Nailsworth-based League Two team Forest Green Rovers finally have a new manager.

Amid a week of intense speculation and rumour, the globally famous vegan club said this morning it was delighted to announce that Steve Cotterill has been appointed to the role.

Cotterill, 59, faces a tough task: with a glittering CV that shows he's no stranger to winning and getting teams up the league system, his immediate challenge will be to save FGR from a nail-biting drama.

The club heads into the final three months of the EFL 2023-24 season six points from safety and relegation will mean it drops back into the National League for the first time in seven years.

West Country born and bred, Cotterill met his staff and players at Stanley Park, Chippenham, this morning.

Cotterill has a broad depth of experience in EFL football and most recently managed Shrewsbury Town for two and a half years, leaving in June last year when he was reported to have been suffering from the effects of long Covid.

He will be a more familiar name to football fans in Gloucestershire though for his tenure at Cheltenham Town - having spent five years at Whaddon Road in which he took the squad from the Southern League to the Football League for the first time (in 1999).

Further accolades include winning promotion with Notts County and leading Bristol City to the League One and EFL Trophy double in 2015 while he has also managed Stoke, Burnley, Portsmouth and Nottingham Forest.

With FGR fans screaming for a manager with experience, it would seem that the club's chairman and Ecotricity owner Dale Vince has listened.

Dale Vince said: "I'm delighted to welcome Steve Cotterill to FGR. His record speaks for itself with 25 years of experience in all leagues of the EFL, spanning nearly 900 games."

He added: "Steve knows what it takes and shares our determination to avoid relegation this season. Then build our way back up to League One and looking upward again."

Cotterill took charge of training today and is expected to be in the dugout for this Saturday's home clash against Accrington Stanley at Nailsworth's New Lawn.

He is the sixth appointment since the June 2022 departure of Rob Edwards, intermediate managers being Ian Burchnall, Duncan Ferguson, Hannah DIngley, David Horseman and Troy Deeney, who left last week amid disagreement over management style.