watching City, I’m ashamed to say. In those days (as now) schoolboys went for the glamour clubs. One Scottish lad at my school who supported Rangers (not Bob above) had a very torrid time. I’ve lived in Nailsworth for 23 years but have only been actively following Forest Green for half that time, again, I’m ashamed to say.
Since starting to follow Rovers I have become a big fan of non-league football and the whole ‘mucking-in’ culture. If Rovers had a meaningless home game at the same time England were playing in the World Cup Final, I’d be at The Lawn. Sad, I know. I have also done a bit of painting both at the new ground and at the old, during summer tidy-up sessions. The price of living close by, I suppose.
I work in the agricultural industry advising and helping farmers, which is possibly a second point against me after the Gloucester bit above. I occasionally get involved in marketing and publicity in my job which is why I was keen to join the Trust, as I could see a lot of untapped potential at the club which hopefully the Trust can now help to achieve.
More Board Members' Penpics on page two:
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