City Ground
Home of Nottingham Forest since 1898, on the River Trent.
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The City Ground sits on the south bank of the River Trent in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, and has been the home of Nottingham Forest since 1898. Its current capacity is 31,212, with plans to expand it to 45,000 and eventually 52,500. The stadium hosted matches during UEFA Euro 1996, when England was the host nation. It lies just 300 yards (270 metres) from Meadow Lane, the home of local rivals Notts County; these two grounds are the closest professional football stadiums in England and the second-closest in the United Kingdom, behind only Tannadice Park and Dens Park.
Nottingham Forest, founded in 1865, is the third-oldest league football club in the world, behind Notts County (1862) and Stoke (1863). The club did not move to the City Ground until 1898, after playing at six previous homes. For their first 14 years, they played mostly at the Forest Recreation Ground, a common land site that gave the club its name. Because it was common land, the club could not charge admission, so revenue came mainly from players' membership fees. When Forest entered the FA Cup in 1878–79 and reached the semi-finals, they could not host home matches because cup rules required paid entry. In 1879, they left the Forest for the Castle Ground in The Meadows, after the disbanded Notts Castle Football Club’s players joined Forest. This allowed them to charge admission for the 1879–80 FA Cup. As interest in the game grew, the need for larger crowds became critical, and from 1880 most important matches were played at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, then Nottingham’s best enclosed sports venue. In 1883, however, local rivals Notts County replaced Forest as tenants at Trent Bridge, a move possibly linked to Notts County hiring the assistant secretary of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club as their first paid club secretary.
Forest learned of their eviction in early August 1883, leaving little time to find a new ground. They moved to the Parkside Ground in Lenton, first playing there on 22 September. The site was criticised for being far from town, sloping, and uneven; one newspaper columnist wrote that as long as Forest kept a ground where accurate play was impossible, bleak, and hard to reach, they would attract little support.
Quick Facts
- Fullname
- The City Ground
- Address
- Pavilion Road
- Location
- The City Ground / West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England / NG2 5FJ
- Owner
- Nottingham Forest
- Surface
- Grass (Undersoil Heating)
- Scoreboard
- ADI
- Built
- 1898
- Opened
- 3 September 1898
- Capacity
- 31,212 / Projected Capacity: 45,000 (2031) and 52,500 (2033)
- Tenants
- Nottingham Forest (1898–present) / Nottingham Forest Women (2024–present)
- Dimensions
- 114.8 x 77.6 yards (105 x 71 metres)
- Expanded
- 1957 (Former East Stand), 1965 (Peter Taylor Stand), 1980 (Brian Clough Stand), 1992–1993 (Bridgford Stand), 1994–1996 (Trent End)
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Nottingham Forest moved to the City Ground in 1898, their seventh home, after the club was founded in 1865. The site was granted to the Mayor and Burgesses of Nottingham by Edward VI in a royal charter dated 21 February 1551, with rentals from the agricultural land intended to pay for upkeep of the adjacent Trent Bridge. The City Council granted the club a 21-year lease, and the club raised over £2,000 through 'New Ground Scheme' bonds costing £5 each to finance the £3,000 move. The ground was not officially opened until 3 September 1898, a Division One game against Blackburn Rovers with an attendance of 15,000. The pitch, considered among the finest in the country, was laid by club committee-member William Bardill, who excavated the playing area to a depth of two feet, laid a bed of clinker for drainage, and placed high-quality turf brought by barge from Radcliffe-on-Trent.
Reader's Guide
The City Ground holds historical significance as the long-standing home of Nottingham Forest, one of the oldest league football clubs in the world. It was the first football ground to have elliptically shaped goalposts, introduced in 1922 by the Standard Goals Company, a design that eventually became standard. The stadium hosted four FA Cup semi-finals between 1899 and 1905, and a full international match between England and Wales in 1909. During World War II, the ground held boxing, horse gymkhanas, and zoo visits for off-duty servicemen, and the pitch was badly damaged by bombing on 8–9 May 1941. The City Ground was flooded in March 1947 when the River Trent burst its banks, forcing Forest to play some home fixtures at Meadow Lane. The all-time record attendance of 49,946 was set in October 1967 when Forest beat Manchester United 3–1. The ground's proximity to Meadow Lane makes the two stadiums the closest professional football grounds in England.
Did You Know?
- The City Ground is only 300 yards (270 m) from Meadow Lane, home of Notts County, making them the closest professional football stadiums in England.
- The City Ground was the first football ground to have elliptically shaped goalposts, installed in 1922 by the Standard Goals Company.
- During the flood of March 1947, swans were seen swimming the full length of the pitch after the River Trent burst its banks.
- The all-time record attendance at the City Ground is 49,946, set in October 1967 when Nottingham Forest beat Manchester United 3–1.
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