Grass at eco-friendly The New Lane is cut by a £10,500 GPS-navigated MowBot – a solar-powered robot lawnmower – which doesn’t use fuel.
Witchell can usually sleep soundly knowing the pitch is being looked after at night, with the MowBot routinely texting him updates.
But Witchell, speaking when SunSport went to the Cotswolds to visit the greenest club in football, also revealed that the robot once got him into a massive spot of bother.
He says: "Once, my phone started bleeping at 2.30am.
"It kept going off and waking me up.
"My partner elbowed me aggressively in the midriff and said: ‘Who is f***ing messaging you at this time?’
"I said it was the robot.
GREEN WITH ENVY Meet the football team who use solar-powered lawnmowers to mow their pitch
"We argued until 6am. Eventually she believed me."
Witchell doesn’t use chemicals to treat the pitch. Stoke, Southampton, Ajax and Feyenoord groundsmen are following his lead.
While Real Madrid's ground-staff were so impressed they met with Witchell at a business summit to discuss his natural methods.
Vinegar gets rid of weeds around the building. Organic fertiliser which contains animal matter (blood and bones) is not permitted. Everything is plant-based.
Seaweed harvested from the Outer Hebrides hydrates the pitch.
“I’ve got a young son and I know I am not passing on any chemicals on me from my work,” Witchell says. “I want my kids to have the same environment as me and not to wear masks in the future.”
Elsewhere around the ground, power is generated by a wind turbine.
Stands have solar-powered panels. Rain water is recycled by drains for use in the sprinkler system and toilets.
There are five electric car points outside the ground. Players can still drive Ferraris and Lamborghinis if they want because as Vince points out: “We don’t tell players what to do at home.
"It’s not in their contracts that they must be vegan or drive electric cars!”
MEET THE TEAM BEHIND THE GREENEST CLUB IN FOOTBALL – READ THE FULL FEATURE WITH FOREST GREEN ROVERS HERE
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