Nottingham Forest are a step closer to a 52,000-capacity City Ground – new documents show why

Seven years and seven months after plans were first announced, there is increasing confidence at Nottingham Forest that the redevelopment of the City Ground will finally be approved next month.

The expectation at Forest is that, at a meeting on September 16, their ambitious proposals to increase the stadium’s capacity to 45,000 — and potentially 52,000 in the future — will be approved.

The sheer scale of the work to get to this point has been underlined by more than 450 documents made public by the Rushcliffe Borough Council, whose planning committee will decide whether to give the green light to the project to revamp the historic stadium.

Those documents confirm the Premier League club have agreed to the wide-ranging financial contributions and conditions they needed to commit to before work starts. It is a significant step.

Planning approval was granted for initial plans to increase capacity to 38,000 in the summer of 2025 — but last December, Forest significantly expanded those proposals with fresh designs that will see work take place on three sides of the stadium on the banks of the River Trent.

When the idea of potentially moving to a new stadium in nearby Toton was mooted in 2024, the scale of opposition underlined the historical and emotional connection the club’s fans have to their picturesque home.

Forest have played at the City Ground since 1898. The prospect of remaining there with Champions League-standard facilities should excite supporters.

Fans have waited patiently for work to start and now there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel.

What is the backstory?

Forest initially submitted plans to redevelop the City Ground in February 2019, when they were still playing in the Championship.

The intention was to demolish the Peter Taylor Stand — the oldest and smallest of the four — and build a new structure that would increase capacity to 38,000. Those works would have made the City Ground the biggest stadium in the East Midlands, overtaking Derby County’s Pride Park.

Planning approval was granted, but Forest’s rise to the Premier League prompted club owner Evangelos Marinakis to significantly scale up their ambitions, increasing the hurdles involved.

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis wants Champions League standards for the club’s ground (Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

The logistics involved in getting an additional 14,000 people in and out of the stadium on matchday — once the first phase of the project is complete — have been a major obstacle. Forest must demonstrate that they can overcome the additional challenges of crowd and traffic management, including parking.

A ‘critically important’ expansion

With the decision looming over whether to give the club permission to start work, the Nottingham Forest Supporters Trust (NFST) has urged the region’s politicians to back the City Ground redevelopment.

The NFST has written to members of parliament, councillors and regional leaders, urging them to support the application before that crucial September 16 meeting.

The letter, sent to almost 200 of the area’s senior figures — including every councillor at Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council and Rushcliffe Borough Council, as well as the leaders of Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Broxtowe, Gedling, Mansfield and Newark and Sherwood councils — calls upon them to give their “full and active” support to the plans.

Seen by The Athletic, it describes the club’s plans for the City Ground as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure the future of one of the region’s most important sporting, cultural and economic institutions”. It argues that the plans have the “overwhelming” support and backing of Nottingham Forest supporters and are vital to the club’s long-term future.

The new vision for the City Ground (KSS, available on public portal)

More than 1,200 letters of support were sent to Rushcliffe Borough Council backing the plans, with 700 of those written by NFST members.

East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward has previously backed the proposals, describing an upgraded stadium as the “centrepiece” of a “Trent Sports Quarter” — the area that also includes Notts County’s Meadow Lane stadium, the historic Trent Bridge cricket ground and Holme Pierrepont watersports centre — at a launch event at the City Ground in December.

Asif Naidu, chair of the NFST, said in a statement: “Forest supporters are fully behind the club’s plans for an expanded City Ground and this is an historic opportunity for the club, the city and the region.

“It is critically important that the redevelopment plans get approval and don’t get bogged down in even more delays.

“The support of our local leaders in getting the application over the line is vital and the NFST welcomes the opportunity to work together to safeguard the future of our world-famous home.”

What the latest documents reveal

Among the files that have been made public is a draft version of the ‘section 106 agreement’, outlining the agreed work that needs to be done for the project to proceed, between Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, the club, Rushcliffe Borough Council, Nottingham Rowing Club and the Environment Agency.

Among many other things, it shows Forest will have to contribute £1.75million ($2.4m) to improve bus services on matchdays.

They will have to make a payment of £990,000 to aid the county council in implementing parking restrictions in the surrounding area and a payment of close to £400,000 to improve park-and-ride facilities.

A total of £170,000 is needed for canalside development, electronic transport information displays and e-bike docking stations. The club will need to invest £100,000 in new signs surrounding the stadium. More than £400,000 is required for walking and cycle path improvements.

Another stumbling block has been the rowing club’s Britannia boathouse, which needs to be demolished and rebuilt, by Forest, in another location. Work on the development will not be allowed to start until flood defence plans are approved by the Environment Agency.

There are 471 separate documents relating to the application on Rushcliffe Borough Council’s planning portal, demonstrating the scale and complexity of the project.

What do the plans involve?

The latest set of proposals, submitted in early January, would see extensive work undertaken on three of the four stands.

The first phase of work would increase capacity to 45,000, before a subsequent redevelopment of the Brian Clough Stand would further grow that number by roughly 7,000.

Forest intend to make the Peter Taylor Stand one of the biggest in English football.

A view of the new-look ground with the expanded Peter Taylor Stand (KSS, available on public portal)

The new structure would be 58 metres tall — only slightly shorter than the Council House in the city’s Market Square, where Forest celebrated promotion in 2022. The initial proposals were for a stand 20m shorter. The plans would see Peter Taylor Stand triple in size, from 5,000 to 15,000 seats.

Forest want to fill in the corners on either side of the Trent End, joining it up with the neighbouring stands to create up to 5,000 more seats as part of that first phase of work.

Marinakis wants to equip his club with a ground that meets Champions League standards.

How important would these plans be to Forest?

Simply knowing they can remain at the City Ground will be huge for the club and its supporters. But there are other benefits, too.

If the City Ground capacity is ultimately increased to 52,000, that would put them among the Premier League’s big hitters. Newcastle United’s St James’ Park and Everton’s newly built Hill Dickinson Stadium have similar capacities, although Manchester United’s Old Trafford remains the biggest stadium in the top flight, with nearly 75,000 seats.

Increased attendance would immediately boost revenue. But the redevelopment plans include a vast addition of executive and corporate seating, which would further enhance matchday revenues.

(KSS, available on public portal)

Beyond football, the City Ground has hosted a Take That concert and the club hope the stadium will become more than just a weekend destination.

Aston Villa and Liverpool are among the clubs who have established their stadiums as music venues as well as football grounds, and Forest hope to achieve something similar.

So, what happens next?

The September 16 meeting of Rushcliffe Borough Council’s planning committee, which will be held at Rushcliffe Arena and broadcast live on YouTube, is the next step.

If the project is approved, Forest can begin minor work to get things started immediately, although the majority of it would begin — at the earliest — at the end of the season, in May.