For Everton fans, it’s time to get excited about their new state-of-the-art stadium and it might not be too long before excitement levels reach a similar scale for Nottingham Forest fans.
It’s been suggested this week that Forest’s plans to redevelop the City Ground are moving forward. The Reds have pencilled the work in for the summer of 2026 with more meetings to take place later this year.
The development of the City Ground has been a long time coming. Just 12 months ago reports detailed exactly why there had been another delay when it came to the work beginning on The Peter Taylor Stand.
Since returning to the Premier League, Forest have had to make tweaks to the City Ground. A new pitch has been laid, the floodlights have been changed and work has also been done to the media and corporate areas.
The work on the club’s very dated Peter Taylor Stand has been long overdue. Now, it would appear that fans can officially start to get excited with Evangelos Marinakis expecting to get the green light in the near future.
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The capacity the City Ground might become in the future
If the work on The Peter Taylor Stand gets completed it will take the capacity to almost 40,000, which in the short term will be just fine for Forest based on the current demand for tickets.
However, if Forest can become a regular in European competition, more bums on seats will be wanted and it will be something that Marinakis is very keen to achieve.
The Daily Mail previously claimed that 50,000 could be a realistic capacity for the City Ground in the future, saying: “Plans for 50,000-seater expansion at the City Ground are progressing. Marinakis is the real driving force of this upwardly mobile football club.”
That level of capacity would mean the City Ground getting a complete revamp. Much like Liverpool’s stadium, Anfield, the other areas of the ground would likely be redeveloped rather than built from scratch.
How could the City Ground compare to Everton’s Bramley-Moore Stadium
The Toffees have followed in the footsteps of Forest by building a brand new stadium alongside the River Mersey down by the docks in the city centre of Liverpool.
To be brutally honest, the two stadiums might not be too different in terms of capacity should Forest get the green light to stick a spade in the floor.
Everton will play in their new state-of-the-art 52,888-seater stadium from next season, with a trial match taking place earlier this week with 10,000 supporters getting to experience matchday at the new ground for the first time.
In fairness to Everton, there is a lot to aspire to from a Forest perspective. Although the stadium is brand new, it has character and doesn’t have the feel of the stereotypical bowl-like concept that the likes of Derby, Middlesbrough and Leicester have adopted over the years.
One thing the City Ground has always had is character. It sits close to the River Trent making for a picturesque setting and it’s a great relief that the Reds are remaining in its current location.
Redeveloping is absolutely the way forward for Forest and perhaps Everton’s new ground and it’s modern-day features offer supporters a glimpse at exactly what the City Ground could become in the not-so-distant future.
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