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Forest Green Rovers
For football fans, the matchday pie and pint is a ritual as old as the hills – reassuring in its perennial sameness. Well, not at Gloucestershire club Forest Green Rovers, where instead of tucking into a steak and kidney pudding, fans can treat themselves to a Quorn and leek pie washed down with a pint of vegan beer. That’s because Rovers is the world’s first vegan football club – just one of a list of accolades that includes being the greenest football club in the world and the first certified carbon-neutral club. It all started with the takeover in 2010 by Dale Vince, CEO of green energy company Ecotricity. Since then, the club has been given a sustainable makeover in all areas – even the kits are made from recycled plastic and coffee grounds.
“It’s great to be first, but I believe it’s only a matter of time before the big boys like Real Madrid and Man United follow our example.” – Owner Dale Vince on Rovers being named the world’s first carbon-neutral club