Forest Green Rovers, widely recognised as the most sustainable football club in the world, reveals a bold new playing strip for the 25-26 season. Alongside Official Teamwear Partner, Reflo, both organisations have been working hard with the Vegan Society to create the world’s first fully certified vegan kit.
Both the home and away kits feature the same bold design; a striking leopard print pattern inspired by nature.
The new home shirt will be worn for two seasons, part of a commitment the club makes to reduce waste and lower the burden on fans to purchase a new design every year.
The vegan kit is emblazoned with Ecotricity across the chest, DPD on the lower back, Candriam on the left sleeve, and Smyths Toys on the back of the shorts.
Below the neck features the infamous Three Stars. This reflects the club’s long term ambitions to gain promotion into the championship.
As well as being vegan certified, the new kit is powered by Reflo’s pioneering Reloop™ technology — a fibre-to-fibre mechanical recycling solution that means every shirt is made from recycled mono-fibre materials and designed to be fully recyclable at end of life. When the kit reaches the end of its playing days, it will be broken down and remade into new products, giving fans and players a true circular alternative to landfill. It’s a practical solution to help tackle the millions of tonnes of textile waste generated by the sports industry each year.
Dale Vince, Chairman of Forest Green Rovers, commented: “We like to push the boundaries on sustainability issues, including what our shirts are made from because the materials we use to make things really matters. In pursuit of the most sustainable football kit we’ve experimented in previous seasons with both bamboo and with coffee grounds.
"This season our new strip pushes the boundary again - we’ve created the world’s first fully certified vegan football kit, by making sure the dyes we use, which are an often overlooked ingredient, are plant-based. Our new shirt is also fully recyclable and will be turned back into future items by Reflo. I’m really pleased to unveil our bold, bright new kit that’s inspired by nature and helping nature - that’s pretty fabulous.”
Alex Markland, Senior Account Manager at The Vegan Society: "This is another exciting development in The Vegan Society's relationship with Forest Green Rovers. We've been working with Dale and the team for eight years and have awarded our Vegan Trademark certification in a number of areas of the club's operations but this kit is the first in the world to be certified vegan and is the most visible demonstration yet of Forest Green Rovers' pioneering approach to sustainability in football."
Rory MacFadyen, Co-Founder of Reflo, said: “This is exactly what Reflo was built for — pushing what’s possible for sustainable performancewear. Partnering with Forest Green Rovers to create the world’s first fully vegan shirt, made from recycled materials with the ability to be recycled at end of life. It’s a milestone moment for us. FGR have led the way in showing football can be a force for good, and we’re proud to help them take another step forward with a shirt that looks amazing, performs at the highest level and helps keep kit out of landfill for good.”
The kit is available to buy from the FGR online store with more information at reflo.com.
