Nottingham Forest have reached an important milestone by gaining agreement to purchase the land on which their stadium, the City Ground, is located. This step is crucial for the future of the club as they plan to expand and modernise their ground.

Unsuccessful lease negotiations

City Ground has been home to Nottingham Forest since 1898. Until now, the club has leased the ground from Nottingham City Council under a contract that was due to expire in 33 years. Extending the lease for 250 years was seen as critical to enable the club to go ahead with its stadium expansion plans.

However, the negotiations ran into difficulties, particularly after the club's promotion to the Premier League, prompting the city council to demand higher fees. Reports suggested that following the club's promotion to the Premier League, the council sought an increase in fees from £250,000 a year to around £1 million.

© Harry Edmo

“Yes” to sale

In July 2024 Nottingham City Council agreed to sell the ground to the club. The decision was taken after lengthy negotiations to safeguard the interests of both the club and the city's residents. The city council, led by councillor Neghat Khan, decided that selling the ground was the best option to allow the club to pursue its ambitious stadium expansion plans, while bringing significant financial benefits to the city.

Nottingham Forest are planning to increase the capacity of the stadium from its current 29,550 to 40,000 seats. As part of these plans, they intend to extend the Bridgford Stand by an additional 5,000 seats and replace the Peter Taylor Stand with a two-tier structure with a capacity of 10,000. In addition, the club plans to create new public spaces, a club shop and a car park, as already outlined in July 2022. The authority has also granted outline planning permission for up to 170 residential units. However, the club does not yet have planning permission for the Bridgford Stand extension.

© Harry Edmo

Club announcement

After today’s comments from the leader of the City Council, the Club wishes to clarify the situation for supporters and stakeholders regarding the freehold for The City Ground. For absolute clarity, we continue to work on the terms for a conditional deal for the purchase of the freehold.

Any decision to purchase the freehold will be entirely conditional on Nottingham Forest first being granted the relevant permissions that will allow us to realise our hugely ambitious plans for a significantly larger stadium capacity, world-class hospitality spaces and associated substantial real estate development in the vicinity of the ground.Our discussions remain confidential and the Club will update fans when meaningful progress has been achieved can be read in a release issued by the club.