Forest Green Rovers 1-5 Barnsley: Duncan Ferguson's side relegated to League Two
- Published
Since Duncan Ferguson's first win as manager on 26 March, Forest Green have lost four in a row
Forest Green Rovers have been relegated back to League Two after Saturday's 5-1 defeat by high-flying Barnsley.
Rovers, promoted to the third tier for the first time in their history just 12 months ago, become the first English Football League side to suffer relegation in 2022-23.
They have won only six league matches all season, with just one of those coming since Everton legend Duncan Ferguson was appointed as manager in January.
Barnsley went in front inside the opening 10 minutes when Slobodan Tedic headed Luca Connell's corner past goalkeeper Ross Doohan, before Adam Phillips doubled the advantage with a half-volley from the edge of the box.
James Norwood then nodded in to make it 3-0 before the break as the Tykes took complete control.
Phillips scored his second goal after half-time, slotting home after his initial shot was saved, while Reece Brown did at least manage a late consolation for the hosts.
Devante Cole added further gloss to the scoreline for Barnsley in the final minute when he converted Jordan Williams' cross.
The result keeps fourth-placed Barnsley's automatic promotion hopes alive, with the Tykes four points behind Ipswich Town in second - and, crucially, with a home game against the Tractor Boys scheduled for 25 April.
Rovers are 12 points adrift at the foot of the table.
Rovers slip to rare relegation
Forest Green owner Dale Vince had hoped League One would simply be a stepping stone to eventually reaching the Championship - instead, their stay in League One has proved short lived.
As one of the smallest clubs in the division survival was always going to be tough, yet the seeds of Rovers' fate were arguably sown last summer.
Head coach Rob Edwards left for Watford, key players such as Ebou Adams, Kane Wilson and Nicky Cadden all departed and director of football Richard Hughes also had one foot out of the door, eventually leaving in September.
Ian Burchnall was brought in to take charge, a coach cut from the same cloth as Edwards - young, up and coming and forward-thinking. But the club's transfer policy lacked strategy and seven of the 10 players brought in made fewer than 12 appearances.
Burchnall was eventually let go at the end of January after only five wins in 28 games, with Vince admitting they had not done enough to support the inexperienced boss.
Ferguson, another first-time coach at this level, was surprisingly appointed with the nigh-on impossible job of turning things around.
Remarkably, though, this is Forest Green's first relegation since the 1954-55 season and only their second since they were founded in 1889 - putting them on a par with the likes of Arsenal and Everton.
The challenge for Forest Green now will be to learn valuable lessons from this season and lay a more stable foundation, so that if or when they move back up to League One they will be in a much better position to actually stay there.
'We will learn from this'
Forest Green Rovers manager Duncan Ferguson told BBC Radio Gloucestershire:
"We knew it (relegation) was coming but you are always in there fighting trying to get points and wins.
"You feel for the fans and the owner. We managed to get up last year and to go straight back down is disappointing all round.
"It has been on the cards for a while but we hope we can keep going and keep believing.
"The mentality is a bit weak and the size of the team is a problem for us. Overall, I think that fight and spirit and aggressiveness is not there and I'll need to change that with my recruitment.
"I knew what I was getting myself in for. I am an experienced coach and I will be here until our man tells me otherwise, and that is an absolute fact."
Forest Green Rovers owner Dale Vince told BBC Radio Gloucestershire:
"We have had a learning experience. We take a step back and then we go again.
"We know what it is like here. We will learn from this and when we come back we will be better.
"We lost a lot at the end of last season and it destabilised the club. Our head coach and director of football, we lost three of our best players and our recruitment was not good enough.
"We started the season badly and tried to put that right in January but it wasn't enough. A lot of things changed for us this year and we didn't have a lot of consistency.
"We'll enjoy League Two and work our way back up. I think Duncan Ferguson is the man for many seasons to come and together we can get this right and fulfil the dream of getting to the Championship."