A FOOTBALL fan has written a new book about his beloved Forest Green Rovers to raise money for charity.

Chris Gardner, a longstanding FGR fan who is deaf, has penned The Rise of Forest Green Rovers – The Road to Wembley - a heartwarming and unusual account of the club's rise to the verge of glory, then heartbreak at Wembley.

Money raised from the sales of the book will go to the Gloucestershire Deaf Association which supports deaf and hard of hearing people across the county.

Chris said: "I lost the hearing in my right ear completely in 1989 - a combination of cricket accident and subsequent infection in the USA when skiing.

"My left ear became deaf over time to the point that I can only hear with the use of a hearing aid.

"One of my life goals was to write a book but somehow I'd never made the time.

"Last year, FGR's press officer, Rich Joyce invited me to write 'away match reports' for the Match Day Magazine.

"That appealed to me though I was keener to write about the experience of travelling to the games and how my colleagues and I found the opposition stadia, supporters and so on.

"So, Rambling Man was born with a cast of regular companions."

Chris ‘Rambling Man’ Gardner is ably assisted by a host of literary, and not-so-literary, commentators –including club legends, the Farmcotian, Jokerman and travelling companions Compo and Foggy - taking the reader on the rollercoaster ride that was the 2015/16 season.

GDA’s chief executive Jenny Hopkins said: “We are honoured that Chris has decided to write this book in aid of GDA.

"Chris has been a breath of fresh air to the charity since he joined in 2015, and this step to supporting GDA is testament of his commitment to improving the lives of people living with hearing loss.”

The Rise of Forest Green Rovers – The Road to Wembley is a story interspersed with match reports written by an array of primary school children, FGR’s ‘Student Ambassadors’ and backed up by the press officer’s official reports and statistics.

Renowned author and fellow FGR supporter, Jilly Cooper OBE provides the foreword, as does FGR owner, Dale Vince.

He traces Forest Green Rovers’ ascent through the hurly burley of emotions endured by its supporters, whose joy and despair will be recognizable to football fans the world over.

The book is available to pre-order by contacting the GDA office on 01452 372999 or emailing admin@gda.org.uk.

Copies are also available in book stores from Monday, October 24.

The book took place at Forest Green Rovers, New Lawn Stadium at 1pm on Saturday.

Chris, along with Jilly Cooper, was there to sign copies.