On May 14, 2017, Forest Green Rovers won promotion to the Football League via the play-offs with a 3-1 win over Tranmere at Wembley.
All of the players who featured for Rovers that day have moved on, but where are they now?
Here’s a look at what that famous starting XI are up to four years on:
Sam Russell
Russell played every single league game for Forest Green in the promotion-winning campaign. He won the National League player of the month award in October 2016 for keeping an outstanding seven clean sheets in a row.
Russell is now closer to his birthplace of Middlesbrough, playing for Grimsby Town, who were relegated from League Two this season.
He has only started five league games this season, and is also the goalkeeping coach at the club, now aged 38. He is very much the back-up to James McKeown.
Dale Bennett
Flying right-back Bennett was also an ever-present for Forest Green, putting in consistent performances throughout the season. At his request, Bennett had his contract terminated in April 2018 and joined Sutton United in the National League shortly after.
Bennett was forced to retire in 2019 through injury, aged just 29. Despite no longer playing, he is still heavily involved in the game and is the owner of two businesses – Specialist 4 Sports (a sports recruitment company) & DB Living Limited (a tax return company for footballers).
Mark Ellis
Ellis was on loan from Carlisle United when he was at Forest Green, brought in to replace Charlie Clough, who joined Barnet.
The centre-back was known for his epic long-throw and old-fashioned defending style.
Ellis is currently contracted to Tranmere but has found minutes hard to come by this season, and was sent out on loan to National League promotion hopefuls Notts County in March.
A real threat in both boxes, Ellis has scored a quite remarkable five goals in 15 games since joining the club, as he looks to add another promotion to League Two to his CV.
Emmanuel Monthe
Monthe joined Rovers from Bath City midway through the 2016/17 campaign and had no problem making the step up from part-time football. A solid one-on-one defender who also went on marauding runs forward, he played a significant part in Forest Green’s success.
Monthe won another promotion just a year after Rovers did. He was on loan at Tranmere Rovers when they defeated Boreham Wood 2-1 in the National League promotion final. It became three promotions in three years for the Cameroonian when Tranmere beat Newport County 1-0 in the League Two play-off final.
Monthe – who is at Tranmere permanently – will be hoping to make it four promotions in five years, with Tranmere searching for another promotion via Wembley this season.
Ethan Pinnock
Pinnock joined Forest Green from Dulwich Hamlet in the summer of 2016, but his stay at the New Lawn only lasted a year. He jumped up two levels to the Championship to play for Barnsley, but despite being relegated, he captained the Tykes to automatic promotion from League One the following campaign.
Now at Brentford, it’s been some rise for Pinnock, who is widely considered as one of the best defenders outside of the Premier League, but he could be playing in England’s top tier next season.
Brentford play AFC Bournemouth in this season’s play-off semi-final, and after falling at the final hurdle last year in the play-off final, Pinnock – who received his first Jamaica cap in March – will be hungry to achieve promotion.
Charlie Cooper
There was some raised eyebrows when Mark Cooper signed his own son for Forest Green, but Charlie Cooper performed admirably in the second half of the season, particularly in the play-offs.
He did struggle to make the step up to League Two, and since leaving Rovers, Cooper has plied his trade in non-league, featuring at Boreham Wood, Halifax, and now Woking. The Cards are struggling in the National League, but with no relegations this season from that level, Cooper seems to be enjoying his football, with three goals in his last four games.
Drissa Traore
The press-resistant midfielder was a vital clog in the Forest Green promotion-winning machine. The diminutive Ivorian was able to keep the ball with ease, whether that was passing or dribbling.
Keanu Marsh-Brown
Marsh-Brown blew hot and cold during his time at Rovers, but he came good in the play-offs, scoring a belter in the second-leg against Dagenham & Redbridge.
Ultimately, he struggled to consistently perform under Cooper, and was released at the end of the 2017/18 season.
Marsh-Brown joined Gloucester City in December last year, but their season was almost immediately curtailed. In order to play some football, the enigmatic wideman went up a level to play for Wrexham on non-contract terms in April. The North Wales outfit still have hopes of making this campaign’s National League play-offs – and Marsh-Brown often thrives on the big stage.
Liam Noble
Skipper Noble was a fans-favourite at Rovers, with his magnificent technical ability and regular roars after every win.
Noble left Forest Green to move closer to home in 2017, and he returned to League Two rivals Notts County halfway through Rovers’ first season in the division. He haunted his old club when the two sides met at the New Lawn in March 2018, when Noble shushed the Forest Green fans after putting County 1-0 up.
The midfielder now plays for Northern Premier League outfit Morpeth Town, but they haven’t played competitively since December 2020 due to COVID-19.
Kaiyne Woolery
Woolery was the hero in the Wembley triumph, scoring a first-half brace against Tranmere.
Woolery is now at the club who he made his name against – Tranmere Rovers. He has scored eight goals in 39 appearances, and he will compete in this years League Two play-offs, with the Super White Army facing Morecambe in one of the semi-finals, with Forest Green taking on Newport County in the other.
Christian Doidge
Doidge was the other scorer in the 3-1 win, as he ended the season with 27 goals. He is still Forest Green’s record goal scorer with 66 goals in 122 games.
Doidge is now in his second year at Scottish Premiership side Hibernian, and he has scored 31 goals in 84 appearances. One of his most recent strikes was in a 2-0 win against Dundee United in the Scottish FA Cup semi-final. He has scored in every round of the competition.
Hibs are now guaranteed a place in next year’s Europa League – so Doidge will be playing in Europe next season, and he will also have an eye on a place in Wales’ Euros squad announcement in the coming weeks.
