Nottingham Forest are close to securing an agreement that will mean the club staying at the City Ground, their home for the last 125 years, and abandoning the idea of moving to a new site on the outskirts of the city.
The Athletic can reveal that the club’s negotiations with their landlord, Nottingham City Council, are at an advanced stage and, if everything goes to plan, the news will be communicated officially in the coming days.
That, in turn, would mean Forest should be in a position soon to press ahead with their “masterplan” to turn the City Ground into a 40,000-seat stadium, starting with the redevelopment of the Peter Taylor stand.
The council owns the land where the stadium is based and negotiations broke down earlier this year over the amount of money the club should be paying for the lease.
Forest’s current agreement, which has 33 years to run, means they are paying £250,000 a year in a deal that David Mellen, the former council leader, has described as “mates’ rates.” The council wanted a new agreement to start at an annual sum in the region of £850,000, rising to £1million, whereas Forest thought that was exorbitant and went public with their complaints.
Amid a series of claims and counter-claims, it also emerged that the club had spent several months looking at a proposed site in Toton, six miles out of the city centre, for a new 50,000-capacity stadium.
Exploratory talks were held with Broxtowe Borough Council, the local planning authority, and a consultation period was planned to gauge supporters’ views about the idea of leaving their current home.
Forest’s hierarchy have been made aware that the majority of fans did not want to leave the City Ground, with anti-Toton chants being heard at their final home match of the season.
As revealed by The Athletic in May, the council is offering to sell the freehold for the relevant land for around £10 million. It is understood this has been a prominent part of the talks.
Both sides have agreed that it should be a confidential negotiation but some sort of announcement is expected to happen on Monday and the early signs are that it will be positive news for the fans who never wanted to leave the ground that Steve Cooper, Forest’s former manager, said “oozed football soul.”
(Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
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