City Ground – Nottingham Forest FC

Address: The City Ground, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 5FJ. Tel: 0115 982 4444

City Ground Seating Plan

City Ground capacity is roughly 30,455 with seating split across the following stands:

Trent End: 7,500 seats and 30 wheelchair spaces behind the left hand goal and the nosiest part of the stadium!

The Peter Taylor Stand: A capacity of 10,200 with 50 wheel chair spaces named after a club legend who worked alongside Brian Clough.

The Brian Clough Stand: Largest stand in the ground named after the famous manager and built in 1980. The Brain Clough Stand contains 10,355 seats with 50 wheelchair spaces over 2 tiers offering unobstructed views under a roof.

Bridgford Stand: Rebuilt in 1993 with a capacity of 5,370 plus 70 wheelchair spaces, the Bridgford stand is a mix of single and two tier seating. Typically away fans are seated in this stand.

Nottingham Forest Ticket Prices & Where to Buy

The best way to guarantee tickets is to be a member of the Nottingham Forest and purchase a MyForest membership which start at £25 for the 23/24 season. These memberships give access to buy tickets for every home game depending on your membership level. The lower tiered memberships allow purchasing of tickets through third parties after pro tier members have had first refusal.

Memberships also include early access to retail launches, access to club events and entry to monthly competitions and an exclusive gift.

Nottingham Forest Ticket Prices

Getting to The City Ground

Car Parking: The stadium offers now matchday parking and has no drop off areas. The closest pay and display car parks can be found at Nottingham Rugby Club (NG2 5AA), County Hall (NG2 7QP), Cattle Market (NG2 3GY) and Victoria Embankment (NG2 2JY). Parking is reasonably priced for the day and typically less than 10 minutes walk to the stadium. It is worth noting that you cannot drive completely around the stadium, as you can with others, so take the first match day parking you find.

Approaching from the North on the M1, drivers should use Junction 26 to follow the A610/ Nuthall Road into the City. It will change Alfreton Road and take the left turning on to Gregory Blvd / A6130 before joining the A60 to avoid the City Centre. Take the A612 and then left on to the A6011 to approach the stadium.

From the South take Junction 24 on the M1 on to the A453 / Remembrance Way and take the exit for Grantham / A52 and join Clifton Lane becoming Wilford Lane before joining the A60 Northbound to approach the stadium.

Train: Nottingham’s train station is a 1 mile walk from the ground.

Bus: Number 6 and Number 9 buses take you from the city centre to the City Ground. number 6 takes around 17 minutes and the Number 9 takes 12 minutes typically. Both Buses pass through the Broadmarsh Bus Station.

Tram: The Meadows Embankment stop at Meadows Station is the nearest stop to The City Ground.

Bars & Hotels Near The City Ground

Bars Close to the City Ground Stadium:

The Boot Room: 6 Pavilion Rd, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 5FG/ Tel: 0115 981 3175.

Situated handily over the road from the ground with 9 screens showing sports and a good selection of beers and food.

The William Gunn: 19 Radcliffe Rd, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 5FF Tel: 0115 648 5092

A two minute walk from the stadium.

The Trent Bridge Inn – JD Wetherspoon: 2 Radcliffe Rd, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 6AA Tel: 0115 977 8940

Hotels Close to The City Ground

Being so close to the city centre means you will not be stuck for places to stay if you are staying the night in Nottingham with options right by the stadium and back in the city centre.

River Rooms: 4-6 Radcliffe Rd, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 5FW Tel: 0151 740 1800

Serviced apartments right next to the stadium.

Leonardo Hotel: Waterfront Plaza, Station St, Nottingham NG2 3BJ Tel: 0115 901 6700

Formerly Jury’s Inn. Handily situated in the city centre close to transport links, restaurants and entertainment.

City Ground Stadium Facilities

Food at The City Ground

There are a decent number of food outlets within the stadium with pies starting at £3.30 and sausage rolls starting at £2.40. Tea is £2.20 and Beer £5.20.

Tours of The City Ground Stadium

Forest have a great history and passionate fan-base so a stadium tour would be a treat for any football fan. Tours last about 90 minutes and are led by two-time European Cup-winning captain John McGovern.

The tour takes in the Director’s Box, Dressing Rooms down the tunnel to the pitch and inside the Boardroom.

Prices are very reasonable; Members: Adults £10, Under 18s £2. Non-Members: Adults £15, Under 18s £5

Nottingham Forest Hospitality Packages:

As you’d expect there are a range of choices and lounges including; The Boardroom Experience, Directors’ Club, Executive Box, 1865 Club, Robin Hood Suite and Legends’ Lounge

City Ground Stadium History

Early History of the City Ground

Despite being the second oldest league football club in the world Nottingham Forest didn’t start life at the City Ground. Forest moved from their old Town Ground a couple of hundred meters to The City Ground on 3rd September 1898 following termination of their lease on the Town ground. Nottingham had recently received it’s City status and the name of the new ground, constructed on the south side of the River Trent, was a celebration of that.

The first official game at The City Ground was against Blackburn Rovers on 3rd September 1898 in a Division One game. At this time the ground was considered to be one of the best in the country, not least thanks to the excellent pitch laid by William Bardill, a gardener from the area who went to great lengths to ensure excellent drainage and quality turf were installed. As a result the ground hosted an FA Cup Semi Final in 1899 and another three were held there between 1899 and 1905. The ground also held an international match between England and Wales in 1909.

Impact of World War Two

During the Second World War the ground was used to entertain off-duty servicemen with things like boxing, horses and temporary zoos. The pitch was badly damaged late into the Blitz and needed considerable repairs.

Post War

The ground flooded badly in 1947 with waters almost reaching the top of the goalposts. Following this incident there were plans to re-develop the stadium drawn up shortly after in 1950 to extend and cover the Trent End in 1954. In 1957 the East Stand opened and had space for 2,500 fans. Along with other improvements to existing stands the City Grounds capacity at that point was 48,000. Floodlights were eventually installed in September 1961.

The Main Stand was refurbished between 1962-65 adding new offices, changing rooms and press rooms. Despite the improvements the ground was largely wooden and when a fire broke out on 24th August 1968 during a home game vs Leeds United it was able to quickly spread around the new main stand. The result was a the main stand needed to be re-built (apart from the roof) and Forest had to play a series of games away from The City Ground.

Under Brian Clough’s reign Forest became a powerhouse of the English and European game. The financial success of this era was re-invested into the stadium. Not least the addition of a stand with a 10,000 capacity that was re-named after Clough when he retired.

City Ground in the 90s

Following the Hillsborough disaster and the Taylor Report, The City Ground needed more redevelopment to comply with the requirement that all stadiums in the top two leagues needed to be all-seaters by 1994. Nottingham Council led the charge with a proposal to re-locate both Nottingham Forest and Notts County to a site on an old power station. Brian Clough threatened to resign if the plans went through and a bitter dispute over the rental price of extra land needed around the City Ground emerged. It was widely considered that the Council were holding Forest to ransom in order to force them to adopt their plan.

Eventually the Bridgford stand was re-built in 1993. The Trent End rebuild, the focus of the dispute with the Council, was eventually completed in time for Euro 96 allowed the ground to host 3 games from Group D in that tournament.

Modern Day

In 2019 the club extended their lease on The City Ground and being plans for redeveloping the Peter Taylor stand with a new 10,000 seater stand. There are also planned improvements to the other three stands. Progress was halted by Covid-19 but permission was granted in July 2022 for work to proceed.