NOTTINGHAM FOREST: Away supporters' guide

THE OPPO – Nottingham Forest
DATE – Tuesday 28th December
KO TIME – 3pm

THE GROUND – The City Ground, Nottingham, NG2 5FJ, click here for a map - the arrow in the centre points to where the City Ground is.

The City Ground is just south of Nottingham city centre, just off the A60 London Road and opposite the famous Trent Bridge Cricket Ground. For a plan of the ground and its various stands, click here.

Visitors’ turnstiles are accessible through the Brian Clough Stand carpark via Scarrington Road off Lady Bay Bridge. Away supporters are allocated seats in the lower Bridgeford End, disabled visitors have spaces at the front of lower Bridgeford.

GOING BY CAR?

Follow the signs to the ground along the A6011 approach road – both Forest’s AND County’s grounds are signposted. As you might expect, parking restrictions operate on matchdays and you’ll need to get there early to find on-street parking (but don’t block anybody’s driveway and upset the locals!!) Or you could try crossing the Trent Bridge and parking on the other side of the river, which is apparently relatively quiet on Forest (as opposed to County) matchdays.

GOING BY TRAIN?

You can get a direct train to Nottingham from London St Pancras, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool.
Travelling from Sunderland you’ll have to change at Newcastle, then the 10am GNER service gets you to Grantham at midday, then change for the 12.57 Central Trains service which gets you to Nottingham at 1.24pm. Or if you want to set off a little later, the 10.40am Virgin Trains service from Newcastle gets to Derby at 1.22pm, then change for the 1.40pm Central Trains service which gets you to Nottingham a shade after 2pm.

Go to the National Rail website to check seat availability and book in advance.

Nottingham Midland station is in the city centre, and less than a mile from the City Ground. Leave by the main entrance/exit and turn left. At the corner of the station turn left again, then go along till you reach the T-junction with London Road. If you turn right here and follow the road along, you’ll see the City Ground across the river to your left. The away end is furthest from the river.

Coming home, the 5.43pm Central Trains service from Nottingham gets you to Chesterfield, where you change for the 6.31pm Virgin Trains service to Newcastle. Or if you miss that, the 6.09pm Central Trains service gets to Derby at 6.34pm, then change for the 6.46pm Virgin Trains service back to Newcastle, where you'll arrive just after 9.30pm.

SCRAN AND BOOZE

Nottingham Forest’s official website says that the Larwood and Voce pub – adjoining Trent Bridge cricket ground - is the ‘unofficial’ pub for visiting supporters. You need to avoid the Trent Bridge Inn, though – they don’t allow opposition supporters in. But there are loads of pubs, clubs and restaurants in Nottingham city centre if you’re peckish and/or thirsty either side of the match.

LEND US A FIVER......

There's an HSBC cash machine actually AT the ground itself. Failing that, the next nearest one is within the Trent Bridge Inn on Radcliffe Road, a quarter of a mile away, the Co-Op Store on Bridgeford Road, and there's a Bank of Scotland machine in the service station on London Road.

LAST SEASON

Final league position – 15th

THIS SEASON

Currently 22nd of 24:
P23 W4 D8 L11 F22 A34 Pts 20 GD-12

HOME FORM

P11 W4 D4 L3 F13 A14 Pts 16 GD-1

HEAD TO HEAD

Forest and Sunderland have met 85 times in league matches and we’ve won 35 to Forest’s 28, with 22 draws.

LAST 6 MEETINGS

14/09/04: Lads 2, Forest 0 (Arca 4, Wright 11)
10/01/04: Lads 1, Forest 0 (Arca 38)
09/08/03: Forest 2, Lads 0
04/03/98: Forest 0, Lads 3 (Rae, Johnston, Phillips)
08/11/97: Lads 1, Forest 1 (Phillips)
22/03/97: Lads 1, Forest 1 (Ball)

TRIVIA

- They've just sacked gaffer Joe Kinnear after a dismal first half to the season; Kinnear has hit back, accusing the fans of expecting far too much and constantly harking back to Forest's glory days.
- The derby match against local oppo Notts County is the oldest derby match in the world.
- Forest made the first million pound transfer deal between British clubs
- They were in the first league game ever to be shown live on British telly
- James Dean Bradfield, frontman of the Manic Street Preachers is a lifelong Forest supporter.

And it seems almost an insult to put this in with ‘trivia’ but there’s the very obvious Cloughie Connection – the late Brian Howard Clough left his local club Boro for Sunderland in 1961 for the princely transfer sum of £45,000, staying for three years and netting 54 goals in 61 games for the Lads. After management spells at Hartlepool, Derby, Brighton and 44 days in charge of Leeds, he took over at the helm of Forest in January 1975 where he stayed for 18 years, cementing his status as one of football’s true legends.

Credits: Nottingham Forest official website, Rough Guide to English Football, Soccerbase, brianclough.com, streetmap.co.uk, National Rail.