It just wouldn’t be the same without mist rolling in from the Trent
WALKS across Trent Bridge on any given match day quite regularly come to a halt at the midway point.
Folks stop for a second. Group photos capture the moment, selfies are taken and some just enjoy spending a few minutes looking across the river at Nottingham Forest’s home.
That walk is iconic. The City Ground is iconic. The location is special. Few stadiums across the country can equal it.
Likewise, the pre-match ritual. A rousing rendition of Mull of Kintyre, a sea of scarves held aloft, has the power to prompt goosebumps and make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
The words have meaning, too. “My desire is always to be here. Oh City Ground,” fans belt out. That counts for something. A lot of history, tradition, memories and connections are wrapped up in the Reds’ anthem, as they are in the stadium itself.
The suggestion, then, that a relocation may not be out of the question is tough to hear.
Nottingham City Council owns the land where Forest have played since 1898. However, the existing lease has a limited time left on it. Talks about extending the lease have stalled.
Club chairman Tom Cartledge told the BBC: “We find ourselves in a position where for the first time we’re having to consider whether the future is going to be away from the City Ground. In the future, football clubs’ wage bills are going to be very heavily linked to revenue. If we can’t grow the revenue, there is a realistic chance we cannot achieve our objectives and grow the playing side and give the manager the resources he needs.
“Unless we start to see some significant progress, it is now having to be a realistic discussion point as to look elsewhere. I’m frustrated, the owner [Evangelos Marinakis] is frustrated, because what he wants to do is give back to what he promised the people of Forest which is growth on and off the field and not to be able to do that is tough.”
The club’s frustration is understandable. As are their concerns.
Leaving the City Ground is sure to be a last resort option. But that a departure should even come into the equation only serves to underline just what a magical place it is.