The City Ground: Nottingham Forest 2-0 Port Vale

Sunday 16 December 2007

Nottingham Forest 2-0 Port Vale

Aerial shot of the City Ground (Bing Maps)

Programme - £2.50

Ratings

Overall Ground Quality : 7/10

Ease of getting there : 9/10

Atmosphere : 8/10

Programme : 8/10

View of Action : 10/10

Quality of the game : 6/10

The "football" feeling : 10/10

Chances of coming here for a random game : 10/10

Legroom : 9/10

Surrounding area : 8/10

Overall : 85/100

Trent End

Main Stand

Bridgford End

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Nottingham Forest 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers

A real Easter treat! Two games in one day and nowadays can be seen to be a rarity. Adrian has witnessed two games in one day three times over the years with this being his four. For myself (Ross), this was my first chance to witness two games in one day.

Our eggs-traordinary day (sorry - no more Easter puns!) started at 10am when we left Leicestershire going up the M1 and on the almost complete A453 in the misty bank holiday drizzle. When we arrived in West Bridgford, we decided to park up early to ensure we had our parking space. We parked around the corner from Trent Bridge cricket ground on Millicent Road pointing in the right direction for our speedy get away following the match.

Conveniently, my grandparents (Adrian’s parents) live in West Bridgford only a mile and a half from where we parked. Once we parked up, we walked up to their house in the fine drizzle where we had lunch. Following lunch, we were given a lift by my grandad (Adrian’s Dad) back down to Millicent Road where we walked towards Trent Bridge where we started to take some photos around the City Ground. The City Ground is a rather difficult football ground to walk around due to the surrounding streets.

The City Ground is spoilt with history. The Main stand was opened 1965 and then re-opened in 1968 after a fire destroyed some of the stand during a First Division game against Leeds United. As a result, Forest played there next 6 home games at Meadow Lane. The Brian Clough stand is a two tiered stand with executive boxes which was opened in 1980 costing £2m following their European Cup triumphs. Following the development of the Brian Clough stand was the re-development of the Bridgford End, a two tiered stand with an unusual sloped roof due to the limited space surrounding the ground. Finally, the Trent End was built in time for Euro 96. The Trent End is seen to be a landmark built on the embankment of the River Trent which runs through the city.

Following a very even first half, it was early into the second half when the game saw its first goal. Forest came out the dressing room losing concentration as Wolves’ Benik Afobe scored 27 seconds into the second half when the Forest defence switched off and allowed him to run through the defence, 0-1. Wolves were the more threatening and composed, as Sako's clever run drew a needless sliding tackle from Henri Lansbury conceding a penalty which Sako easily put past Darlow in the Forest net, 0-2. Blackstock's tidy finish brought hope in the fourth minute of injury time but there was only just time to kick off and no more than a consolation, 1-2.

Following the match, Adrian and I made a quick dash back to the car going down Colwick Road and Fox Road going around the cricket ground back to the car. When we got back to Millicent Road, we got in the car and made our quick dash onto the A52 which links the rivalling cities and ironically named, Brian Clough Way.

Part 2 – Derby County vs Watford >>

Nottingham Forest 2-0 Port Vale
The City Ground is home of Nottingham Forest (The Reds).Nottingham Forest beat Port Vale 2-0. Goals scored by Junior Agogo and Lewis McGugan. A good festive trip all round. I (Ross) went on my own on a local Arriva (99) bus from Coalville to Nottingham. The Main stand was opened 1965 and then re-opened in 1968 after a fire destroyed some of the stand during a First Division game against Leeds United. As a result, Forest played there next 6 home games at Meadow Lane. The Brian Clough stand is a two tiered stand with executive boxes was opened in 1980 costing £2m and after that the re-development of the Bridgford End, a two tiered stand (Lower tier is allocated to the Away supporters). The unusual shape of the roof was a planning requirement to allow sunlight to reach houses in nearby Colwick Road. And finally, the Trent End was built in time for the Euro 96. The Trent End is a landmark on the embankment of the River Trent which runs through the city.