The Reds have made the Championship play-off final in 2021-22, with those at the City Ground desperate to force their way back into the big time
Nottingham Forest may be two-time European Cup winners, but they have tumbled as far as the third tier of English football in the 21st century and are yet to grace the Premier League stage this millennium.
The intention is to break that cycle as quickly as possible, with every effort being made at the City Ground to summon up the spirit of legendary former boss Brian Clough and bring top-flight competition back to the banks of the River Trent.
How long has it been since the Reds last rubbed shoulders with the elite and when could a return to the big time be made? GOAL takes a look…
With Clough still at the helm in 1992-93, Forest were founder members of the Premier League and famously recorded the first goal scored in Sky Sports’ coverage of the rebranded top flight as Teddy Sheringham netted a solitary strike in a 1-0 opening weekend win over Liverpool.
They tumbled out of the top tier that season, before bouncing straight back up, and have gone on to experience two more relegations since then.
The most recent of those came in 1998-99, when the Reds finished rock-bottom for a third time in the space of seven years, and they have now spent 23 years outside of the Premier League pack.
Play-off semi-final heartache was endured at Championship level in 2002-03, 2009-10 and 2010-11, with Forest – who spent three seasons in League One between 2005 and 2008 – unable to drag themselves over the promotion line.
Steve Cooper has, after overseeing a remarkable reversal in fortune during the 2021-22 campaign, acquired another ticket for the play-off lottery this season, with Sheffield United edged out on penalties at the semi-final stage to book a shot at securing the riches on offer to final victors in a Wembley showpiece.
Forest started the 1998-99 season with Dave ‘Harry’ Bassett at the helm, with the experienced manager having guided them to the second-tier title in the previous campaign.
The wheels were, however, to start falling off for the Reds before a ball was kicked, with the summer sales of key men such as Colin Cooper and Kevin Campbell leading to frustration building inside and outside of the camp.
Dutch frontman Pierre van Hooijdonk, who had hit 34 goals across a title-winning season on Trentside, infamously took matters into his own hands as he went on strike after seeing a transfer request turned down.
With odds mounting against Bassett from the off, he was relieved of his managerial duties in January as Micky Adams was asked to take on caretaker duties for one game.
Ron Atkinson was appointed to oversee a bid for top-flight survival but, after heading to the wrong dugout in his opening game against Arsenal, he was unable to fend off the inevitable and Forest took another tumble through a familiar trapdoor.
The Reds had plenty of experience at their disposal, with long-serving stars such as Steve Chettle, Scot Gemmill and Steve Stone included in their ranks, but they lacked the X-factor required to compete on a Premier League stage.
Van Hooijdonk was supposed to provide that, but he made just 21 appearances after bringing his self-imposed exile to a close in November 1998.
Dougie Freedman finished as the club’s top scorer, but failed to reach double figures in the league, and Forest ended the season with the worst attacking and defensive records in the division.
Player
Appearances
Goals
Dave Beasant
26
0
Matthieu Louis-Jean
15(1)
0
Alan Rogers
34
4
Nigel Quashie
12(4)
0
Steve Chettle
32(2)
2
Jon-Olav Hjelde
16(1)
1
Steve Stone
26
3
Scot Gemmill
18(2)
0
Neil Shipperley
12(8)
1
Andy Johnson
25(3)
0
Chris Bart-Williams
20(4)
3
Chris Doig
1(1)
0
Mark Crossley
12
0
Dougie Freedman
20(11)
9
Criag Armstrong
20(2)
0
Richard Gough
7
0
Geoff Thomas
5
1
Thierry Bonalair
24(4)
1
Ian Woan
0(2)
0
Jean-Claude Darcheville
14(2)
2
Glyn Hodges
3(2)
0
Carlton Palmer
13
0
Des Lyttle
5(5)
0
Bernard Allou
0(2)
0
Christian Edwards
7(5)
0
Jesper Mattsson
5(1)
0
Steve Melton
1
0
Andy Gray
3(5)
0
Marlon Harewood
11(12)
1
John Harkes
3
0
Hugo Porfirio
3(6)
1
Stale Stensaas
6(1)
0
Pierre van Hooijdonk
19(2)
6
In total, the Reds have spent five seasons in the Premier League, with a best finish of third secured in 1994-95 as a side captained by Stuart Pearce and inspired by the goal-scoring exploits of Stan Collymore made a stunning return to the top flight on the back of their first promotion.
They finished ninth in the following campaign, but have found themselves rooted to the foot of the table on every other occasion.
Chettle is their all-time leading appearance maker in the Premier League, having taken in 174 games, while former Netherlands international forward Bryan Roy is their top scorer with 24 efforts to his name.
Games
Wins
Losses
Goals for
Goals against
198
60
79
229
287