Forest Green Rovers will generate plenty of interest this season following the appointment of Robbie Savage as their new manager.

The former Welsh international, who played close to 350 Premier League games for Leicester City, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers and Derby County, will be centre of attention in the National League after replacing one-time Cheltenham Town boss Steve Cotterill.

The 50-year-old will work closely with director of football Mark Bowen, a former Welsh team-mate, but while he undoubtedly has box office appeal he will know that there are big expectations among the fanbase at The New Lawn.

And those expectations include promotion, either through winning the title or via the play-offs.

The club’s fans don’t need reminding that they missed out in the play-offs at the end of the previous campaign, but there is plenty of optimism that they can go one better this time around.

“There’s no reason why we can’t do it this time,” said Ian Crawley, a former longstanding chairman of Forest Green Rovers Supporters Club and now their acting secretary.

“I’m confident we will go up, I’m always optimistic for the upcoming season. Cotterill was unlucky last season, we were only five minutes from going to Wembley.”

Forest Green were beaten in a penalty shootout by Southend United after the game had finished 2-2 at the end of extra time and Crawley continued: “I’m not sure we’d have won at Wembley but Cotterill brought in a good structure.

“He did a lot of good things, it wasn’t easy because we’d had two successive relegations and that can be very draining for players.”

Savage knows plenty about Forest Green because his son Charlie, who is now at Reading, played 15 games for the club during a loan spell in 2023 when he was at Manchester United.

And he also knows about managing a football club because he guided Macclesfield to the Northern Premier League Premier Division title last season and with it promotion to National League North in what was his first season in charge.

“Once we brought in Bowen, it was inevitable we would bring in Savage,” said Crawley. “I assumed that was part of the package.”

And while Crawley is a big supporter of owner Dale Vince, he says the appointment does come with some risk.

“A very small proportion of former top footballers go on to become a good manager,” Crawley said. “Just look at Duncan Ferguson and Troy Deeney at Forest Green.

“I’ve always said the hardest job in the world is being a football manager, but I actually think it’s being an owner because he’s the one who has to appoint the manager.

“You do learn by experience and I don’t blame Dale for trying different approaches, Savage has done very well in a very short time as manager.”

But whatever the approach, Crawley, who has been watching Forest Green since 2008/09, says  that certain things are a given if the club are to climb back into the Football League.

“Obviously you need good players but you need a good team spirit,” he said. “You don’t win anything without team spirit, we don’t want prima donnas.

“Players have got to track back, tackle and work hard for each other.”

And for a role model, the players need look no further than Dale Vince who has done so much for the club since becoming a majority shareholder in 2010.

“Dale Vince saved the club,” said Crawley. “He’s probably one of the most interesting  and innovative owners of any sports club. Look at the greening of the club.

“He gives the club a high profile and it’s obvious that he’s in it for the long-term, that’s why there’s so much excitement about the new stadium at Junction 13.

“We’re confident he’ll deliver, he’s focused and committed.”

The plans for the new all-wooden eco-friendly stadium include seats for 5,000 which is more than three times Forest Green’s average home gate.

“It’s always a struggle because we are such a small town,” admitted Crawley. “We’re the only club in the country where you can fit almost the whole population into the stadium.”

Forest Green would love more fans like Crawley, who rarely misses a game, home or away.

Originally from London – he used to watch Spurs back in the day – he moved to this part of the world from Bristol in 2003.

Crawley worked in local government and freely admits he didn’t know that Forest Green existed when he first moved to Gloucestershire.

He lives a 30-minute walk from The New Lawn and has been active with Forest Green Rovers Supporters Club for many years.

“When we were in League One we had up to 450 members, this season it’s about 250,” he said. “Our home games are about 1,400 or 1,500 so that’s probably the highest proportion of members of any club in the country.”