![]() (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) Getty Imagesįrom that point, Forest’s home truly became a fortress, and from early October till the end of the season, only Manchester United and Newcastle United came away from the City Ground with all three points. Nottingham Forest during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa at City Ground on Octoin Nottingham, United Kingdom. NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 10: Nottingham Forest fans with a banner of Steve Cooper, Manager of. In a season with a record number of sackings, Steve Cooper kept his job.Īhead of their next home match against Aston Villa, the fans unfurled a banner of their head coach and a message reading “We have come so far and we’ve only just begun.” Many owners would have sacked the head coach at that point, but Forest’s owner Evangelos Marinakis saw the fans’ backing and, like the fans, kept the faith. This belief has meant fans have stayed behind the team and head coach, no matter what.Īt the lowest point of the season, when Nottingham Forest lost 4-0 to Leicester City at the bottom of the Premier League, fans kept chanting Cooper’s name. As Cooper led the team up the table, fans started to believe again. “We had 23 years waiting,” says Mitchell of Forest’s time outside of the top flight, “it got to the point where we thought it would never happen.” Forest were bottom of the Championship when current head coach Steve Cooper took over. Those banners often pay homage to the city and club’s history, featuring landmarks like the famous Trent Bridge that fans cross on the way to the City Ground, or local heroes like the “city of rebels” banner which featured suffragettes and civil rights leaders alongside the city’s most famous rebel, Robin Hood.įorza Garibaldi, named after 19th century Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi, whose Redshirts were the reason Forest play in red, was founded because the club’s previous owner seemed to neglect the club’s long and storied history.Īt that time the club were stuck in mid-table in the Championship, English soccer’s second tier, missing out on promotion year after year, and it was hard for fans to imagine a brighter future.
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