The week that Nottingham Forest return to Europe has arrived. And while the achievement feels somewhat diluted in the current climate, the romantic return means so much to every supporter in their own, unique way, says George Edwards
Supporting Nottingham Forest feels strange at the moment.
There’s a feeling of unease towards the drastic change in direction the club has taken by appointing Ange Postecoglou, a shift nobody saw coming when this historic season kicked off. A sadness that the Nuno days are over and a confusion to know what to expect, both short- and long-term, amidst a somewhat poor start to the season, with just one win and zero clean sheets.
But amongst all of that, it should still feel so special to be a Nottingham Forest fan, particularly on the week they return to Europe.
It’s finally here. The week the hiatus ends, and the sleeping giants will be awoken.
Yet Forest’s achievement of getting into Europe has almost been lost, buried in outside noise. There was initial disappointment that when it looked set to be the Champions League, Forest choked. Then they were caught up in a legal battle to settle which competition they’d play in. Recently, Nuno’s ‘sabotage’ and Ange’s introduction have detracted from the hype.
European football has just become one of many new normals associated with the club, but maybe not with the impetus it deserves.
Normals including Elliot Anderson taking England by storm, the best player on the field in both of his first two starts for the Three Lions; coupled with Morgan Gibbs-White’s inclusion and Zach Abbott training with the national side.
Even the appointment of Postecoglou. Yes, many fans were and still are against it, but Forest attracted the current Europa League-winning manager with a fifth-place Premier League finish under his belt, something unthinkable not so many moons ago.
It’s been a generation, a lifetime for some, since our football club has had this special feeling. The buzz of visiting random corners of Europe that wouldn’t generally be considered holiday destinations and the feeling of flying the flag for England, taking the same footsteps as Clough and Clark once did.
For so long, midweeks weren’t about anything exciting.
It really wasn’t long ago that every other Tuesday night, hats, scarves and gloves were being thrown into the boot for yet another dreary trip north to Yorkshire or Lancashire, more of a chore than an excitement.
Barnsley, Sheffield, Rotherham, Blackburn – the list goes on. Towns and cities synonymous with the barren and stagnant state of Nottingham Forest, even venturing into the Johnstone’s Paint trophy for a period (unsuccessfully, of course).
When I think about midweek football, the memory that springs to mind is a rancid Tuesday night under the lights on Trentside, with Preston North End visiting on a school night. My feet were icicles, my eyes barely open and my mind fed up of seeing the same Michael Mancienne horror show on repeat.
That was and remains the only time I have ever left early, as Aitor Karanka’s men lost 3-0 on the night. As the fourth official’s board went up to signify another four minutes of hell, my grandad and I rose to our feet in unison and marched to the exit from 17 rows up, never once considering Forest would ever leave their mid-table Championship rut.
Fast forward 2,793 days, my grandparents and I will have passports in hand, proudly displaying our Forest alliance as we prepare to see our football club reach heights never even imagined for the entirety of my being.
But we shouldn’t forget the recent journey taken to get here.
The first sparks of success and the belief and unity generated by Steve Cooper and his two successful seasons at the helm will forever be imprinted on this football club, making a city believe again and rediscover its love for its football club.
Then the passing of the baton to Nuno Espírito Santo, taking a side destined for relegation to the dizzy heights of the top four, a seventh-place finish and a season where the true potential of Nottingham Forest was unlocked.
And the man who made it all possible, Mr Marinakis. Allowing us to forget the dark days of Fawaz and, after multiple different paths and directions, putting Forest back on the map as an attractive proposition and having the club’s back every step of the way.
Only a handful of football clubs can claim to have been multiple-time European Cup winners, and while it’s long-ago history for many, Forest’s identity and recognition is very much tied up in those two victorious campaigns.
European football isn’t just a new achievement, a step in the right direction, it’s a homecoming. And after decades of loyalty with little reward, a romantic return to the scene once dominated by the crest still worn on that famous Garibaldi Red shirt over 40 years later.
Everybody who has followed the long and bendy roads of the journey will have that moment of despair etched in their memory, where they were close to giving in. For me, it’s that bitter and dejecting night against Preston that I’ll be thinking of as a marker of Forest’s progress and making me savour every second of the beckoning European tour.
So for this week, forget Nuno and forget Ange. Forget the poor form. Forget everything else. Just live for the moment, bask in our recent success and cherish the fact that Nottingham Forest are a European side once again.
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