The World Famous City Ground - Home of the PROPER WORLD‘S OLDEST LEAGUE CLUB

[Lefkasman]

Despite my emotional attachment to the CG, which has gradually developed over the 67-years since my first visit to see a league game in the 1957-58 season (and longer if I include the Football Combination games I attended before then), .

I remember only being allowed to attend football combination games before progressing to first team games when my mother thought I was big enough. She accompanied me for my first season too, just to make sure I was ok.

Sent from my M2003J15SC using Tapatalk

 

[Otis Redding]

Historically, we are a Championship club though. The difference between us and some of those other Championship clubs is we won everything at the end of the 70s, start of the 80s.

If we're an average Championship club, we're not going to need to move stadiums because unless we would be fighting for promotion, we wouldn't sell out. The day trippers and the plastic fans stop going in the Championship. We have a lot more away teams that don't fill their allocations.

The owners might be ambitious but they're unrealistically ambitious. They believe that we should be doing what Brighton and Villa are doing this year, but choose to act more like Everton or Leeds.

Us being the underdog very much suits us as a club, we don't do well with expectation but we thrive on rebellion.

Following our return back to the old First Division in 1957, we've spent the majority of the period since in the top-flight Dizzy, so your interpretation of history that our natural place is in the 2nd-tier is misinformed. From my standpoint as a supporter since the fifties, and notwithstanding some of his occasionally questionable decisions in finally achieving that aim, I fully support the owner's ambitions to retain our place in the top league.

 

[DizzyBala]

We've spent half of the seasons since the war in the top-flight Dizzy, so your interpretation of history that our natural place is in the 2nd-tier can be challenged. From my standpoint as a supporter since the fifties, and notwithstanding some of his occasionally questionable decisions in finally achieving that aim, I fully support the owner's ambitions to retain our place in the top league.

I don't know a Forest fan that doesn't support the ambition of staying in the Premierleague and staying up is very much a realistic goal, but beyond that, when it comes to things like top-half finishes, European football and beyond, it's absolute flannel.

Marinakis wants too much, too quickly and it's backfiring. We were in no way, shape or form ready for a return to the Premierleague and even now, some 50+ games later, we're still making some really poor choices.

My interpretation of our history is since the start of the Premierleague, because that is more or less how long I've been a fan so for me, historically we're a Championship club. If you go right back through our history, we're about half and half between Div 1 and Div 2.

 

[Otis Redding]

I don't know a Forest fan that doesn't support the ambition of staying in the Premierleague and staying up is very much a realistic goal, but beyond that, when it comes to things like top-half finishes, European football and beyond, it's absolute flannel.

Marinakis wants too much, too quickly and it's backfiring. We were in no way, shape or form ready for a return to the Premierleague and even now, some 50+ games later, we're still making some really poor choices.

My interpretation of our history is since the start of the Premierleague, because that is more or less how long I've been a fan so for me, historically we're a Championship club. If you go right back through our history, we're about half and half between Div 1 and Div 2.

I know that Sky Sports tries to claim that football was invented in 1992, but please believe me that it existed long, long before then, which explains why football history is best viewed over a much longer period than 32-years. As such, our natural place is in the top-flight, irrespective of how it's been commercially branded.

Also, are you suggesting that we should have just accepted that we'd been promoted too soon and done a Sheffield United last season rather than go for it in the way we did?

 

[Mr. Blonde]

Yeah because your traditional top flight clubs like Brentford, Bournemouth and Brighton have found it so hard to go up and stay up

FFS do we have that low opinion of ourselves we can't at least expect a club of our stature to be able to remain in the Premier League for a few seasons?!

 

[Redemption]

our natural place is in the top-flight

Since time...

Seasons spent in the top tier: 57
Seasons spent in the 2nd tier: 58
Seasons spent in the 3rd tier: 5

 

[RianBrice]

Since time...

Seasons spent in the top tier: 57
Seasons spent in the 2nd tier: 58
Seasons spent in the 3rd tier: 5

 

[sammy the snake]

Historically, we are a Championship club though. The difference between us and some of those other Championship clubs is we won everything at the end of the 70s, start of the 80s.

If we're an average Championship club, we're not going to need to move stadiums because unless we would be fighting for promotion, we wouldn't sell out. The day trippers and the plastic fans stop going in the Championship. We have a lot more away teams that don't fill their allocations.

The owners might be ambitious but they're unrealistically ambitious. They believe that we should be doing what Brighton and Villa are doing this year, but choose to act more like Everton or Leeds.

Us being the underdog very much suits us as a club, we don't do well with expectation but we thrive on rebellion.

Can’t agree. Ambition is at the heart of being a supporter. Also it’s not ambitious to compete with the likes of Fulham Brighton Bournemouth Brentford etc, it’s exactly where we should be at the moment

Regardless of league it’s clear revenue will drive success, we can’t do that with a smaller 30k stadium, it’s the same as saying when’s the best time to plant a tree.

 

[thehockleyhustler]

Without ambition, what is the point? Without ambition, we are Norwich City, we are Sheffield United, we are Stoke City.

I for one applaud Marinakis's ambition to make Nottingham Forest the very best version of itself. We ARE punching above our weight right now, not because of what has gone before but because our infrastructure is well below the standard of those we are competing with.

If we have any desire to even be on the same pitch as the best teams in the country, the club must seek ways to improve us off the pitch which gives us the income to compete.

I don't get those fans who would rather see us play in a rotting City Ground, stranded in the lower half of the Championship or even worse, rather accept the club has to look at all options.

Times change, so must this club if it is going to be here for our grandkids in another 100 years time.

 

[REDDERS78]

I’m not very often critical on here but for any of the mistakes our current owners have made they’ve somehow got us promoted for the first time in a generation and pushed the boat out to give us a chance of being a Premier League club. We’ve all seen tonight what happens when you show no ambition and Sheffield Utd could end up dropping like a stone through the league’s.
Thank god our owners are more ambitious than a lot of our fans on here. We know our fantastic city council will do nothing to assist the club in progressing and trying to develop the ground.
Lets be honest if we stay as we are we’ll remain an average sized championship club who occasionally punch above their weight.

Very well said.

Remember one thing, those moaning were moaning about a lack of ambition 3 years ago, In some peoples eyes these or any other board will do no right, it'll just be a different angle of attack.

Youre wasting your breath with these people, but youre 100% correct.

 

[Notcher]

We have been a championship club because we have been horrifically mismanaged over the years.

in terms of fan base and potential to grow we are easily a top 20 team in the country and with an ambitious owner (who does need to sort out some of the ways he runs the club) we could easily sustain Premier League football.

I think the same about Sheffield Wednesday. The potential they have got is enormous if they had a decent ownership and could somehow get themselves promoted. Instead it's another club with a shitshow of an owner that's allowed the ground to crumble, ran the club like a novice and even changed an iconic crest.

 

[REDDERS78]

Why are some people even using terms like 'were a championship club' f*** me wheres your minerals?

Have we just given up whilst clubs like Bournemouth, Fulham, Brighton, and many more make a go of it? Too ambitious my sweaty arse, half the clubs in this league cant hold a candle to our success or our unique fanbase.

Where do we dig these fans up from?

 

[Rubics]

Just been on that arsenal women have sold out the emirates 5 times this season and it will soon become their permanent home. From a finance point of view it won’t be as lucrative yet as the men’s game, but imagine adding 20+ days to the stadium use. Costs will also increase as the game gets more popular but got to be part of any long term planning.

 

[Rubics]

Managed properly we‘re one of the top 10 clubs in the country - easily!

 

[Cloughie1975]

Since time...

Seasons spent in the top tier: 57
Seasons spent in the 2nd tier: 58
Seasons spent in the 3rd tier: 5

Yes-this reflects the post war period as well.
Tier 1-37 seasons
Tier 2-36 seasons
Tier 3-5 seasons
This confirms my view that we are a club which drifts mainly between the top 2 tiers.
There’s absolutely no doubt that we greatly overachieved during the Clough era but have
often underachieved (mainly due to poor management) in the past 25 years.
My view is that we are unlikely to challenge at the top of tier 1 in the short or medium term
and quite possibly never again-but whatever level we are playing at we need to improve our
stadium (hopefully by finally redeveloping the City Ground).
I would add that it’s more difficult to retain top flight football these days given the domination
of the ‘big 6’ and the fact there are only 20 teams in the top league (when I first saw Forest
in 1966 there were 22 clubs with only 2 relegated).

 

[REDDERS78]

Just had a conversation with one of the parents on the school run, he works at Forest in some security capacity in the Hospitality.

He reckons there's a a real toxic atmosphere amongst the staff at the club, people are leaving etc. They are having constant complaint about the crumbling furniture in the boxes and something about some guy from Leeds has taken over in some capacity and wants to make the legends lounge for away fans

He also said Forest are absolutely hated by the FA (he might have meant Premier league, not sure) due to security protocols being repeatedly ignored and not following certain guidelines. Assuming he means in the corperate parts but not sure.

 

[Chris Bob-Williams]

He also said Forest are absolutely hated by the FA (he might have meant Premier league, not sure) due to security protocols being repeatedly ignored and not following certain guidelines. Assuming he means in the corperate parts but not sure.

The corp sections are full of away fans as you can just buy tickets without being vetted, then sit up in the upper clough stand.
The cheapest ones get you food in Trent Bridge and an N block ticket, or you go for a package over in the Trent End.
When the Liverpool goal went in plenty of people were jumping for joy up in N block.

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

If we're an average Championship club, we're not going to need to move stadiums because unless we would be fighting for promotion, we wouldn't sell out. The day trippers and the plastic fans stop going in the Championship. We have a lot more away teams that don't fill their allocations.

Apart from the implosion under Lamouchi we had shown little or no sign of a serious promotion challenge for years and had come closer to leaving the division the other way, but we were still getting average crowds in the high twenties of thousands once we had introduced more sensible ticket prices under Marinakis. A competitive team in the Championship would get good attendances. There are lots of fans who, for various reasons, cannot have season tickets but are far from “day-trippers” in their support for the club. None of them (ok then, us) wants Forest to go down, but if it happens a lot of people will be grateful to at least have the chance to see the team from time to time. And it would be a chance to grow our fan base with the new fans of the future who currently never get to go to games. I’d far rather have a capacity of, say, 40,000, with some big games reaching or coming close to capacity, an average that might be in the high 20s or low 30s and a ground that’s ready if/when we go back up than stick with a capacity of 29,500 and see an entire new generation missing out on the chance to see their team.

It all comes down to the prices. We charge ridiculously high prices now (in my view no routine league or cup match should cost more than £30) because we fill the ground every game. It’s a big leap of faith, granted, but if we were to go down and make the pricing more sensible we would still get good crowds. Historically it’s only the last few years that we have fallen behind Brighton (if, indeed, we have - this might be as good as they ever get) so I don’t think it’s unrealistic to look at them and try to emulate some of the things they have done.

 

[PlayedOnGrass]

Historically, we are a Championship club though. The difference between us and some of those other Championship clubs is we won everything at the end of the 70s, start of the 80s.

If we're an average Championship club, we're not going to need to move stadiums because unless we would be fighting for promotion, we wouldn't sell out. The day trippers and the plastic fans stop going in the Championship. We have a lot more away teams that don't fill their allocations.

The owners might be ambitious but they're unrealistically ambitious. They believe that we should be doing what Brighton and Villa are doing this year, but choose to act more like Everton or Leeds.

Us being the underdog very much suits us as a club, we don't do well with expectation but we thrive on rebellion.

Where does it say that we have to remain an average club?
What is wrong with ambition?
We have a history which if used properly, with the right investment and growth profile gives us an advantage over the majority of the clubs outside of the big 6.
There is no reason why we can't be the next Villa or Brighton

 

[congo_red_49]

What is wrong with ambition?

Nothing. As long as it's realistic ambition. When an owner has ambitions that are beyond the achievable, they will make rash decisions. throw multiple babies out along with the bathwater and probably leave us in a worse position because of it.

 

[PlayedOnGrass]

Nothing. As long as it's realistic ambition. When an owner has ambitions that are beyond the achievable, they will make rash decisions. throw multiple babies out along with the bathwater and probably leave us in a worse position because of it.

Why is it realistic for Brighton and unrealistic for Forest?
They were in League 2 with no ground 15 years ago

 

[Notcher]

Nothing. As long as it's realistic ambition. When an owner has ambitions that are beyond the achievable, they will make rash decisions. throw multiple babies out along with the bathwater and probably leave us in a worse position because of it.

I agree. It has to be incremental, sustainable ambition. The ambition should not be for Europe, it should be building a mid-table squad over the next couple of years. The next phase after that should be building a side that can achieve 6th place positions and build on that again.

 

[congo_red_49]

Why is it realistic for Brighton and unrealistic for Forest?
They were in League 2 with no ground 15 years ago

I didn't say it was. I was answering the general question about 'what is wrong with ambition?'.

Although, I would say that Brighton accomplished most of their 'rise' without FFP or VAR, so the goalposts can move in relative terms.

 

[Raymondo Ponte']

Brighton will be back where they belong before long imo.

 

[Timothy Pope]

Why is it realistic for Brighton and unrealistic for Forest?
They were in League 2 with no ground 15 years ago

Forest are also more marketable than Brighton.