The City Ground: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Crystal Palace

Nottingham Forest 1-1 Crystal Palace

It's been 8 years since my (Ross) last visit to the City Ground. Since my last visit, Forest have been on an upward trajectory following promotion to the Premier League via the play offs and have since strengthened their team to compete in the Premier League thanks to the spending power of their controversial Greek owner, Evangelos Marinakis. Being a Sunday 2pm, I set off at 11.15am arriving on North Road in West Bridgford at 12pm after a bit of driving around to find a car parking place. Once I was parked up, I walked down Rectory Road towards Central Avenue where I picked up some lunch at Greggs and ate in Bridgford Park. With time on my side, I took a steady walk down Central Avenue toward Trent Bridge cricket ground before crossing Radcliffe Road and walking around the back of the Brian Clough Stand towards the Trent End where I would be sitting today. Onto the match and Forest manager, Sean Dyche, will feel that his team arguably deserved better after going ahead when Morgan Gibbs-White calmly chested the ball and opened the scoring with a composed close-range finish just 5 minutes into the first half. However, the key moment arrived on the stroke of half-time when Nottingham Forest defender Neco Williams was given a straight red card for handling Jefferson Lerma's goal-bound header. It provided Palace with a route back into a contest in which they had been distinctly second best, with Senegal forward Ismaila Sarr stroking home from the penalty spot. To compound matters for Forest, goalkeeper Matz Sels went off injured at half-time replaced by Angus Gunn, on the day when they unveiled new Goalkeeper Stefan Ortega prior to kick-off. But instead of sitting back, the hosts played on the front foot when they could and the likes of Gibbs-White and Ola Aina had opportunities to put them back in front. While the result arrests Palace's run of three consecutive defeats they remain without a victory in 12 matches in all competitions. Manager Oliver Glasner will likely be hugely disappointed that the visitors failed to register a single shot on target after the break despite holding the numerical advantage. The result moves the Eagles up to 14th, while Forest are three points further back in 17th, six clear of the relegation zone. At the end of the match, I made my way back to the car and headed towards the A453 then onto the M1 and back home for around 4.30pm.

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.

The City Ground

Monday, 21 September 2026

Nottingham Forest 1-1 Crystal Palace

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