Forest Green Rovers owner Dale Vince says the club has launched legal action against Peterborough United over the approach for Robbie Savage, turning the manager's move into a formal dispute between the two clubs.
Robbie Savage left Forest Green on 2 October to join Peterborough United, only hours after being appointed by the League One club. His exit came after Forest Green had sat 13th after 11 matches, with the 51-year-old having arrived in Gloucestershire in July 2025 and guided the club to the play-offs before that campaign ended in defeat to Boreham Wood.
Vince said Forest Green had “begun a legal process for the tapping up of our manager, now ex-manager, Robbie Savage”, adding that the club believed Peterborough had overstepped the mark in the way they pursued him.
What Forest Green say happened
The Forest Green owner said Peterborough “came to us and said, ‘We would like to speak to your manager,’” before the situation escalated further. Vince’s view was that once the request had been rejected, the contact continued anyway.
He said: “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.”
That is the heart of Forest Green’s complaint. This is no longer just about a manager moving on quickly; it is now about whether the correct process was followed before Savage was taken from one club to another.
Peterborough’s response
Peterborough United have previously denied making an illegal approach for Savage, and chairman Darren MacAnthony has defended the move as “100% correct and proper, following all the rules”.
That sets up a clear clash in versions. Forest Green say the approach was improper and have now moved the issue into a legal process. Peterborough maintain they acted within the rules.
For Savage, the move follows a successful spell at Macclesfield FC and a short but productive time at Forest Green. For the clubs, though, the story now goes beyond footballing ambition and into a formal dispute that may take time to resolve.
What happens next will depend on the legal process Forest Green say they have begun. But for now, the row has ensured that Savage’s departure from Gloucestershire remains a major talking point well beyond the touchline.
