Nottingham Forest F.C.

History

19th century

From 2019 to 2023, Nottingham Forest claimed to be the oldest remaining club in the English Football League. In 2019, when Notts County were relegated from the league, Stoke City claimed to be the oldest remaining club, but football historian Mark Metcalf stated that Stoke was formed in 1868, rather than the 1863 date on the club's badge, and therefore Forest was the oldest club. The EFL also stated that Nottingham Forest was the oldest.

In 1865 a group of shinty players met at the Clinton Arms (now renamed The Playwright) at the junction of Nottingham's Shakespeare Street and North Sherwood Street. J. S. Scrimshaw's proposal to play association football instead was agreed and Nottingham Forest Football Club was formed. It was agreed at the same meeting that the club would purchase twelve tasselled caps coloured 'Garibaldi Red' (named after the leader of the Italian 'Redshirts' fighters). Thus the club's official colours were established. Matches were originally played at Forest Racecourse, historically part of Sherwood Forest and the presumed source of the word 'Forest' in the team's name.

Forest's first ever official game was played against Notts County taking place on 22 March 1866. On 23 April 1870, when the team played their first game in league play, the steward of the club was John Lymberry and William Henry Revis scored the first goal. On that day, Revis also won the prize for kicking a football furthest with a kick of 161 feet 8 inches.

In their early years Nottingham Forest were a multi-sports club. As well as their roots in bandy and shinty, Forest's baseball club were British champions in 1899. Forest's charitable approach helped clubs like Liverpool, Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion to form. In 1886, Forest donated a set of football kits to help Arsenal establish themselves – the North London team still wear red. Forest also donated shirts to Everton and helped secure a site to play on for Brighton.

In 1878–79 season, Nottingham Forest entered into the FA Cup for the first time. Forest beat Notts County 3–1 in the first round at Beeston Cricket Ground before eventually losing 2–1 to Old Etonians in the semi-final.

Nottingham Forest's application was rejected to join the Football League at its formation in 1888. Forest instead joined the Football Alliance in 1889.

First half of 20th century

Forest lost FA Cup semi-finals in 1900 and 1902. They finished fourth in the 1900–01 Football League followed with fifth place the season after. The club then started to slide down the table. Forest were relegated for the first time in 1905–06. Grenville Morris had his first of five seasons as the club's highest scorer en route to becoming the all-time club highest goalscorer with 213 goals.

Promotion as champions was immediate in 1906–07. The club was relegated a second time to the Second Division in 1911, and had to seek re-election in 1914 after finishing bottom of that tier; as the First World War approached it was in serious financial trouble. The outbreak of the War, along with the benevolence of the committee members, prevented the club going under.

In 1919, the Football League First Division was to be expanded from twenty clubs to twenty-two in time for the 1919–20 Football League: Forest was one of eight clubs to campaign for entry, but received only three votes. Arsenal and Chelsea gained the two additional top tier slots.

In a turnaround from the first six seasons struggling back in the Second Division, Forest were promoted as champions in 1921–22. They survived each of the first two seasons back in the top flight by one position. In the third season after promotion they were relegated as the division's bottom club in 1924–25. Billy Walker was appointed manager in 1939. Forest remained in the second tier until relegation in 1949 to the Football League Third Division South.

Re-emergence then decline (1950–1974)

Forest were quickly promoted two years later as Third Division South champions, having scored a record 110 goals in the 1950–51 season. They regained First Division status in 1957.

In the 1958–59 FA Cup Walker's side beat Aston Villa in the semi-final with a solitary goal by Johnny Quigley. Forest beat Luton Town 2–1 in the 1959 FA Cup final. Like in 1898, Forest had lost heavily to their opponents only weeks earlier in the league. Stewart Imlach crossed for a 10th-minute opener by Roy Dwight (the cousin of Reg Dwight better known as Elton John). Tommy Wilson had Forest 2–0 up after 14 minutes. The game had an unusually large number of stoppages due to injury, particularly to Forest players. This was put down to the lush nature of the Wembley turf. The most notable of these stoppages was Dwight breaking his leg in a 33rd minute tackle with Brendan McNally. Forest had been on top until that point. Luton though gradually took control of the match, with Dave Pacey scoring midway through the second half. Forest were reduced to nine fit men with ten minutes remaining when Bill Whare crippled with cramp, became little more than a spectator. Despite late Allan Brown and Billy Bingham chances Chick Thomson conceded no further goals for Forest to beat the Wembley 1950s 'hoodoo' (where one team was hampered by losing a player through injury). Club record appearance holder Bobby McKinlay played in the final winning team captained by Jack Burkitt. Walker retired as manager at the end of the following season after 21 years in charge and Andy Beattie took over.

By this time, Forest had replaced Notts County as the biggest club in Nottingham. Johnny Carey was appointed manager in 1963 and assembled a team including Joe Baker and Ian Storey-Moore that for a long spell went largely unchanged in challenging for the 1966–67 Football League title. They beat title rivals Manchester United 4–1 at the City Ground on 1 October. The 3–0 win against Aston Villa on 15 April had Forest second in the table, a point behind United. Injuries eventually took effect, meaning Forest had to settle for being League runners-up and losing in the FA Cup semi-final to Dave Mackay's Tottenham Hotspur.

The 1966–67 season's success seemed an opportunity to build upon, with crowds of 40,000 virtually guaranteed at the time. Instead, a mixture at the club of poor football management, the unique committee structure and proud amateurism meant decline after the 1966-67 peak. Carey left as manager at the end of 1968. Forest were relegated from the top flight in 1972. The same season, rival club Derby County won the title under Brian Clough.

Brian Clough and Peter Taylor (1975–1982)

Former Derby manager Clough became manager of Forest on 6 January 1975, twelve weeks after the end of his 44-day tenure as manager of Leeds United. Clough brought Jimmy Gordon to be his club trainer, as Gordon had been for him at Derby County and Leeds. Scottish centre-forward Neil Martin scored the only goal in Clough's first game in charge, beating Tottenham Hotspur in an FA Cup third round replay.

Ian Bowyer was already at Forest and had won domestic and European trophies with Manchester City. Clough signed Scots duo John McGovern and John O'Hare in February, who both were part of Clough's Derby County 1971–72 Football League title win. He signed Colin Barrett in March, initially on loan. Clough brought John Robertson and Martin O'Neill back into the fold after they had requested transfers under Brown. Viv Anderson had previously debuted for the first team and became a regular under Clough. The young Tony Woodcock was at Forest but was then unrated by Clough and was to be loaned to Lincoln City. Forest were 13th in English football's second tier when Clough joined. They finished that season 16th. Forest signed Frank Clark in July of that close season on a free transfer. The season after, Forest finished eighth in Clough's 1975–76 Football League first full season in charge. It was in this season, McGovern became long-standing club captain, taking over from a game in which Bob "Sammy" Chapman and Liam O'Kane were both injured.

Peter Taylor rejoined Clough on 16 July 1976, becoming his assistant manager, as he had been when winning the league at Derby. Taylor, included being the club's talent spotter in his role. After assessing the players, Taylor told Clough, "that was a feat by you to finish eighth in the Second Division because some of them are only Third Division players". Taylor berated John Robertson for allowing himself to become overweight and disillusioned. He got Robertson on a diet and training regime that would help him become a European Cup winner. Taylor turned Woodcock from a reserve midfielder into a 42 cap England striker. In September 1976, he bought striker Peter Withe to Forest for £43,000, selling him to Newcastle United for £250,000 two years later. Withe was replaced in the starting team by Garry Birtles who Taylor had scouted playing for non-league Long Eaton United. Birtles also went on to represent England. In October 1976 Brian Clough acting on Peter Taylor's advice signed Larry Lloyd for £60,000 after an initial loan period.

Together, Clough and Taylor took Forest to new heights. The first trophy of the Clough and Taylor reign was the 1976–77 Anglo-Scottish Cup. Forest beat Orient 5–1 on aggregate in the two-legged final played in December 1976. Clough valued winning a derided trophy as the club's first silverware since 1959. He said, "Those who said it was a nothing trophy were absolutely crackers. We'd won something, and it made all the difference."

Clough without Taylor (1982–1993)

Anderlecht beat Forest in the 1983–84 UEFA Cup semi-finals in controversial circumstances. Several contentious refereeing decisions went against Forest. Over a decade later, it emerged that before the match, referee Emilio Guruceta Muro had received a £27,000 "loan" from Anderlecht's chairman Constant Vanden Stock. Anderlecht went unpunished until 1997, when UEFA banned the club from European competitions for one year. Guruceta Muro died in a car crash in 1987.

Forest beat Sheffield Wednesday on penalties in the Football League Centenary Tournament final in April 1988 after drawing 0–0. Forest finished third in the league in 1988 and made the 1987–88 FA Cup semi-finals. Stuart Pearce won the first of his five successive selections for the PFA Team of the Year.

On 18 January 1989, Clough joined the fray of a City Ground pitch invasion by hitting two of his own team's fans when on the pitch. The football authorities responded with a fine and touchline ban for Clough. The match, against QPR in the League Cup, finished 5–2 to Forest.

Forest beat Everton 4–3 after extra time in the 1989 Full Members' Cup final, then came back to beat Luton Town 3–1 in the 1989 Football League Cup final. This set Forest up for a unique treble of domestic cup wins, but tragedy struck a week after the League Cup win. Forest and Liverpool met for the second season in a row in the FA Cup semi-finals. The Hillsborough disaster claimed the lives of 97 Liverpool fans. The match was abandoned after six minutes. When the emotional replay took place, Forest struggled as Liverpool won 3–1. Despite these trophy wins, and a third-place finish in the First Division, Forest were unable to compete in the UEFA Cup, as English clubs were still banned from European competitions following the Heysel Stadium Disaster. Des Walker won the first of his four successive selections for the PFA Team of the Year.

Nigel Jemson scored as Forest beat Oldham Athletic 1–0 to retain the League Cup in 1990. English clubs were re-admitted to Europe for the following season, but only in limited numbers, and Forest's League Cup win again did not see them qualify. The only UEFA Cup place that season went to league runners-up Aston Villa.

Brian Clough reached his only FA Cup final in 1991 after countless replays and postponements in the third, fourth and fifth rounds. Up against Tottenham Hotspur, Forest took the lead from a Pearce free kick, but Spurs equalised to take the game to extra-time, ultimately winning 2–1 after an own goal by Walker. Roy Keane declared himself fit to play in the final and was selected in preference to Steve Hodge; years later, Keane admitted he had not actually been fit to play, hence his insignificant role in the final.

Frank Clark (1993–1996)

Frank Clark from Forest's 1979 European Cup winning team returned to the club in May 1993, succeeding Brian Clough as manager. Clark's previous greatest management success was promotion from the Fourth Division with Leyton Orient in 1989. Clark convinced Stuart Pearce to remain at the club and also signed Stan Collymore, Lars Bohinen and Colin Cooper. Clark brought an immediate return to the Premier League when the club finished Division One runners-up at the end of the 1993–94 season.

Forest finished third in 1994–95 and qualified for the UEFA Cup – their first entry to European competition in the post-Heysel era. Collymore then transferred in the 1995–96 close season to Liverpool for a national record fee of £8.5million. Forest reached the 1995–96 UEFA Cup quarter-finals, the furthest an English team reached in UEFA competition that season. They finished ninth in the league.

The 1996–97 season quickly became a relegation battle. Clark left the club in December.

Stuart Pearce and Dave Bassett (1997–1999)

34-year-old captain Stuart Pearce was installed as player-manager on a temporary basis just before Christmas in 1996 and he inspired a brief upturn in the club's fortunes. However, in March 1997 he was replaced on a permanent basis by Dave Bassett and left the club that summer after 12 years. Forest were unable to avoid relegation and finished the season in bottom place. They won promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt, being crowned Division One champions in 1997–98. Bassett was sacked in January 1999, with Ron Atkinson replacing him.

Into the 21st century below the top-flight (1999–2012)

Ron Atkinson was unable to prevent Forest from once again slipping back into Division One, and announced his retirement from football management when Forest's relegation was confirmed on 24 April 1999, with three weeks of the Premier League season still to play.

Former England captain David Platt succeeded Atkinson and spent approximately £12 million on players in the space of two seasons, including the Italian veterans Moreno Mannini, Salvatore Matrecano and Gianluca Petrachi. However, Forest could only finish 14th in Platt's first season and 11th in his second. He departed in July 2001 to manage the England U21 side and was succeeded by youth team manager Paul Hart.

Now faced with huge debts, which reduced Forest's ability to sign new players, they finished 16th in Hart's first season in charge. By December 2001, Forest were reported as losing over £100,000 every week, and their financial outlook was worsened by the collapse of ITV Digital, which left Forest and many other Football League clubs in severe financial difficulties. Despite the off-field difficulties, Forest finished 2002–03 in sixth place and qualified for the play-offs, where they lost to Sheffield United in the semi-finals. A poor league run the following season, following the loss of several key players, led to the sacking of Hart in February 2004 with Forest in danger of relegation. The decision was unpopular with certain quarters of the fanbase and Hart was described as a "scapegoat".

Joe Kinnear was subsequently appointed and led the club to a secure 14th place in the final league table. The 2004–05 season saw Forest drop into the relegation zone once more, leading to Kinnear's resignation in December 2004. Mick Harford took temporary charge of Forest over Christmas, before Gary Megson was appointed in the new year. Megson had already won two promotions to the Premier League with his previous club West Bromwich Albion, having arrived at the club when they were in danger of going down to Division Two, but failed to stave off relegation as the club ended the season second from bottom in 23rd place, becoming the first European Cup-winners ever to fall into their domestic third division.

In Forest's first season in the English third tier in 54 years, a 3–0 defeat at Oldham Athletic in February 2006 led to the departure of Megson by "mutual consent" leaving the club mid-table only four points above the relegation zone. Frank Barlow and Ian McParland took temporary charge for the remainder of the 2005–06 season, engineering a six-match winning run and remaining unbeaten in ten games, the most notable result a 7–1 win over Swindon Town. Forest took 28 points from a possible 39 under the two, narrowly missing out on a play-off place, as they finished in 7th place.

Al-Hasawi era (2012–2017)

The Al-Hasawi family from Kuwait purchased the club in July 2012. They told the press that they had a long-term vision for the club based on a 3–5 year plan, and after interviewing several potential new managers, appointed Sean O'Driscoll, formerly the manager at Doncaster Rovers and Crawley Town, as the manager on 19 July 2012. He was known for playing an attractive brand of passing football (which had taken Doncaster Rovers into the league's second tier for the first time since the 1950s) and what football fans would consider the Forest way. O'Driscoll had spent five months at the City Ground as coach under Steve Cotterill in the 2011–12 season.

By 15 December 2012, after the team's 0–0 draw away to Brighton, Forest sat in ninth position with 33 points, just three points off the play-off positions. On the same weekend, the club announced that Omar Al-Hasawi had stepped down for personal reasons and Fawaz Al-Hasawi, the majority shareholder with 75%, had taken the position, with his brother Abdulaziz Al-Hasawi holding a 20% share and his cousin Omar Al-Hasawi holding a 5% share.

On 26 December 2012, O'Driscoll was sacked following a 4–2 victory over Leeds United, with the club stating their intentions of a change ahead of the January transfer window and hopes of appointing a manager with Premier League experience, eventually hiring Alex McLeish. Chief executive Mark Arthur as well as scout Keith Burt and club ambassador Frank Clark were dismissed in January 2013. On 5 February 2013, Forest and McLeish parted company by mutual agreement after 40 days of cooperation. Forest supporters and pundits alike registered their concern for the state of the club, with journalist Pat Murphy describing the situation as a "shambles".

Two days after McLeish's departure, the club re-appointed Billy Davies as manager, having been sacked as the team's manager twenty months previously. His first match in charge was a draw, followed by a run of 10 undefeated games. In March 2014, the club terminated Davies's employment, following a 5–0 defeat by Derby County. After initially rejecting the job in March 2014, fans favourite Stuart Pearce was named the man to replace Billy Davies, taking over from caretaker manager Gary Brazil. He signed a two-year contract commencing on 1 July 2014. Pearce led Forest to an unbeaten start to the season but failed to keep up the form. He was sacked in February 2015 and replaced by another former Forest player, Dougie Freedman.

Evangelos Marinakis and Premier League return (2017–present)

On 18 May 2017, Evangelos Marinakis completed his takeover of Nottingham Forest, bringing an end to Al-Hasawi's reign as Forest owner. Incumbent manager Mark Warburton was sacked on 31 December 2017 following a 1–0 home defeat to struggling Sunderland, with a record of one win in seven. He was replaced by Spaniard Aitor Karanka, who arrived on 8 January 2018, immediately after caretaker manager Gary Brazil had masterminded a 4–2 home win over holders Arsenal in the third round of the FA Cup. Karanka made 10 new signings during the January transfer window, and following a 17th-place finish, he made 14 new signings during the summer transfer window and the following season results improved. Despite a strong league position, Karanka left his position on 11 January 2019 after requesting to be released from his contract. He was replaced with former Republic of Ireland boss Martin O'Neill four days later. O'Neill was sacked in June after reportedly falling out with some of the senior first team players, and was replaced with Sabri Lamouchi on the same day. In Lamouchi's first season in charge, despite spending most of the season in the playoffs, Forest dropped to seventh place on the final day. On 6 October 2020, Lamouchi was sacked by the club following a poor start to the 2020–21 season. He was replaced by former Brighton manager Chris Hughton. After an ultimately unsuccessful 11 months in charge, Hughton was sacked on 16 September 2021 after failing to win any of the club's opening seven games of the 2021–22 season.

Forest chairman Nicholas Randall had initially promised that Forest planned to return to playing European football within five seasons, and yet poor transfers and a toxic club culture meant that Forest remained in the Championship four years into the Marinakis era. In the summer of 2021, structural changes were made at the club to try and correct the previous mistakes. Forest appointed Dane Murphy as Chief Executive, and George Syrianos was brought in as head of recruitment to bring about a more analytics driven transfer policy. The Forest hierarchy committed to avoiding the "short-termism" of previous windows by no longer signing players for more than £18,000 a week and mostly targeting younger signings that could be sold for a profit.

On 21 September 2021, Forest announced the appointment of Steve Cooper as the club's new head coach. Cooper inspired a turnaround in form, arriving with the club in last place yet having them in 7th at Christmas, and all the way up in 4th by the end of the season, qualifying Forest for the playoffs for the first time since the 2010–11 season. In the 2022 Championship play-off semi-final, Forest defeated Sheffield United on penalties to advance to the final against Huddersfield Town, who they beat 1–0 at Wembley Stadium, and were promoted to the Premier League for the first time since the 1998–99 season. Having entered the Premier League with a depleted squad after the promotion, in the leadup to the next season Forest signed 21 players for the first team squad. This was a British transfer record. The club record fee was also broken multiple times, and the last such occasion in the transfer window was when Morgan Gibbs-White joined the club for £25 million with a potential to rise to £42 million subject to performance.

Club identity

Crest and colours

Nottingham Forest have worn red since the club's foundation in 1865. At the meeting in the Clinton Arms which established Nottingham Forest as a football club, the committee also passed a resolution that the team colours should be 'Garibaldi red'. This decision was made in honour of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian patriot who was the leader of the redshirts volunteers. At this time, clubs identified themselves more by their headgear than their shirts and a dozen red caps with tassels were duly purchased, making Forest the first club to 'officially' wear red, a colour that has since been adopted by a significant number of others. Forest's kit is the reason behind Arsenal's choice of red, the club having donated a full set of red kits to Arsenal following their foundation (as Woolwich Arsenal) in 1886. Forest's tour of South America in 1905 inspired Argentine club Independiente to adopt red as their club colour, after club's President Arístides Langone described the tourists as looking like diablos rojos ("red devils"), which would become Independiente's nickname.

The first club crest used by Forest was the city arms of Nottingham, which was first used on kits in 1947. The current club badge was introduced in 1974, following a competition in 1973 to design a new badge. The winning design was by Trent Polytechnic (now Nottingham Trent University) graphic design lecturer David Lewis. The logo has been incorrectly reported as being the brainchild of manager Brian Clough. However, he did not arrive at the club until the following year. Forest have two stars above the club badge to commemorate its European Cup victories in 1979 and 1980.

Nomenclature

The club has garnered many nicknames over time. Historically, the nickname of "the Reds" was used, as was "Garibaldis". "The Forest" or the simpler "Forest" – as used on the club crest – is commonly used. Another, lesser-used, nickname referring to the club is the "Tricky Trees".

Stadium

City Ground

Since 1898, Nottingham Forest have played their home games at the City Ground in West Bridgford, on the banks of the River Trent. Before moving to the City Ground, Forest played their home games at Forest Recreation Ground, then Trent Bridge, and finally the purpose-built Town Ground. Since 1994, the City Ground has been all-seater, a preparation that was made in time for the ground to be a venue for Euro 96, and has a capacity of 31,042.

The City Ground is 300 yards away from Notts County's Meadow Lane stadium on the opposite side of the Trent, meaning the two grounds are the closest professional football stadia geographically in England. In 1898, the City Ground was within the boundaries of Nottingham, which had been given city status the year before and gave rise to the name of the stadium. However, a boundary change in the 1950s means that the City Ground now stands just outside of the city's boundaries in the town of West Bridgford.

In 2019, Nottingham Forest announced plans to redevelop the City Ground and surrounding area, including the "creation of a new, world-class Peter Taylor Stand". It was expected this would increase the capacity of the stadium to 38,000, making it the largest football stadium in the East Midlands. Planning permission for the new Peter Taylor Stand was approved by Rushcliffe Borough Council's planning committee in 2022 with final consent granted in 2025.

In November 2025, Nottingham Forest announced new more ambitious plans to increase the capacity of the City Ground to 52,500 by 2033. At a launch event attended by club Chair Nicholas Randall and East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward, Nottingham Forest confirmed their intention to expand the Peter Taylor Stand capacity by around 10,000 taking it to 15,000, and increase the Trent End capacity by a further 5,000, bringing capacity up to 45,000 as Phase 1 of the City Ground redevelopment. Longer term Phase 2 plans would also increase the Brian Clough Stand by 7,500 ultimately bringing total capacity to more than 52,500.

Nottingham Forest submitted a planning application to Rushcliffe Borough Council for their Phase 1 plans on 16 December 2025, and are hoping to start enabling works in summer 2026 subject to their gaining planning permission. An outline application was also submitted for the expansion of the Brian Clough stand alongside the main application for the Trent End and Peter Taylor Stand. It is understood Nottingham Forest are yet to purchase the freehold to the City Ground site, and this is subject to them gaining planning permission for their projects.

Local rivals, derbies and supporters

Whilst Notts County is the closest professional football club geographically, Forest have remained at least one division higher since the 1994–95 season and the club's fiercest rivalry is with Derby County, located 14 miles away. The rivalry stems from the 1898 FA Cup final when Forest caused a major upset, beating strong favourites Derby County 3–1. The two clubs contest the East Midlands derby, a fixture which has taken on even greater significance since the inception of the Brian Clough Trophy in 2007. As of February 2024, the two clubs have met on 111 occasions, with Forest winning 43 times and Derby winning 38 times with 30 games drawn.

Leicester City were widely considered to be Forest's main East Midlands rivals prior to Brian Clough's success at both Derby and Forest. The rivalry is now most fiercely felt by fans who live around the Leicestershire-Nottinghamshire border.

Forest's other regional rival is Sheffield United, based in the neighbouring county of South Yorkshire, a rivalry which has roots in the UK miners' strike of 1984–85 when the miners of South Yorkshire walked out on long strikes but some Nottinghamshire miners, who insisted on holding a ballot, continued to work. The 2003 Championship play-off semi-final between the two clubs, in which Sheffield United finished as 5–4 aggregate winners, also fuelled the rivalry. They met again in the 2022 play-offs, with Forest coming out on top this time, and in 2023–24 faced each other in the Premier League for the first time since 1993, with Forest winning 2–1 at home, and 3–1 away.

Managers

Information correct as of match played 24 May 2026. Only competitive matches are counted.

Caretaker managers are in italics.

Players

First team

As of 7 September 2026

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

B Team

As of 7 September 2026

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

All-time XI

In 1997 and 1998, as part of the release of the book The Official History of Nottingham Forest, a vote was carried out to decide on the club's official All Time XI.

In 2016, Nottingham Forest season ticket holders voted for the club's greatest eleven to commemorate the club's 150th anniversary.

Premier League Hall of Fame

The Premier League Hall of Fame honours the leading association football players and managers that have played and managed in the Premier League, the top level of the English football league system. Inaugurated in 2020 but delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hall of Fame is intended to recognise and honour players and managers that have achieved great success and made a significant contribution to the league since its founding in 1992. Four ex-players/managers associated with Forest are represented in the PL Hall of fame.

2021 – Roy Keane

2022 – Ian Wright

2024 – Andy Cole John Terry

English Football Hall of Fame members

Several ex-players/managers associated with Nottingham Forest are represented in the English Football Hall of Fame, which was created in 2002 as a celebration of those who have achieved at the very peak of the English game. To be considered for induction players/managers must be 30 years of age or older and have played/managed for at least five years in England.

2002 – Brian Clough Peter Shilton Dave Mackay

2004 – Viv Anderson Roy Keane

2005 – Ian Wright

2009 – Teddy Sheringham

2014 – Trevor Francis

2015 – Stuart Pearce

2016 – John Robertson

2020 – Justin Fashanu

Football League 100 Legends

The Football League 100 Legends is a list of "100 legendary football players" produced by The Football League in 1998, to celebrate the 100th season of League football. Four former players connected with Forest made the list.

Source:

Johnny Carey

Dave Mackay

Peter Shilton

Trevor Francis

Club staff

Coaching staff

Source:

Records and statistics

Most appearances for the club (in all competitions): 692 – Bob McKinlay (1951–1970)

Most goals for the club (in all competitions): 217 – Grenville Morris (1898–1913)

Highest attendance: 49,946 vs. Manchester United, First Division, 28 October 1967

Lowest attendance: 2,031 vs. Brentford, Football League Trophy, 31 October 2006

Longest sequence of league wins: 7, accomplished four times, last in 1979.

Longest sequence of league defeats: 14, losses from 21 March 1913 to 27 September 1913

Longest sequence of unbeaten league matches: 42, from 26 November 1977 to 25 November 1978

Longest sequence of league games without a win: 19, from 8 September 1998 to 16 January 1999

Record win (in all competitions): 14–0, vs. Clapton (away), FA Cup first round, 17 January 1891

Record defeat (in all competitions): 1–9, vs. Blackburn Rovers, Second Division, 10 April 1937

Most league points in one season

2 points for a win (46 games): 70, Third Division South, 1950–51

2 points for a win (42 Games): 64, First Division, 1977–78

3 points for a win: 94, First Division, 1997–98

Honours

source:

Domestic

League

First Division (level 1)

Champions: 1977–78

Runners-up: 1966–67, 1978–79

Second Division / First Division / Championship (level 2)

Champions: 1906–07, 1921–22, 1997–98

Runners-up: 1956–57, 1993–94

Promoted: 1976–77

Play-off winners: 2022

Third Division South / League One (level 3)

Champions: 1950–51

Runners-up: 2007–08

Football Alliance

Champions: 1891–92

Cup

FA Cup

Winners: 1897–98, 1958–59

Runners-up: 1990–91

Football League Cup

Winners: 1977–78, 1978–79, 1988–89, 1989–90

Runners-up: 1979–80, 1991–92

FA Charity Shield

Winners: 1978

Runners-up: 1959

Full Members' Cup

Winners: 1988–89, 1991–92

European

European Cup

Winners: 1978–79, 1979–80

European Super Cup

Winners: 1979

Runners-up: 1980

Intercontinental Cup

Runners-up: 1980

Minor titles

Anglo-Scottish Cup

Winners: 1976–77

Football League Centenary Tournament

Winners: 1988

Other NFFC teams

Nottingham Forest Women

Nottingham Forest Under-21s

Nottingham Forest Under-18s

Nottingham Forest Academy