PROMOTION to the Championship is a ‘realistic ambition’ for Forest Green Rovers in the coming years, says chairman Dale Vince.

But much will depend on Stroud and District Council playing ball with the club and granting planning permission for a new state-of-the-art stadium at the proposed Eco Park next to the M5 at Eastington.

A planning permission decision on the stadium is expected in the autumn but, for now, Forest Green are just digesting the new League Two fixture list, announced on Wednesday morning.

And Vince has assured fans that, rather than promotion to the professional structure causing a drain on club finances, they are actually ‘better off’.

The new fixtures will see them open their first campaign in the Football League with a home tie against Barnet on Saturday August 5 and Vince is licking his lips at the prospect of facing sides like Coventry City, Swindon Town and a Gloucestershire derby with Cheltenham Town.

Looking out over a sun-drenched New Lawn, the chairman said: “The Championship is enough of an ambition to focus on (for the meantime).

“Every place you go, you set yourself a goal of where you want to be. By the time you get there, everything is changed but we will see.

“The Championship is a realistic ambition given our catchment (area) if we are able to move to junction 13, the stadium, looking at budgets in the Championship and what we could sustain.”

Vince also said that, rather than costing much more money to play in the Football League compared to the non-league structure, the club can now reap financial rewards.

“It has taken a lot to get here (investment) but now we are here, we are financially much better off. The difference between being in the Football League and being in non-league is just enormous in terms of revenue.

“So we have kind of made it now and we have the chance to compete in League Two.

“The journey into League One won’t be as hard as the journey into League Two and there are more opportunities.

“Three automatic spots instead of one. You only have to be third best and you are away,” he beamed.