I’d dismissed the rumours of a groundmove that have been circulating for a day or so as boredom induced storytelling. But it does appear there’s something in this. We’ll all know more after the 10:30 press conference, but it would appear there are plans afoot for Forest to depart the City Ground, our home since 1898, and move to a new purpose-built stadium close to the A453 in around six years time.
The crux of the movement appears to be motivated by England’s bid for the 2018 World Cup. The new stadium will exceed both Derby and Leicester’s flat pack stadiums (apparently), and put Nottingham at the forefront for hosting international games. Given the location it will also present a more attractive proposition for parking and access than the suburb-bound City Ground. The initial capacity will be 40,000 – easily increasable to 50,000.
My initial reaction is I would be absolutely gutted to be leaving what I consider my spiritual home. And I would much rather Forest be communicating about just how they see themselves justifying a 40,000 seater stadium on the pitch rather than unveiling grand plans of new grounds – imagine us playing in such an arena whilst still in League One? But it will certainly be interesting. Of primary importance to me is that there is some originality in the design, that it’s not just another plastic faceless Pride Park, Walkers Crispbowl or Riverside stadium (not to mention the countless others!), but I won’t hold my breath.
I also wonder whether a stadium move will see Nigel Doughty come good on his promise some time ago to ensure a more appropriate tribute to Brian Clough (and, if I had my way, Peter Taylor) at the new stadium – he always said he would entertain such a notion when the Main Stand was redeveloped. I shan’t hold my breath. Anyway, I’ll comment further when I have more information. All together now..
Far we have travelled
And much we have seen,
Goodison, Anfield
Are places we’ve been,
Maine Road, Old Trafford
Still echo to the sounds,
Of the boys in the red shirts
From the City Ground,
City Ground
Oh mist rolling in from the Trent,
My desire, is always to be here
Oh City Ground.
Filed under: News
I dont understand this?? I thought the plan was to re develop the main stand, increasing the capacity to around 40,000.
This will just be another Pointless ‘bowl’ with no atmosphere!! It’s all comercial crap, we should be concentrating on signing new players and promotion, Not thinking about new Fu**ing stadiums!
I suppose we might get voted “best ground in League 1″ in 6 years time… Although I think we already have that award!!
ND needs to pull his head out the clouds and address the CURRENT situation at the club
If they leave The City Ground that will be it for me. I went to my first game there on 15th April 1967 and soon it seems I’ll be seeing my last game there…GUTTED!
ND wanted to extend the current ground. It is not possible as NFFC do not own all of the surrounding houses although he has tried. The mainstand can only go as high as the West Bridgford stand at that end. Also the river prevents extension.
I see where he is coming from but i am gutted. I can’t imagine a new home and I would hate to see a flat pack ground that is half empty (if we’re lucky).
I will always view the CG as our spiritual home (I even scattered my dads ashes there !), however I think we have to be open minded about this proposal. As Lou pointed out there is not much room for improvement in our current location and the development value of the land at the city ground would go along way to paying for a new stadium.
What does concern me is that a premiership stadium is proposed for a third division team, but you have to think big and this may act as a catalyst for improvement on the pitch as well.
I visited Pride Park last week on business and though I say it through gritted teeth, the set up is impressive in terms of what the stadium offers as a whole and if we could do something on a bigger basis it will be a good move.
Another point of view maybe that ND is using a proposed move as a negotiating tool to get what improvements he wants at the City Ground ??
I heard this ground will be shared with the Pies too. How crap will that be!
Sharing with the Pies doesn’t worry me, though it would be interesting to get their take on this ?
My understanding was we will NOT be sharing with Notts.
Having just looked at the artists impressions on the clubs website, I have to say, it looks impressive !
Why do we need this? Even when we were finishing 3rd in the Premier League we would rarely sell the stadium out, and if we did, it was only a further demand of a couple of thousand that was not satisfied. With this is mind, how can we justify such a big stadium. To be honest, I can see us going the way of Blackpool or Stoke and being doomed to the lower divisions with a glorius past an inreasingly distant memory, what I can’t really envisage is us competing in the Premier League in 2018 and ”competing” to sucha level that we can attract 40,000 fans. Who cares about the bloody world cup anyway?! We won’t even get it!!!!
Also, can anyone answer this question? How much of the City Ground do Forest / Nigel Dougherty actualy own? Is he likely to make a lot of money on this? Even if he isn’t, I’m sure he will on the development of the land around the new stadium. I just hope that if this does happen it is in the best interests of the club and the fans, and not the Chairman.
Wacko Jacko – why don’t we look on the bright side of life.
I belive NFFC own 3/4s of the ground, what we do not own is a strip of land that backs on to the Trent and this impacts on part of the Trent end.
The City Ground is an old style inner city type ground that is now locked in the middle of a residential area with no room for improvement or expansion. The value of riverside residential land could be at least circa £1,000,000 per acre.
The stadium needs improving but it doesnt seem possible in our current location.
With regard to the new staduium, I would assume the land around the stadium will be owned and developed by Wilson Bowden not ND/Forest
I think we have to have ambition. The stadium will obviously attract attention from other users (concerts currently held at Pride Park) that will bring in additional revenue.
The bright side of life, Paul?? We are currently a 3rd division football team. The clubs ambition for the past 5 years has been promotion. Crap senior management decisions have put paid to that.
Still, if 12,000 of us buy season tickets when its built (out of a possible 40,000+), at least there wont be the inevitable queues at half-time! And will the club continue to seat the away fans in the prime position?
Mark Arthur for Prime Minister!
I have mixed views about the idea. I think it’s good to attract some outside investment to the club, and ND obviously is very skilled from his work in the Private Equity field in this sort of area, so it should prove to be good. And should leave ND to let CC concentrate on building a decent squad.
However, we don’t fill our current capacity….so how can we expect to fill 40,000. The obvious answer is that we would in the Premierhsip (would we?). But surely we should get to the Prem first before we make plans for the stadium?
I agree with you Paul to a large extent and I’m well excited about if and at the same time gutted about the possibility of leaving the CG. Except what Wacko Jacko is saying is also right. I trust the board to act in the best interests of the club, however I dont trust them to be competant about it. Secondly, after the dissappointment of that Yeovil game:
1. Is this just a PR stunt as they’ve not confirmed it will happen. Its a proposition is all
2. I’ll be damn happy if we do get back in the premiership, but where the hell has this sudden surge of ambition come from. We’ve gone from selling off our best players to get out of debt to proposing a brand new £125m stadium. What the hell??!!
As you rightly point out we do not fill our stadium at present but we are in the third division and we have been close to capacity at times over the past few seasons.
This new stadium assumes we are playing premiership football and if this was the case we would easliy sell 20,000 plus season tickets plus guarnateed away fans.
You have to plan a scheme like this now as it will take years to come to fruition.
Nigel Doughty semms damned if he does, damned if he doesnt !
Any of you seen the drivel on freeforest.co.uk?
(Not to be confused with freeforest.com, which is more of a “specialist” website….)
Paul, you have a point about planning ahead…i just worry sometimes about planning ahead….look what happened to Leeds when they “planned ahead” for Chamipons League football every season…..
I’ve been studiously avoiding comment on freeforest.co.uk
Some great thoughts coming through – most of my initial feelings are covered amply by you lot.
You do have to plan well in advance, and the kind of budget we’re talking means it will be something more – hopefully – than the nasty flatpack grounds on display elsewhere in the East Midlands.
We defo have to buck the trend for the awful modern stadiums that we are seeing everywhere from Southampton to Middlebrough (via our regional “friends”).
I am not completely against the idea, in fact part of me is very excited. I guess I am just gutted at the thought of not being at the City Gound. I also think the right questions need to be asked to make sure we are doing this for the right reasons and that it won’t hinder team building in the short term which has to be the main priority.
I would only be completely happy if they name the area of the new stadium “Clough Park” and the stadium itself “The New [add inevitable sponsor's name] City Ground”. This way we can still sing the song.
Portsmouths new stadium plans look impressive enough. I’ve been to the Emirates and that stadium is awesome. And Wembley, well I dont know what thats like! Yet!! I believe the days of flat packed stadiums are gone and this will be a truely grand arena worthy of our beloved club!
But what the hell? We’ve swallowed the pill that we’ve had to get rid of the likes of Jenas, Dawson, Reid because we were in debt and now we announce this. Its kind of taking the piss dont you think?
Capital One Bowl
Oh mist rolling in from the A453
My desire is to finally get on the as-yet unbuilt tramline so I can find my car in the Park and Ride and get away from
The Capital One Bowl
Our club is run by a bunch of window-licking gibbons.
Forget artists impressions, they alays look impressive. Anything more than the usual flat pack costs big money in Britain nowadays(look at Wembley). If it’s a funky stadium you’re after that won’t cost the earth we should be looking at moving to Germany!
As for how much of the City Ground Forest actually own…well, we are simply the tennants, Nottingham City Council are the land owners. And as they are very keen to develop the land around the river you can begin to see where th driving force for this move is coming from. And as for groundsharing with Notts – you better believe it will happen, and probably before/if we move to a ’super stadium’. Meadow Lane has already been earmarked by the City Council for development. You remember those plans that were released a couple of years back that ‘mistakenly’ ommitted Meadow Lane and instead showed an area of nice, new (expensive) housing? Well, that was no ‘mistake’…
I’m afraid this projected move is all about money and I’m with Geoff Curtis, the day they move will be the end of my days as a season ticket holder. It’s not just about the team for me, it’s about the bricks and mortar, the atmosphere and the history. And the mist rolling in from the Trent is a big part of that as far as I’m concerned.
Of course, those in charge won’t care less about my feelings. nor those of the rest of you. If they did they would have canvassed opinons before making any announcement. It’s called consultation. Oh, sorry, silly me. I forgot. That’s a dirty word to certain ears, especially when the money-making mind that sits inbetween stands to do very nicey out of doing exactly what the hell he pleases…
I have to say I am very surprised by a lot of the comments. I expected a groundswell of outraged opposition, not some of the nice reasoned comments on here!
Come on guys, can you not see that the Club is taking the piss?? We have gone from being a massive club in europe, with the respect of the footballing world, to a small club languishing in the 3rd division being pitied (and mocked) by all non-forest fans.
I dont want to move, and thanks for asking our opinion forest, but obviously if the club decide to go elsewhere i’ll be there too.
I wonder where all this ambition was earlier this season when we were sitting back defending a single goal lead…..?
Oh yeah, small point, but how come we’ve suddenly become super-rich?
Maybe the club should groundshare with Grantham Town, or can two clubs from the same division not do that?!
Mattyboy….i think the idea is that the stadium will support itself from other revenues that are related to it. At least i hope that is the case!! At least investors will be attracted to likely revenue (such as rents etc) rather than the unlikely revenue that a football team “might” generate from all of its other activites.
I can’t believe I’m reading that some people on here will stop watching Forest if we move! You support a team not a pile of ageing bricks and mortar. Yes it will be gut wrenching to leave the CG, some of my best moments have been spent there, but we have to move with the times. Our current ground is going nowhere and will not be ecomomically viable if we do make it make to the premiership.
The developers are planning a large scale redevelopment of the area which will include a new stadium, but that will be just part of a scheme that will include housing/offices/new tram etc etc.
Therefore there will be a vast amount of investment in the area, not just from Forest.
You only have to look at the success enjoyed by Sunderland and Derby are enjoying to see how moving may well be the right thing to do.
Have you seen some of the shite written on the Post forums about this? And there was me thinking the word ’sheep’ was exclusive to Derby fans…
I really do not believe what I have read from Forest fans in the last few weeks and this just about tops the lot. The City Ground has been home of Forest for over a century and there is a lot of history at that ground but all things change at some point. How many people were sceptical about Wembley and now its being branded as the best stadium in the world – I am not saying a new ground will be on the same level but look how perceptions change.
The club has been slated for showing a lack of ambition in recent years and yes we have to show improvement on the pitch but lets forget which league we are in now, this project wont be complete until 2014 and thats if it actually gets thego ahead. If the club is where the fans want it to be in 2014 there willbe fans all over Nottingham complaining they cant get a ticket for a 30k stadium and begging for development. Well the club are showing a bit of vision and a bit of ambition.
Like all of you though I am still waiting to see improvements on the pitch!!!! I am not trying to detract from that.
If my understanding is right the Council hold all the power in relation to development at the CG so if the club are trying to use this to their advantage then lets support it. I for one think this is great news and look forward to the club creating history in a new stadium!
I guess I don’t mind the idea of a new stadium idea so much, at some point we’d no doubt HAVE to move anyway. I’d rather it not be a genero-stadium like all the other new grounds that sprang up in the last 10 years either, but the cost of anything better than that might be too much. But most of all I really hope they get the naming right, god forbid any corporate tie ins (Walkers Bowl anyone?) and selling the clubs soul completely. At least make sure this is right, I can pretty much cope with the rest I guess.
Though a promotion or two first would be nice
Paul/One Foot in the Grave- sorry but it’s not just about the team for me (and a bloody good job too at the moment!). As I said, it’s about so much more and, yes, that includes the ‘ageing bricks and mortar’. It’s part of the package for me, the history of the club. I know lifelong fans of the Panthers who felt the same whern they moved from the old ice stadium and hardly ever go and watch them now despite there being no comparison in the ‘luxury’ of their surroundings. It may seem an odd mind set to you, but to myself and others tradition is part of what makes football the beautiful game it undoubtedly is and without it things just won’t be the same.
latenightpsycho – I understand your point of view, I have been going to the CG for over 30 years and it would be a big wrench to leave, and I am sure that Sunderland, Derby , Manchester City, Leicester fans all had the same feelings but I am sure they all much prefer being in a new modern stadium with the advantages they bring.
As ‘one foot in the grave’ pointed out, the club is now being slated for showing ambition. I am sure NFFC would love to redevelop the CG – but it is becoming increasingly obvious that this is not possible.
Anyway this proposal is a long way off, so lets all concentrate on giving the team and Colin our support this season.
OK, put it this way;
1) Just how are Forest supposed to double their gate in less than 10 years, even if they get into the Premiership? The football boom is waning, and the ladder has been pulled up. There’d be capacity crowds against Big Four clubs, but what about the 75% of games against other Premiership teams?
2) How can you bank on England winning the right to host the 2018 World Cup (for a 3-1 chance of Nottingham winning the glittering prize of hosting Potatovia v The People’s Republic of Macaroon, and two other less-than-capacity games), given the FA’s record of not being able to host a fight in the Thurland?
3) Why do the dickheads who run this town feel the need to behave like a giant child, picking up and putting down buildings on a deluded whim? We have three world-famous stadiums within walking distance of each other. A normal city would be celebrating the shit out of that, instead of trying to break it up.
4) Why are Notts fans laughing about this when it’s blatantly obvious that the Council want rid of both stadiums so they can build more ponce-boxes, hotels and restaurants?
There’s something incredibly fishy going on here. They’re putting a £50m cart before a Third Division horse. Hopefully the good people of Gotham will pretend to be mental again to stop it happening, somehow.
Very sad like everyone else but of course we have to have a bigger and better ground than derby and leicester.as long term i.e 3 years ,we shall be a bigger and more succcessful club than them and the top club in the east midlands needs the best ground!!!!!!!
Nishlord – Word!!
While I partly agree with some of the positive spin, (and my kids happen to think its a great idea), I just cant help but think back to the “good ‘ole days” when the away fans used to be crammed in the corner around the floodlight pylon and there would just be a thin fence between us. The banter and atmosphere – especially for night games – was mega. And the Trent End before seats. What an education that was for a young lad. When full, there was no where like it on earth to me. The chanting, singing, pushing forwards and sidewards.
Then we built a nice (and it is) new stand for the away fans to sit in and out-sing us from. And a lovely looking seated area for the trentenders to sit in and have a snooze on a saturday (no chance of getting woken up by the noise).
Yep, I sure am looking forward to the new place.
Things move on dont they Mattyboy. You couldnt have everyone pushing forwards and sideways against each other as it would be a health and safety risk and as for chanting and singing – well thats hooliganism young man. There’s no place for that kind of noise at a football match. keep it in the churches.
the picture you paint IS real football. But the game is now a show, put on in theatres suitable for corporate entertainment – where the true fans are sitting and ooing and ahhring appropiately. Maybe with a trumpet or a drum for those truely outrageous clubs!
The past is gone. The best we can hope for now is a kick ass stadium that we can be proud of. My hope is that it will retain some character but then what does a bloke in a suit, or a modern day architect know of that. But if the board fancy a nice modern 40,000 seater stadium they had better realise that if they are gonna fill it, Forest will have to play good football with proper decent players.
Roll on the era of building a team to match the grand stadium it will be playing with.
Of course they could also fill it by putting on Simply Red concerts.
Simply Red?!
Quite right Kieran, can’t stop progress. Looks like the council are gonna have us out of the CG anyway, so we may as well lease the best stadium we can.
Lets just hope the football matches the ground and facilities. Though nobody can really blame us for fearing the worst given the last 5 years, can they…
Sorry, not Simply Red. Bon Jovi! They use to play each year at the Britannia Stadium a while back I seem to remember. Somewhat random but I guess it paid the bills! I suppose Nottingham will be graced with a McFly comeback tour or something.
The money would be better spent on a player or two.
not just forest will be playin at this ‘Arena’ world cup matches will be played here aswell so would you like to see the worlds best players at nottingham, i wounder what you answer is…
I doubt any high profile games would get hosted there, if any – so it wouldn’t really be the world’s best players.. but it’s certainly an appealing idea, not least because if it happened it would deprive either the Sheep or Les-dar of the prestige
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