Nottingham Forest won promotion to the Premier League in 2021/22 and only one player remains from that team, with Ryan Yates still in place at the club.
It was the presence of club captain Yates in the penalty area that saw Levi Colwill put through his own goal in the Play-Off Final against Huddersfield and the moment will live long in the memory.
Forest have evolved considerably since winning promotion and the 2025/26 campaign represents the fourth consecutive season in the Premier League.
The likes of Brice Samba, Scott McKenna, James Garner and Lewis Grabban will be fondly remembered and it’s always fascinating to look back at what the promotion class of 2021/22 are up to now.
For one player who starred for Forest during that season, he might be forgiven for being glued to cloud nine at the moment, given his current form.
Sam Surridge closing in on huge accolade ahead of Lionel Messi
With just five games of the MLS season left to play, Sam Surridge is gearing up for a stunning accolade with Nashville SC.
The former Forest striker chose to move to the United States when Steve Cooper overlooked him for the Premier League campaign, with the forward starting just one top-flight game.
He’s been nothing short of a goal machine for Nashville and this season, he’s on course for the Golden Boot, reaching 20 goals with five games to play and sitting one ahead of Lionel Messi.
Surridge has a remarkable record of 42 goals in 76 appearances for Nashville since his arrival and it’s fair to say that he’s a huge hit with the fan base.
Forest were right to offload Surridge
Although it might feel a little bit harsh, Surridge very rarely showcased enough quality to play in the Premier League, even if he was an extremely good finisher in the Championship.
Forest boss Steve Cooper has some good attacking players during the 2022/23 campaign in the Premier League, with Taiwo Awoniyi scoring 14 times that season.
Surridge just didn’t get the game time and it was perhaps telling that no offers came forward from the Championship or Premier League when the time came for Forest to sell.
The player will forever be remembered as a promotion hero and the whole fan base will be rooting for him to topple Messi when it comes to the MLS Golden Boot this season.
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