A new kit for the world’s greenest football club

For most organisations, a logotype is the core element of the visual identity but in the world of pro sports arguably it’s the shirt. For Green Knight Studios, designing the club kit for Forest Green Rovers has been one of our most exciting and most visible projects to date. Not only do the players wear our designs week in and week out on the pitch, so do thousands of supporters when they watch or play football. Via the internet, social media and television, the FGR kit is known around the world. 

Prior to the 2021/22 season, Green Knight Studios was invited to update FGR’s iconic zebra-stripe shirt. This design presented a strong starting point – the riff on a natural camouflage pattern strongly links the club to its environmental mission in Britain and across the globe. The stripes themselves hark back to FGR’s traditional black and white magpie shirts, going back decades in the club’s history.

However, it needed something new, so we decided to add some energy to the mix. While the zebra pattern was retained as the basis of the design, we added a crackle of lightning along its edges to dial up the excitement and bring a touch more visual tension.

The energised design was intended to make two references. Firstly, to the green energy supplied by the main sponsor, Ecotricity. Secondly, to the energy, verve and passion the club, its players and supporters have brought to the Football League.

In keeping with FGR’s sustainable agenda, the home version of the 2021/22 kit uses fabric recycled from coffee grounds while the away shirt is made with bamboo fibre. Logos for both were designed to communicate this.

Green Knight Studios supported the official launch of the kits with a full set of assets for the social and online campaigns, emphasising the team’s new look under the Fully Charged tagline.

When the 2021/22 season began, the kit appeared to make an instant impact with Forest Green Rovers racing to the top of the EFL League Two table – although whether we can claim responsibility for that is up for debate! The club remained top of the league until the final weeks of the season, dramatically seizing promotion and the league title on the final day away to Mansfield Town.

Beginning life in League One in 2022, FGR asked Green Knight to design a new third kit honouring its charity partner, Sea Shepherd UK. This organisation helps protect wildlife on the coastline and at sea around Britain, fighting the good fight against sewerage, industrial and household waste going into the ocean.

Our design captures the spirit of this direct-action organisation not just through the use of its fierce Jolly Roger-inspired logo, but by mirroring the Dazzle Ship-style black, grey and blue sea camouflage of Sea Shepherd’s iconic MV Steve Irwin vessel. The third kit was a runaway success, with all adult sizes selling out within an hour of its launch.

At the time of writing, we have completed the updated FGR club kit for the 2023/24 season. Watch this space.