Forest Green Rovers confirm four players given international call ups
Striker D'Mani Mellor's been called up by Yemen, Kairo Mitchell by Grenada, Kyle Kelly by St Kitts and Nevis, and Fil Mabete by DR Congo
Last updated 18th Sep 2026
Forest Green Rovers fans will see four of their players depart for international duties this September, in what's thought to be a first for a non-league side.
The club said this international window is the first time any National League club has had four call-ups in one period.
Rovers striker D'Mani Mellor has been selected to join the Yemen national team.
Yemen, currently ranked 145th in the FIFA World Rankings as of July 2026, will play a friendly against Kuwait followed by Gulf Cup fixtures against the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain.
Kairo Mitchell, another Rovers forward, will represent Grenada.
Ranked 163rd in FIFA World Rankings, Grenada has a busy schedule for the CONCACAF Nations League B, Group 3, facing Cuba, St Kitts and Nevis, and two successive matches against Bonaire.
On-loan Liverpool player Kyle Kelly is set to join St Kitts and Nevis.
This team is placed 152nd in FIFA Rankings and will also engage in four matches in the CONCACAF Nations League B, Group 3, alongside Grenada, Bonaire, and a pair of consecutive games against Cuba.
Lastly, Fil Mabete, an on-loan centre-back from Swindon Town, has been called by DR Congo U23s.
As confirmed by Rovers manager Robbie Savage, Mabete will only feature in one fixture against Mauritania U23s as part of the Africa Cup of Nations U23 qualification round.
The players will miss Rovers’ home clash with Boston United on Saturday (19 September), as well as the subsequent fixtures against Wealdstone, Scunthorpe United and Sutton United.
It was confirmed by Robbie Savage earlier this month that the club will bring in loan signings to fill in the gaps rather than postpone fixtures.
Speaking during a pre-match interview ahead of their game against Gateshead Savage said: “It’s unprecedented at this level,”
“We’ve had four international call-ups, which is unbelievable for the football club. It gives us a little bit of a headache though because there’s a ruling that if you have three international call-ups, you can postpone games.
“Because it’s such a long international break of two weeks, some of our players will miss three or four games.”
In a statement today (18 September) a spokesperson for the club said: "We would like to wish all the players the best of luck whilst on international duty for their respective countries."