FOREST GREEN have confirmed Mark Cooper as their new manager.

Interim manager Scott Bartlett will remain in charge this week and will lead Forest Green against Grimsby Town in the play-off final at Wembley on Sunday, with the former Swindon Town boss providing valuable assistance with his experience of taking the Robins to the home of football in the League One play-offs last year.

Cooper was appointed Notts County boss in March until the end of the season where he hit his points target and was offered the role permanently, however the 47-year-old declined the post in favour of joining Forest Green.

Forest Green chairman Dale Vince said: “This is a very exciting appointment for the club and the start of the next phase of our development.

"Mark is a talented manager with a great track record, an adherent of Total Football - and has FGR in his blood - being a former captain of the club.

"Mark and Scotty know each other well and we’ll see a strong link between our first team and academy as a result. "It’s s great pleasure to welcome Mark back to Forest Green."

New Forest Green Manager Mark Cooper said: “I’m excited to be joining a club with a clear aim and strategy on where it wants to go and how it wants to get there.

“There are not many opportunities to join a club that has that foresight – a lot of clubs are run day to day and don’t plan for the future.

“These clubs may be bigger clubs in stature, but this is a big club in the way it is looking forward.”

Fresh from Rovers 2-1 aggregate win over Dover Athletic in the play off semi final, interim manager Scott Bartlett said: “Mark is someone I look up to and someone I am very happy to work with.

“I visited Swindon last season to watch and learn from Mark, and it’s not every manager who invites you into their office to share their experience.

“So I am as excited as everyone else should be by Mark’s appointment."

Former midfielder Mark Cooper played over 450 times during a career that took in 17 clubs including Exeter City, BirminghamCity, Fulham, Hartlepool and Tamworth – scoring 115 league goals – and took in spells in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth tier of English football.

During his one season at Forest Green Rovers in2001-02 – FGR's third year in the top tier of non-league football – he was club captain and named Supporters' Player of theYear, after scoring 18 goals from midfield.

After leaving Rovers, Cooper moved to Tamworth where he had a five-year spell, eventually becoming player-manager in 2004-05.

After a successful move to manage Kettering Town during which time they won the Conference North title in 2007-08, Cooper had a short spell in charge of Championship side Peterborough United during the 2009-10season.

Cooper had further spells managing Darlington andAFC Telford in the Conference National, before taking the role of assistant manager at League One Swindon Town in January 2013 and was eventually appointed manager for the 2013-14 season – guiding the Wiltshire side to the play off final at Wembley with a attractive brand of attacking football before eventually losing to Preston.

He parted company with Swindon in October 2015and took over the job at Notts County in March 2016.

Video reaction and more pictures to follow.