With the 2025/26 season underway, the new fight for silverware has begun, with clubs having multiple chances to add to their trophy cabinet, with the FA Cup and Carabao Cup to name a few alongside the various league titles up for grabs.
Whilst the first round of the FA Cup is due to get underway at the start of November, with qualifications still taking place, the Carabao Cup is in full swing in the third round of the competition.
Unfortunately, Manchester United have already been knocked out of the tournament, with League Two side Grimsby Town coming out victorious on penalties.
However, another competition currently underway is the National League Cup, a 32-team competition made up of 16 National League teams and 16 of the Premier League Under-21s sides.
The tournament is split into four groups of eight teams, with the top two sides heading into the knock-out stages of the competition.
However, an interesting move was made by former Manchester United and Wales international midfielder Robbie Savage as he managed Forest Green Rovers in their second game in the cup against Wolves Under-21s.
Savage came through the Manchester United academy, helping his youth side win the FA Youth Cup in 1992, however moved to Crewe Alexandra in 1994 before he could make a senior appearance for the Red Devils.
Since then, Savage played for a range of clubs including Leicester, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers and Derby County, retiring in 2011, before returning with Stockport Town in 2019 after an eight-year career break.
A year later and Savage hung up his boots to become the sporting director of Macclesfield before becoming the club’s manager in summer 2024. Now, a year later after helping Macclesfield to earn promotion, the 50-year-old is leading Forest Green in their second place position in the National League.
Taking to the pitch at kick off, Robbie Savage made the call to make a quadruple substitution, taking off four of his squad in the first minute of the game.
It’s understood the decision had been made before the squad took to the pitch, to see Abraham Kanu, Tom Knowles, Neil Kengni Kuemo and Kyle McAllister all be replaced by Akai Bonnick, William Merrett, James Balagizi and Yahya Bamba.
FourFourTwo has reported that the reason behind the strange call was to exploit a loophole in the rules which says that the non-league clubs have to field at least four players who started in their last league match to ensure at least a third of the squad is made up of their league first-team layers.
As such, Forest Green Rovers took to the pitch with seven fresh players and Kanu, Knowles, McAllister and Kengni being the four players from their last league game. However, with the four being replaced before even kicking the ball, Robbie Savage made sure to keep to the rules, whilst still playing the game with what was effectively a completely fresh squad.
Forest Green went on to win the game 3-2 , with the decision seemingly paying off to see the National League side hold second place in Group B.
It’s unknown whether Savage will face repercussions from the FA for effectively playing the game with their second-choice line-up, as technically no rules were broken.
⏱️ 1′ | Early switches for Rovers
➡️ Bamba, Balagizi, Merrett, Bonnick
⬅️ Knowles, McAllister, Kengni, Kanu💚 0-0 🐺 | #FGRWOL
— Forest Green Rovers (@FGRFC_Official) September 16, 2025
