The 1950s - Jim Turk, Wesley Stokes, Ray “Raggy” Bingle

The 1950s saw Forest Green Rovers on a high, winning the GNSL in 1950 and 1951 and finishing runners up in the NSAC in 1951.

Jim Turk had joined Rovers in the 1940s and became a goal scoring machine for the first team, attracting attention of League clubs with trials, and finally joining Cheltenham Town (CTFC) in 1954.  He returned to Forest Green in 1957 as the Club’s first “permit player”, a paid semi professional.  He continued playing until the start of the 1960s, and was very well respected as one of the all time top scorers for Rovers with 63 goals in the 1949-50 Championship winning season.

Wesley Stokes was very much at home at Forest Green. He joined the club in 1950 and became a fixture in the first team. He survived a terrible season in 1954-55 which saw Rovers lose no less than 5 players with broken legs or career ending knee injuries and Jim Turk to CTFC. Following relegation in 1955 Wes was team captain for the 1956 season which saw Rovers bounce back to the top division of the GNSL. Wes played for the rest of the decade and then became a committee member, seeing the club through the sixties and seventies and on to the higher levels that they have now reached.

Ray “Raggy” Bingle had joined Rovers after the Second World War in 1946, having supported Rovers since the 1930s as a young boy.  He moved straight in to the first team and playing through the golden years of the early 1950s.  He went to work in East Africa at the end of 1951 returning to Rovers first team action for the 1955-56 season. He continued to play until 1961.