“Indeed, the away supporters were also shouting that they could stick vegan sausages in their stomachs…” said Newark & Sherwood United chairman Steph Wright, before walking away with a laugh.
The ninth-tier club, which plays in the non-league United Counties League Premier Division North, has experienced much ridicule since Wright took over the club in 2022 and became a “plant power”. .
Newark & Sherwood serves only vegan food to both fans and players at games, and many of the team adopts a plant-based diet.
The club is also set to unveil plans for a new zero-carbon stadium based in Newark to commemorate the 2024 Green Football Weekend, but is awaiting approval from local authorities.
Mr Wright said the aim was to be the “most sustainable stadium in the country”. He also described Forest Green Rovers and their owner Dale Vince as “pioneers in business and football”.
forest greenare currently in League Two and became the world's first vegan football club in 2015.
Wright said making the non-league club vegan presented a number of challenges, both from outside the club and from players within the team.
“When we win against our opponents, they're not as receptive, but that's a common reaction to match results,” he told BBC Sport. “Our players are half very keen and half resistant to eating anything other than chicken nuggets. We have to re-educate them on what healthy eating looks like. It's like having a child.
“The food for the players at this level was terrible. Education at this level is really important. There is no education at our level.”
Clubs higher up England's football pyramid are better able to offer nutritional advice and education to their players, but it is much more difficult to do so at this level, says Jed Smith, club operations manager and Mr Wright's son. .
“We have a very young team, many of whom don't cook for themselves and generally don't eat the healthiest food,” he said.
“We emphasized athletic benefits, rather than animal welfare or sustainability. It combated some of the key issues faced when it comes to plant-based foods in football. Toxic masculinity, you can call it that.”
“If you deviate from the straight line, you will be criticized.”
Under Wright's ownership, the club has tried many different things. Invite a drag queen to be the MC for the match In honor of LGBTQ+ History Month in 2023, we will be turning our club vegan.
Wright, a former Lincoln City owner, said it was easy to bring such radical ideas to non-league football as the club had undergone upheaval in recent years.
Formerly known as Newark FC, the club lost ground three years ago when its land was sold to a developer, forcing it to move 32 miles away to Nottingham.
Following Wright's takeover, the club was rebranded and brought back to its hometown after the owners upgraded the facilities of local village club Collingham FC to allow ground sharing.
“When you join a successful club and try to change things, it's easy for people to not buy in and criticize you,” Wright said. “It was very easy for us.
“Not everyone is happy with these changes. One or two supporters are very critical. But I think we've taken 95% of people on our journey. I can say that.”
Trying to maintain results on the pitch while progressing off it adds further complexity. Newark & Sherwood have struggled in the former, sitting 16th in the 18-team United Counties League Premier Division North with just four wins from 22 league games this season.
While both Smith and Wright are proud of their progress off the field, they acknowledge that there must also be consequences.
“When something happens, when people make a choice, [expletive] “It might be in the back of your mind because of what you're doing, but I don't think that's a bad thing at all,” Smith said.
Wright added: “Football matches have to be won. The problem is that we always go off the straight line of just talking about football, we stick to the traditional approach and then we lose and people criticize us.” .
“They say, “You can't even win a football match,'' “You're doing this, you're doing that.'' That's why it's always difficult and people don't get brave when it comes to new ideas in football. The reason is.”
However, although the results for Newark & Sherwood are not yet available, the owners show no signs of deviating from their plans.
“We want to get back to Newark itself, and that means climbing as high up the pyramid as possible,” Smith said. “Whether it's Step 2 or the National League, we're going to do everything we can.”
