Nottingham Forest Odds

Nottingham Forest Odds

Nottingham Forest betting odds are amongst the most popular to bet on, particularly with fans of betting on the Championship. 

Despite the club seemingly settled in the Championship division, odds on Nottingham Forest to be relegated are commonly bet on. Equally, odds on Nottingham Forest to win the Championship can be popular, particularly when betting each-way.

The club has seen a high turnover of managers in recent years. This has led to Nottingham Forest manager odds becoming more popular to bet on.

As well as Nottingham Forest manager betting, there are great odds to be found on individual matches. In big clashes, such as the East Midlands derby, certain odds can be subject to bookmaker special offers. For example, odds on Nottingham Forest v Derby can be subject to Money Back Specials, with Paddy Power one bookmaker who offers these deals on a regular basis.

Other odds can include Nottingham Forest odds for promotion. This is a market that could provide betting value, so carefully consider the odds on offer.

Nottingham Forest History

Nottingham Forest are a professional football club based in the Nottinghamshire, England. One of England’s most successful clubs, they’ve have two European Cup wins to their name. They currently play in the English second tier, the Championship.

Nottingham Forest FC history begins in 1865. In this year, the Nottingham Forest Football and Bandy club was formed, shortly after neighbours Notts County, who are the longest surviving football club in the world.

Nottingham Forest joined the Football Alliance in 1889, and won it three years later. The following season, Forest joined the Football League.

The first entry in the Nottingham Forest trophy history books, in terms of major trophies won, came in 1898. Forest won the FA Cup, beating Derby County in the Final.

Despite the club’s cup success, their first few years in the Football League was rather uneventful. In the 1905/1906 season, the club were relegated from the First Division to the Second Division. This was the beginning of Nottingham Forest yo-yo years, with promotions and relegations coming regularly over the next two decades.

The club immediately bounced back from relegation in the 1906/1907 season, winning the Second Division title in the process. Their time didn’t last long back in the First Division though, and were relegated once more in the 1910/1911 campaign.

Nottingham Forest had to wait until the 1921/1922 season to earn promotion again. Another Second Division title saw the club play First Division football once more. However, they were demoted back to the second tier three years later, after finishing in 22nd place.

The 1926/1927 season was the first of 18 consecutive campaigns in the Second Division. For the majority of this period, Nottingham Forest spent much of their time fighting relegation, before succumbing to the drop in 1949. Two years later, though, and they were back in the second tier, picking up a Third Division South title along the way, scoring a record 110 goals.

The club reached the First Division once more in 1957, and two years later Nottingham Forest won their second FA Cup. Forest began to establish themselves as a steady First Division club, but this wasn’t to last, and in the 1971/1972 season the club were relegated once again.

The 1970’s became the most successful period in Nottingham Forest history, in fact English football history was considerably changed because of Forest’s achievements at this time. In 1975, one of the legends of the English game Brian Clough took charge of Nottingham Forest.

Clough’s side won promotion back to the First Division in the 1976/1977 season. In their first season back in the top flight, Nottingham Forest did the double, winning the First Division title and the League Cup, both for the first time in the club’s history. 

The following season, after winning the FA Charity Shield, the club entered European competition. They played in the most prestigious European club competition, the European Cup, and won the competition, beating Malmo in the final. Forest also picked up another League Cup trophy, doing the cup double.

The 1978/1979 season saw the club retain the Charity Shield, but more importantly they won the European Cup once more, to make it two European Cup wins in two seasons after beating Hamburg in the final. Nottingham Forest added to their European trophy collection the following season, winning the European Super Cup. 

Nottingham Forest continued to challenge for trophies, and in the 1980/1981 season they were runners up in both the Intercontinental Cup and the European Super Cup.

The club’s First Division form was impressive too, with three third place finishes in the 1980’s. Forest also won two more League Cups in two years in 1989 and 1990, and it looked like the 1990’s would also be a successful decade for Nottingham Forest.

The club were founder members of the Premier League when the new division was introduced in 1992. However, the club were relegated at the end of this season, resulting not only in demotion to the newly named Division One, but also saw the exit of Brian Clough, Nottingham Forest’s most successful manager, and one of England’s all time legendary managers.

Frank Clark took over for the 1993/1994 season. Clark had been part of the Nottingham Forest team who had won the 1979 European Cup, so was a popular choice for Nottingham Forest fans. Forest immediately bounced back by winning the Division One title, and the club were back in the Premier League.

The 1994/1995 season was a successful one, with Forest finishing in third place. However, this is the highest position they’ve finished in since, and three years later they were once again demoted, returning to Division One.

By this point, Frank clark had left the club and Dave Bassett was in charge at the time of the club’s relegation. However, Bassett oversaw an immediate promotion back to the top flight, although their stay this time in the Premier League lasted for just one season.

Under the guidance of Paul Hart, the club reached the play-offs in their 2002/2003 campaign. However, they were beaten at the semi final stage by Sheffield United, and this led to a downturn in form that lasted for many seasons.

Following a series of changes in management, the club were relegated in the 2004/2005 season. The following season was the first time in 54 years Forest had played third tier football, now known as League One. 

In the 2006/2007 campaign, Forest reached the play-offs but were unsuccessful. The following season, though, the club did win promotion, a second place finish sealing the club’s return to the Championship.

The club has remained in the Championship ever since, for a period that has so far lasted for 11 seasons.

Crest 

The first Nottingham Forest crest was introduced in 1946. This Nottingham Forest badge was based on the Nottingham coat of arms and was used until 1974.

The current Nottingham Forest badge was created in 1974. This badge features an image of a Sherwood forest tree, sat above three wavy lines which represent the River Trent. 

This Nottingham Forest club badge has undergone minor alterations since it was designed. From 2008 to 2010, the badge featured two stars to represent the club’s two European Cup wins, along with the venue and date of each success.

The Nottingham Forest old badge was reinstated in 2010, but included the two stars signifying the club’s European Cup success underneath the image of the Sherwood tree and the River Trent.

Colours

The Nottingham Forest kit colours of red shirts, white shorts and red socks have been the standard Nottingham Forest team colours since the club was founded.

Nottingham Forest are also the inspiration behind Arsenal’s and Liverpool’s red kits. Forest donated their old shirts to these two clubs when they were formed, and both sides have stayed with the same kit colours ever since.

Whilst the Nottingham Forest colours history is generally red white and red, there have been occasions when the club have worn black socks instead of the usual red, although this has been a rare occurance.

Nottingham Forest Stadium

The Nottingham Forest FC Stadium is the City Ground. The club moved into this ground in 1898.

Before this move, the club had played at three different stadiums. Firstly at the Forest Recreation Ground, then Trent Bridge and finally the Town Ground before the move to their current home.

The Nottingham Forest stadium location is very close to their rivals and neighbours Notts County. These two football stadiums are the closest in proximity than any other professional grounds in the country.

The current Nottingham Forest stadium capacity is 30,445, making the City Ground one of the largest in the Championship. 

The City Ground comprises of four stands - the Brian Clough Stand, the Bridgford Stand, the Main Stand and the Trent End.

Supporters

Nottingham Forest have one of the largest fanbases in the country. Following the club’s success in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, the club gained a large following, with the majority of that support lasting to this day.

There are many Nottingham Forest supporters clubs up and down the country. The official Nottingham Forest Supporters Club maintains strong links with the club itself, and has over 50 branches worldwide.

Nottingham Forest supporters enjoy a huge rivalry with Derby County. These two contest the East Midlands derby. Leicester City are also another rival, though this isn’t as fierce.

Despite the two clubs being close to each other in terms of location, the Nottingham derby also isn’t as fierce as that between Forest and Derby. Nottingham Forest and Notts County have rarely spent the same season in the same division, so meetings between the two are not common.

Ownership

The Nottingham Forest owner is Evangelos Marinakis. Marinakis owns 80% of the football club, with Sokratis Kominakis owning the remaining 20% share.

Marinakis bought the club from the Al-Hasawi family in 2017.

The Al-Hasawi reign saw their club promoted but also a high turnover of managers during their tenure. The club  employed and replaced eight managers in their four year tenure, including caretaker managers, much to the general disdain of the Nottingham Forest fans.

Nigel Doughty was the Nottingham Forest owner from 1999 until his death in 2012. 

Stats

Nottingham Forest stats begin with their record all time appearance maker. Bob McKinley holds that distinction, making 692 appearances for Nottingham Forest between 1951 and 1970.

The club’s all time leading goalscorer is Grenville Morris. Morris scored 217 Nottingham Forest goals in his time at the club lasting from 1898 to 1913.

Nottingham Forest’s record win came in 1891 when Forest beat Clapton in the FA Cup 14-0. The club’s all time record defeat came in 1937, when Blackburn Rovers beat them 9-1 in the Second Division.

The all time highest attendance Nottingham Forest have played in front of at home 49,946. This crowd number was achieved when Forest played Manchester United in the First Division in 1967.

Nottingham Forest’s record transfer signing is Joao Carvalho. Forest paid a fee of £13.2 million for Carvalho to Benfica. The highest transfer fee Nottingham Forest have ever received for a player is £15 million, a fee paid by Middlesbrough for Britt Assombalonga.

Nottingham Forest Players

The Nottingham Forest players list currently contains 31 members of the first team squad, including a number of Nottingham Forest Academy players that have been promoted.

The Nottingham Forest players wages have been a topic of controversy in recent years, with reports of financial trouble at the club leading to players and staff not getting paid.

Nottingham Forest players past and present include some of them most famous names in English football. Notable ex Nottingham Forest players include Stuart Pearce, Des Walker, Stan Collymore, Peter Shilton, Gary Birtles and Kenny Burns.

A vote was carried out to name the Nottingham Forest All Time Best XI. The players who made this XI were Peter Shilton, Viv Anderson, Des Walker, Kenny Burns, Stuart Pearce, Martin O’Neill, Roy Keane, Archie Gemmill, Ian Storey-Moore, Trevor Francis and John Robertson.

The current Nottingham Forest player of the year is Dorus de Vries. Both Stuart Pearce and Des Walker won the Nottingham Forest player of the year award three times in their career.

Previous Nottingham Forest squads have contained a whole host of international players. A total of 37 Nottingham Forest footballers have won England international caps while playing club football with Forest. 16 Forest players have represented Wales, 18 Nottingham Forest players have played for Northern Ireland, ten have played for Scotland, seven for the Republic of Ireland, four have represented Norway, three have played for Holland, two have represented Iceland, two have represented Switzerland, two have represented Australia, and the countries of Jamaica, Gambia, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Ghana, Poland, Trinidad and Tobago, USA, Zimbabwe, Greece, Finland, Serbia and Lithuania have all had one representative of Nottingham Forest play international football for them.

The most internationally capped player whilst at Nottingham Forest is Stuart Pearce, who won 76 of his 78 England caps while playing his club football with Forest.

Jack Lester holds the record for the quickest ever Nottingham Forest goal. Lester scored after 14 seconds against Norwich City in 2000.

Nottingham Forest Manager

The current Nottingham Forest manager is Aitor Karanka, who took over the managerial reins in January 2018. He became the club’s 19th manager in ten years, taking the job after Gary Brazil's stint as caretaker.

The most successful manager in Nottingham Forest history is, of course, Brian Clough. Clough is also Nottingham Forest’s all time longest serving manager, leading the club for 968 matches and winning 447 of them, giving him a win percentage of 42.6%.

Clough’s win percentage is also the highest out of any manager in Nottingham Forest history who took charge of the club for one season or more.

The first Nottingham Forest manager was Harry Radford. Radford managed the club from 1889 to 1897, and led his side to victory in 69 of his 176 games in charge.

The Nottingham Forest manager (who managed the club for at least one season) with the highest loss percentage is Harold Wightman, who lost almost 50% of his 119 matches in charge of the club from 1936 to 1939.

Honours

Nottingham Forest are one of the most successful cup sides in the history of English football. The Nottingham Forest honours list consists of two European Cups (1978/1979 and 1979/1980); one UEFA Super Cup (1979); two FA Cups (1897/1898 and 1958/1959); four League Cups (1977/1978, 1978/1979, 1988/1989 and 1989/1990); and one Charity Shield (1978).

In league competitions, Nottingham Forest won one top tier title (1977/1978), three second tier titles (1906/1907, 1921/1922 and 1997/1998); one third tier title (1950/1951); and one Football Alliance title (1891/1892).