The new city council leader aims to ‘work her magic’ at Nottingham Forest City Ground.
Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis will be called by the city’s council chairman for urgent talks about the future of the City Ground.
The council’s new leader wants to meet with the club’s owner and chairman, Tom Cartledge, to try to encourage them to continue in their existing home.
It follows repeated communication breakdowns with the club currently at odds with the council over the rent and lease situation at the City Ground, with Marinakis spearheading the charge to locate alternative prospective venues for the club, which NottinghamshireLive has extensively covered.
The municipal council, which owns the land, apparently wants to raise the annual rent from £250,000 to “north of a million.” Nottingham Forest’s option to acquire its stadium freehold for £10 million has been on the table since the beginning of their negotiations with the city council.
Neghat Khan, who was officially appointed as David Mellen’s successor on Monday (May 20), said she wants to speak with the club face to face and believes they can stay at City Ground.
What Neghat Khan said
“I feel they should stay at the City Ground, and one of my steps as the council’s new leader will be to contact the owner and chairman and request a meeting to properly thrash things out. What appears to be the problem?
“There is a lot of history at City Ground. You can’t simply move. When you visit a new stadium, it does not imply that the history, sentiment, or atmosphere are still present. We do not want them to depart, and neither do Forest fans.
“I need to work some magic, but I believe it’s possible. One of my first acts as leader will be to write to the Forest chairman and owner and request a face-to-face meeting, with the hope of shaking hands at the end.
What the former council leader, David Mellen, has said
“It is obviously not the case that Nottingham lacks ambition. If you were there in the square when Nottingham Forest was promoted from the Championship, you could see the desire and the warm reception the club received at the Council House as we rejoiced alongside them.
“We hope that the club will stabilize itself, but it’s apparent from the statements of the fans, and I believe Mr Marinakis needs to listen to them clearly, that they do not want to leave Nottingham. Our doors are open for additional discussions about how to improve the City Ground and boost capacity, but supporters don’t sing Mist Rolling In From The Trent for nothing.”
What Evangelos Marinakis said
The Greek owner wants to see the team in a 50,000-seat all-purpose stadium with cutting-edge training facilities and an Academy setup, and his argument is hard to refute.
“It will change the history in years to come of the region and the team for our supporters,” he stated.
“It’ll be hard to leave City Ground, but in an age when revenue streams dictate success on the pitch, there’s no doubt moving to a bigger facility will set the club on the right path.”
“Over the last 10 years, the city of Nottingham has lacked the confidence and ambition of the other big regional cities of Manchester and Birmingham,” according to him.
Could the club make their current location work? Architect Matt Drewit believes so.
A projected refurbishment of the City Ground has sparked disagreement among Nottingham Forest supporters as the team explores transferring to a new location.
Matt Drewitt, an architect based in Nottingham, has created alternative blueprints for the Reds’ home. He claims that demolishing the stadium and reconstructing with the pitch at a different angle would allow Forest to remain in their current position with a larger capacity.
In recent days, Reds owner Evangelos Marinakis and chairman Tom Cartledge have openly discussed the notion of constructing a new stadium overseas. A site near Toton, several miles from Nottingham city centre, has been suggested as a possible location.
Marinakis believes that developing a 50,000-seater stadium and a new training area on the same campus will “elevate the club to the next level”. He has stated that moving to a larger facility would “set the club on the right path”.
However, such a plan has divided the fanbase. Some advocates see the benefits of raising sticks, while others strongly disagree.
Drewitt, who studied in the city and discussed his ideas with his Forest-supporting best buddy, feels he has devised a feasible answer. He wants his invention to be viewed as an alternative to what is feasible at Forest’s existing site and a means of initiating conversation, rather than trampling on anyone’s toes. His proposal undoubtedly achieved the latter.
