Forest Green Rovers owner Dale Vince says he'll snub Carlisle United directors' box over tie policy

The boss of United's opponents this afternoon claims he will sit with the travelling fans rather than observe the Cumbrians' directors' dress code.

And eco-enterpreneur Vince also says he will insist Carlisle directors wear jeans and trainers rather than collar and tie when they visit Forest Green for the return game in January.

United could not be reached for a response to Vince's claims today.

The businessman made the comments on his Facebook page.

He wrote: "Carlisle have a strict dress code, no tie no entry - so I’m with our fans for the game, nothing lost there..

"And we have a ‘mirror dress code policy’ that will bite Carlisle later in the season (when they visit us) - whatever they ban we insist on, whatever they insist on we ban - so it’s obligatory jeans and trainers for them and no shirts or ties..."

It is not the first time Vince, the head of green energy firm Ecotricity, has found himself at odds with United's hierarchy.

Tie-wearing United directors and vice-presidents in the directors' box at a recent home game (photo: Barbara Abbott)

Back in 2018 Blues chairman Andrew Jenkins, the head of Pioneer Foodservice, said he couldn't bring himself to sample the cuisine on offer at all-vegan Forest Green.

"I don’t really want to be sarcastic, but what would happen if, when vegetarians came to our club, all we could offer was an all-meat menu?" Jenkins added in programme notes.

Vince responded by suggesting that, in the future, families who made their living in the meat trade would be regarded in the same way as people who ran the slave trade.

United went on to offer a vegan menu for a subsequent Forest Green visit to Brunton Park.

*What do you think? Should visiting directors respect the Blues' dress code? Or is a tie-only policy out of date? Let us know in the comments...