Forest Green's relegation still raw for Dave Hockaday

Hockaday took over at Rovers in September 2009

Forest Green manager Dave Hockaday says seeing his side get relegated was the hardest day of his career.

Rovers lost their Blue Square Premier status after other results went against them and they conceded two late goals to lose 2-1 at Grays.

"Time is a great healer. It's not healing yet. It's still very raw," Hockaday told BBC Gloucestershire.

"That's possibly the toughest day I've ever had and I've been in the game for 35 years and experienced everything."

It ends Forest Green's 12-year stay among the non-league elite after winning promotion under Frank Gregan in 1998.

With Stevenage going up, Rovers would have been the longest-serving team in the division next season.

Forest Green went in to the final weekend of the season needing only a draw at already-relegated Grays to be certain of avoiding the drop.

I love this football club. I haven't come here just to come in and go out

Forest Green Rovers manager Dave Hockaday

Having won six of their previous nine games in the run-in, Rovers looked in good form to get the result they needed.

"I haven't slept at all, but life goes on and what I do know is we need to finally make a plan for the future - not just for tomorrow, or for a week, or for a month or a year," he said.

"We need to now sit down and make a plan for Forest Green Rovers to go forward in to the future."

Whether Hockaday will be a part of that future remains to be seen with a decision still to be made on his future.

Having taken over an already struggling team in September and not been in charge for a whole campaign he says he would relish the chance to mould his own side from the start of a season.

"I would love to stay at the club, I love this football club, I haven't come here just to come in and go out," he said.

"I want to be a manager, I want to build - that's my reputation - and I want to now get us back in the league that we deserve to be in.

"As daft as it may seem to people, I then want to kick on and go beyond that."