Nottingham Forest Football: Squad, News, Fixtures and Africa's Garibaldis

Nottingham Forest are an English football club from Nottingham, founded in 1865 at the Clinton Arms and at home at the City Ground since 1898. They returned to the Premier League in 2022, and they remain one of the very few English clubs to have won the European Cup twice, in 1979 and 1980. For South African readers who grew up calling the game soccer, Forest are the Garibaldis, the side in Garibaldi Red with an honours list far bigger than their profile suggests. In Lagos terms, they are the quiet neighbour on your street who turns out to keep two gold medals in a drawer.

Read on for a quick 'Forest in 60 seconds' summary, Nottingham Forest news, squad information and the honours behind the club's European reputation. The African connections include Nigerian internationals Taiwo Awoniyi and Ola Aina, alongside Ivory Coast midfielder Ibrahim Sangaré. For match dates, begin with Nottingham Forest fixtures, and distinguish the fixture information from the historical background.

Who Are Nottingham Forest, the Garibaldis?

Nottingham Forest are a club founded in 1865 by a group of shinty players who agreed at the Clinton Arms to play association football instead. The same founding meeting settled the colour, Garibaldi Red, which is why English fans still call them the Garibaldis; another nickname is the Tricky Trees. Home is the City Ground, on the banks of the River Trent, where Forest have played since 1898. So, when people describe Forest as a historic club, they are being exact rather than polite, and the summary below gives the essentials at a glance.

Where Is the Latest Nottingham Forest News?

For Nottingham Forest news, check the publication date before treating a report as a fresh development. Transfer coverage can describe interest, negotiations or a completed arrival, so establish which stage the story actually reports. Nigerian readers tracing Awoniyi's 2022 move or Aina's 2023 arrival can use those dates to distinguish the original signing reports from later coverage.

How Is the Nottingham Forest Squad Set Out?

When reading Nottingham Forest squad information, distinguish a player's position from his international affiliation: each answers a different question about his connection to the team. Awoniyi and Aina provide Nigerian connections through their arrivals in 2022 and 2023, while Sangaré joined in 2023 as an Ivory Coast international. For a sense of how the modern squad was built, Morgan Gibbs-White joined in the 2022 window for £25m, with additional payments that could raise the fee to £42m, a clear signal of how seriously the club took its return to the top flight.

How Do You Follow Forest Fixtures, Results and the Table From Africa?

Read Forest's scheduled matches alongside completed results and the Premier League standings to separate what is due from what has already happened. The table, or log, ranks clubs by points, with goal difference and goals scored among the tie breakers. A winter afternoon fixture for Forest can align these clocks: WAT 16:00, EAT 18:00, SAST 17:00 and GMT 15:00. Ghana uses GMT, Nigeria uses WAT, Kenya and Uganda use EAT, and South Africa uses SAST. When England observes British Summer Time, Forest's 15:00 local start instead aligns with WAT 15:00, EAT 17:00, SAST 16:00 and GMT 14:00. Check the stated time zone for the individual fixture before making plans.

What Have Nottingham Forest Won?

Forest won the European Cup in 1979 and 1980, the First Division in 1977-78, the FA Cup in 1898 and 1959, the League Cup in 1978, 1979, 1989 and 1990, and the UEFA Super Cup in 1979. In my opinion, the defining match is the 1979 European Cup final, a 1-0 win over Malmö that put a club from the English Midlands on the same list of champions as Real Madrid and Ajax. In 1980 Forest beat Hamburg 1-0 to keep the trophy, and they also beat Barcelona to win the 1979 UEFA Super Cup, contested in 1980. It could be argued that no English club has packed so much European silver into so short a spell.

The domestic record is just as solid. The First Division title in 1977-78 was won seven points ahead of Liverpool, and the League Cup followed in 1978, 1979, 1989 and 1990, with the FA Cup lifted in 1898 and 1959. For a Champions League follower in Nairobi or Accra who thinks English football begins and ends with a handful of famous names, that honours list is a useful surprise. If you want to win an argument about which English clubs have been champions of Europe, Forest are the answer most people forget to give.

From the Clinton Arms to Clough: The History in Brief

Forest grew up alongside the English game itself. They first entered the FA Cup in 1878-79, won the Football Alliance and stepped into the Football League in 1892, and in 1898, the year they moved to the City Ground, beat Derby County 3-1 to win the FA Cup for the first time. A second FA Cup followed in 1959 with a 2-1 win over Luton Town. So, by the time the club's most famous manager arrived, Forest already had cup history in the cabinet, and what they had not yet done was rule English and then European football.

Brian Clough became manager on 6 January 1975 and stayed until May 1993, an 18 year spell that included the First Division title in 1977-78 and European Cups in 1979 and 1980, with Peter Taylor alongside Clough for those titles. Forest supporters talk about Clough the way Lagos traders talk about the market woman who started with a single stall and ended up owning the whole row. Every Forest side since has been measured against that era, which perhaps asks a lot of the players, but it makes for a very good argument in any viewing centre on a Saturday evening.

Which African and Nigerian Players Have Played for Forest?

Forest have Nigerian connections through Taiwo Awoniyi and Ola Aina. Awoniyi, a Nigeria international, signed for Forest in June 2022; his arrival in 2022 gives Nigerian readers a dated connection to Forest. Aina, also a Nigeria international, joined Forest in July 2023 after leaving Torino.

Those signing dates provide a starting point for following the two players' Forest careers. Their Nigeria international affiliations establish the Super Eagles connection without making assumptions about future national team selection.

Ivory Coast international Ibrahim Sangaré joined Forest from PSV Eindhoven in September 2023. His arrival adds another West African connection to the club's history, giving readers in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda a further African player to explore alongside the Nigerian internationals.

The City Ground, Derby County and the Brian Clough Trophy

The City Ground has been Forest's home since 1898, and its loudest days come against Derby County, the neighbours from the other side of the East Midlands. League and cup meetings between the two clubs are played for the Brian Clough Trophy, named after the man who managed both and won the league with each, so the rivalry is part family quarrel and part tribute. For a Kenyan reader, think of the noise around a Mashemeji derby between Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards; for a Ghanaian, think of Hearts of Oak against Asante Kotoko, with Garibaldi Red in place of the usual colours.

Who Owns Nottingham Forest?

Evangelos Marinakis completed his takeover of Nottingham Forest on 18 May 2017. The years since have brought the clearest progress of the modern era: promotion back to the Premier League in 2022 through the Championship play off final, and a 7th place finish in 2024-25 that brought the first European football to the City Ground in 30 years. For African fans who only know Forest from the Premier League fixture list, that European return links the current side to the club of 1979 and 1980.

For viewers in Africa, European fixtures and meetings with Derby County offer different routes into Forest's history. To plan around a match, first confirm its date and kick-off time, then check the viewing schedule available in your country. Keep WAT, EAT, SAST and GMT distinct when sharing a Forest fixture with friends across Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana and Uganda.