Dale Vince has championed the appointment of new Forest Green Head Coach Rob Edwards.
Chairman Vince said the appointment of Edwards, who will be assisted by Richie Kyle, marks a departure from the usual “merry-go-round”.
Edwards,38, joins Rovers from his dual role as the England U16 Head Coach and U20 Assistant for the FA.
With over 100 applications received for the role at FGR, Edwards impressed with his footballing philosophy and his vision for the club’s future – with a proven track record in player development and experience in both domestic and international football.
Edwards also featured for Wolves and Aston Villa in a 14-year playing career – spent several years at Molineux as a under-18, under-23 and first team coach. He also had a short spell as interim manager when Walter Zenga was sacked.
He left Wolves in 2019 to become a coach for the England under-20 team and a year later he also became head coach for the England under-16s.
His Wolves U23 squad were promoted to the highest level of youth football for the first time in the club’s history. Before moving into coaching at the age of 30.
His assistant Kyle spent several seasons as a first-team coach at Blackpool – and was also a coach in the England youth set up alongside Edwards. Kyle returns to English football from his role as Assistant Coach for the Canadian women’s team.
Rovers’ new Head Coach, said: “This is a club that feels really different from others – and actually does things another way. My conversations with the chairman were incredibly positive, and showed we’ll get the time and support we need to go on a winning journey. The club has a well-developed footballing infrastructure under Richard Hughes, and with great people behind the scenes and incredible fans, I’m looking forward to getting started.”
Richard Hughes, Football Director, Forest Green Rovers, added: “I’m looking forward to working with Rob. He’s got a great coaching pedigree and is recognised for his progressive views for the future of the game.”
Dale Vince welcomed the appointment, he said: “We recently moved away from a Manager to the Head Coach concept – with this recruitment we’re completing that transformation – by bringing in an up and coming coaching team. We wanted to move away from the recruitment merry-go-round of been there and done it league managers to focus on coaches at the cutting edge of the game. Rob and Richie bring an understanding and openness to all aspects of coaching – like sports science and analytics. This is the start of our next era.”
