Rovers travel to meet Salford City on Saturday 6th of January.

The game at The New Lawn was Rovers’ first game of this season.  Salford came away with a 2-0 win courtesy of a 52nd minute goal from Conor McAleney, then a 90th minute strike by Matt Smith, as Rovers were pressing for an equaliser.

The Peninsula Stadium is a little under 3 and a half hours from Nailsworth by road – a journey of about 160 miles.

By Supporters Club Coach.  For full details of Away Travel including pick up times: – look at FGR Away Travel – Forest Green Rovers Supporters Club (fgrsc.com)  For further information, including pickup point locations see Away travel arrangements 22/23 – Forest Green Rovers Supporters Club (fgrsc.com)

Book your coach ticket with your match ticket from FGR (£5 adult discount for FGR Supporters Club members) but note that you need to call FGR Reception to get the coach discount (phone 0333 123 1889 Monday to Friday, between 9am and 3pm).  Please try to book early.

By Train – Rail travel is just about possible, but only just – the last train back from Manchester Piccadilly to Stroud is at 18.27 (and the stadium is a half hour from the station and involves a bus).

By Car – the postcode for the stadium is M7 3PZ.  There is a reasonable amount of street parking near the ground but beware of match-day parking restrictions in the roads closest to the stadium.  If you are prepared for a short(ish) walk, you should find somewhere. Street parking at the top of Kersal Road M25 9XT, allows for a quick getaway after the match, as the M60 is nearby.  This is about 0.4 kms from the ground.  The club operate a park and ride scheme that is also available for away fans, which offers a direct bus to the stadium for a reasonably small cost – this is at M27 8SJ.

The Peninsula Stadium is a small but fairly recently built ground.  Ticket prices are very reasonable and are the same wherever you decide to stand or sit in the ground; Adults £15, Concessions (over 60’s and 16-21’s) £10, Under 16’s £5, Under 5’s free.  Away fans can stand in the East Stand behind one of the goals or sit in a couple of blocks of the North Stand.  Prices are the same whether you sit or stand, but you may need to buy seated tickets in the North Stand in advance – East Stand tickets can be bought on the day.

Salford’s guide for away fans is very good – follow the link to their pdf – Peninsula-Stadium-Guide

Salford are 21st in the league with 23 points from their 25 games.  They are therefore 6 points above Rovers, having played one game more.

But Salford are struggling recently.  Their last win was back in October when they beat Doncaster 3-0 away.  Since then they have managed 3 draws and 7 defeats, including a miserable Christmas period when they lost all 4 games they played, scoring just twice and conceding 13 in those 4 games.  In the middle of these 4 Christmas games, the Ammies sacked their manager, Neil Wood.

In terms of form over the last 8 games, Salford are currently the worst in League 2.  Rovers and Salford share the dubious honour of having the joint worst home records in this league.

That said, Salford have shown some resilience when they have needed to.  0-0 draws away to Barrow & Stockport demonstrate they can dig in defensively if they need to.

Salford have interim coach Simon Wiles in charge.  Wiles said after Salford’s last outing – “We’ve just got to make sure we keep finding ways of having more of those opportunities, one will fall to us, we’ll get that goal and it’ll kickstart the players.  The next one’s Forest Green, massive game, we’ve got to keep that approach with the players, in and around the players, getting them into the best possible place where we can go and put a performance in so that’s what we’ll be doing on the training ground this week.”

Former Leeds striker Matt Smith is certainly Salford’s danger man.  Now 34 years old, Smith is looking to have a 20-goal season for the first time in his career and already has 14 goals this season for the Ammies.

14 goal Matt Smith is Salford’s target man.

Attacking midfielder Conor McAleny is another to watch.  Both McAleny & Smith scored against Rovers in August.

What else do we know about Salford City? The club were founded in 1940 as Salford Central. It changed its name in 1963 to Salford Amateurs (where their nickname ‘The Ammies’ comes from) before becoming Salford City in 1989.

At each home game the team walks out to The Pogues’ cover of Dirty Old Town. The Pogues were originally called Pogue Mahone from the Gaelic phrase póg mo thóin, which means ‘kiss my a***’! Dirty Old Town is a 1949 Ewan McColl song which was inspired by the singer’s childhood in Salford, hence its connection to the club. The song opens with the lines;

I met my love by the gas works wall Dreamed a dream by the old canal I kissed my girl by the factory wall. Dirty old town, Dirty old town

The Pogues 1984 album Rum Sodomy and the Lash relaunched the song Dirty Old Town – the song that Salford City walk out to at home matches.

In March 2014 the club was taken over by former Manchester United players Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes & Nicky Butt (the ‘class of ’92’). Later in 2014 a 50% stake in the club was sold to Peter Lim, a Singapore-based businessman who also owns Valencia CF.  In 2019 David Beckham bought a 10% stake in the club from Peter Lim.

Since 2014 the club have been promoted 4 times.  They won promotion to the EFL through the play-offs in 2019.  In 2014 the club had ambitions to reach the Championship within 15 years. They may be still be on schedule but progress has slowed somewhat since 2019.

Paul Scholes, Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, David Beckham
& Gary Neville – 6 of Salford’s 7 owners. Peter Lim is owner number 7.

The club’s Moor Lane ground was completely demolished in 2017 to allow for the building of 4 new stands. The ground is now called The Peninsula Stadium.

Rumours persisted that Salford may be moving home to the AJ Bell Stadium (currently shared by Rugby Union’s Sale Sharks and Superleague’s Salford Red Devils).  This move now seems very unlikely.

The Peninsula Stadium has a capacity of just over 5,000 – Salford’s average gate this season is just over 2,700.

Salford’s Peninsula Stadium on Moor Lane.