Evangelos Marinakis in £50m Nottingham Forest blow as stadium plans are shared 

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Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is extremely keen to get plans in place to redevelop the City Ground in the near future.

Ambitious plans were revealed first in January 2019. Back then, Forest were averaging around 27,000 supporters at home games as the club tried pretty desperately to try and return Premier League football to Nottingham.

The plans looked sensational. Much like Everton’s new ground, it highlighted that Forest would increase the capacity to nearly 40,000 with a museum being created along with brand new media centres and corporate buildings for the Reds to take advantage of.

However, as with any building work, approval is needed from the powers that be. Forest have had issues with nearby businesses and perhaps the biggest stumbling block has been ecological issues as well as getting the local council on board.

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City Ground redevelopment plans now shared

According to The Athletic, the delay in getting everything sorted with regards to the redevelopment of the City Ground is going to hit the club in the pocket.

It’s claimed that an S106 agreement is one of the arrangements. It means Forest will pay a number of sums in order to maintain the upkeep of Trent Bridge, bus services, canal towpath, cycle lands and public transport displays.

All of the delays have set Forest back a little bit financially. The cost of building a new 10,000-seat stand is now £130 million, considerably higher than the £80 million it was anticipated to cost when the plans came to light in January 2019.

When City Ground redevelopment will now take place

It’s claimed in the latest update that the redevelopment has been loosely pencilled in for the summer of 2026 – however, it’s too early to believe that’s set in stone.

The next stage of proceedings is for the planning application to be reconsidered by the council and that is expected to take place in the spring.

Behind the scenes, plans are being considered, however. Fans from the Main Stand will need rehousing, with media and corporate areas needing to be relocated whilst the work is finalised too.

It does all feel rather positive at the moment. A new capacity would help take Forest into the 21st century with their home and hopefully, the summer of 2026 can be set in stone sooner rather than later.