Forest Green launch legal action over Savage approach
Forest Green Rovers owner Dale Vince says the club has launched legal action against Peterborough United over its approach for former manager Robbie Savage, who was appointed manager of Peterborough on 2 October. Vince announced the move in a short video on social media.
Vince says he initially refused Peterborough permission to speak to Savage but later claimed he was forced to agree after Savage was approached directly. Peterborough United have previously denied making an illegal approach.
Savage had joined Forest Green Rovers after a successful spell at the then-seventh tier Macclesfield FC, the phoenix club formed after Macclesfield Town was wound up in 2020. While with the Silkmen the club sealed promotion to National League North, scoring 109 goals and winning 109 points.
He arrived in Gloucestershire in July 2025 and guided Forest Green to the play-offs, with the campaign ending in defeat to Boreham Wood. It was his only full season in charge; he left on 2 October with Forest Green sitting 13th after 11 matches.
Vince told BBC Radio Gloucestershire that he initially refused Peterborough permission to speak to Savage but relented after he said the club approached him directly. "Peterborough themselves have covered themselves in no glory here. They came to us and said, 'We would like to speak to your manager,'" he told BBC Radio Gloucestershire 10 days after the appointment. "We said no, and so they spoke to him, and then he came to us and said, 'I hear Peterborough want to speak to me.' So, that's an illegal approach."
Posh chairman Darren MacAnthony hit back against the claims, writing on X that the process to appoint a new manager was "100% correct and proper, following all the rules". Since joining Peterborough, Savage's record has been two wins, two draws and two losses in all competitions.
Vince said in the social-media video that Forest Green had "begun a legal process for the tapping up of our manager, now ex-manager, Robbie Savage". Peterborough United offered no comment on the legal action when contacted by BBC Sport.
