City Ground - History

History

Nottingham Forest moved to their new ground on 3 September 1898 – 33 years after their formation and six years after election to the Football League.

In order to raise the £3,000 required to finance the move the club asked members, supporters and businessmen to subscribe to “New Ground Scheme” bearer bonds which cost £5 each. Over £2,000 was raised this way.

The new ground was called the City Ground. It was only a few hundred yards from the old Town Ground at the opposite end of Trent Bridge, which had been named after the Town Arms pub. Nottingham was granted its Charter as a City in 1897 and it was called the City Ground to commemorate this as the land on which it stands was at that time within the City boundary. In 1952 boundary changes resulted in the ground coming under the local authority of West Bridgford rather than the City. Opposite the City Ground, still within the City boundaries, lies Meadow Lane, home of Notts County. The City Ground was wide open on three sides with no protection from the weather but the pitch was one of the finest in the country. This was due to the presence on the committee of J. W. Bardill, a nurseryman whose family firm still exists in Stapleford near Nottingham and whose company was given the task of preparing the pitch.

In 1935, the club had the opportunity to buy the ground from Nottingham Corporation for £7,000 but it was not proceeded with.

On 12 October 1957, a new East Stand opened at the City Ground costing £40,000 and having benches to sit up to 2,500 fans. The visitors for the opening were Manchester United’s “Busby Babes”. A new record attendance of 49,946 saw United win 2–1 and the ball, signed by both teams, is still in the Trophy Room.

The Main Stand was largely rebuilt in 1965 but on 24 August 1968 fire broke out during a First Division game against Leeds United. The stand was subsequently burned to the ground but thankfully, despite a crowd of 31,126, there were no casualties. The fire started, probably in the dressing room area, just before half-time and, as much of it was built of wood, it spread rapidly and the whole stand went up in flames. As a result Forest played six ‘home’ matches at nearby Meadow Lane and did not win one of them. Sadly many of the club’s records, trophies, memorabilia etc. were lost in the fire. The stand was rebuilt with a capacity of 5,708.

The Executive Stand was built in 1980 at a cost of £2 million—largely from proceeds of the unforgettable era in which Forest brought the European Cup back to Nottingham in 1979 and 1980. Under Clough’s reign Forest had taken the English domestic game and the European scene by storm and money raised from those outstanding successes was invested in a stand that had a capacity of 10,000. The stand was renamed The Brian Clough Stand after Clough's retirement, and was re-opened after refurbishment by the man himself in the mid-1990s. The stand also incorporates 36 executive boxes and a large dining area which was designed to be the focus of the club’s corporate hospitality arrangements.

More major development took part in 1992–93 with the rebuilding of the Bridgford Stand. Work started in April 1992 and when completed the Stand had a capacity of 7,710, the lower tier of 5,131 being allocated to away supporters. The unusual shape of the roof was a planning requirement to allow sunlight to reach houses in nearby Colwick Road. The Stand includes accommodation for 70 wheelchair supporters. It also houses a management suite, which includes the public address systems, computerised electronic scoreboard controls and the police matchday operation.

The Trent End was the most recent stand to be rebuilt—in time for Euro 96, the European Football Championships. The new stand, such a prominent landmark by the River Trent, held 7,338 to take the ground’s capacity to 30,576. The ground would be able to expand to up to 46,000 if ever there was ever a return to the top flight. On 20 June 2007, the Forest board announced plans for a possible relocation to a new 50,000-seat stadium in the city, though even if these plans do go ahead, the club's directors do not expect relocation to take place until at least 2014.

The City Ground also hosted the FA Women's Cup Final for two successive years in 2007 and 2008. The 2007 final was contested by Arsenal L.F.C. and Charlton Athletic L.F.C. with the attendance of 24,529 smashing the previous record attendance for the competition of 13,824 for the final between Arsenal L.F.C. and Fulham L.F.C. at Selhurst Park in 2001. In 2008, the attendance record was broken once again when 24,582 spectators saw Arsenal A.F.C. beat Leeds United 4–1.

Aside from football, the stadium has also hosted two other large-scale events. On 28 April 2002, the stadium hosted a semi-final of rugby's Heineken Cup in which Leicester Tigers beat Llanelli Scarlets 13–12 and on 6 July 2005, the stadium hosted its first music concert when R.E.M. performed there in front of an audience of 20,000.