UK Football Team Unveils 'World-First' Vegan-Certified Kit

Forest Green Rovers FC (FGR) has unveiled the first-ever vegan-certified football kit for the 25/26 season, which features fully recyclable materials to promote a circular economy.

The new uniform includes a lime green home kit and neon pink away version, each bearing a black leopard print pattern “inspired by nature.” FGR and its teamwear partner Reflo collaborated with The Vegan Society to design the kit, and each one includes the Vegan Trademark alongside the logos of sponsors Ecotricity, DPD, Candriam, and Smyths Toys.

Reflo’s “Reloop” technology is what allows the new FGR kits to be fully recyclable. The company can break down and remake the mono-fibre materials into new items, thereby helping to tackle the “millions of tonnes” of waste produced by the sports industry each year.

“We like to push the boundaries on sustainability issues, including what our shirts are made from, because the materials we use to make things really matters,” said Dale Vince, chairman of FGR and the founder of Ecotricity.

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Previously, FGR has experimented with bamboo and even coffee grounds for materials in its football kits. Where other teams change designs once per season, every season, FGR will keep the new home version for two, reducing waste and the burden on supporters to purchase new ones.

Liverpool, Manchester United, and Juventus alone sell more than 7 million football shirts per year. Most football kits feature cheap, durable plastics like polyester. These can take from 20 to 200 years to break down and contribute to the sportswear industry’s outsized environmental footprint.

Vegan football kit demonstrates FGR’s ‘pioneering approach’ to sustainability

Photo shows the front of the new Forest Green Rovers vegan football kit in away pink — The football club said that the leopard print pattern on the new vegan kit was “inspired by nature”

FGR was first founded over 135 years ago, but under Vince’s initial investment in 2010 and subsequent chairmanship, the club has pivoted towards sustainability and renewables.

FGR is currently working on a brand new home stadium with a huge number of planned green features, while the club’s current home stadium, The New Lawn, already includes solar panels, organic grass, renewable-powered pitch heating, and an all-vegan menu.

“We’ve been working with Dale and the team for eight years and have awarded our Vegan Trademark certification in a number of areas of the club’s operations,” said Alex Markland, senior account manager at The Vegan Society. “But this kit is the first in the world to be certified vegan and is the most visible demonstration yet of Forest Green Rovers’ pioneering approach to sustainability in football.”