Nottingham Forest can start to plan for life in the Premier League next season despite losing 3-2 at home to Chelsea on Saturday night.
Nuno Espirito Santo and co may have been a little worried upon seeing Luton Town go 1-0 up at West Ham United.
That would have made Forest’s clash with Chelsea a lot nervier; a Luton win would have put them level on points with Forest.
Luton ended up losing 3-1 and that took the pressure off Forest, with fans producing an incredible rendition of Mull of Kintyre to roar the Forest players on and almost celebrate safety.
Forest were beaten 3-2 by Chelsea, coming from a goal down to take a 2-1 lead before the Blues staged a comeback of their own.
The result leaves Forest three points clear of Luton but with a much better goal difference with just one game to play.
Only a Luton win, Forest defeat and ridiculous goal swing on the final day would see Forest go down, so fans were able to celebrate effectively beating the drop.
Michael Dawson on Nottingham Forest stadium
This has been a turbulent season for Forest amid refereeing drama, points deductions and battles with the Premier League.
Forest are almost there though and the atmosphere during Saturday’s game will leave supporters itching to get back to the City Ground again.
A memorable afternoon – even in a defeat – came against the backdrop of reports suggesting that Forest could leave the City Ground in the near future.
The Athletic report that Forest still want to improve the City Ground, up to a 40,000-seater stadium, but a ‘Plan B’ is to potentially build a new home.
Toton has been earmarked as a possible spot, around seven miles away from Forest’s current home.
Former Forest defender Michael Dawson has now given his verdict on those reports.
Dawson told Sky Sports that he doesn’t want to see Forest leave the City Ground, praising it as a simply ‘special’ place to play football.
Dawson added that the City Ground is ‘iconic’, drawing on his time as both a supporter and as a player at Forest.
“It’s a special place, the City Ground, right on the Trent,” said Dawson. “I don’t want them to move. I was a young eight-year old sitting in the Trent End watching that team and was fortunate to have played for them for a long time. It’s iconic. It’s a great place to go and play your football, watch your football, so I don’t them to move,” he added.
City Ground departure would hurt
Football moves on and so many iconic stadiums have sadly fallen by the wayside in recent years.
The City Ground is one of few classic stadiums left in English football, especially at the highest level.
Built in 1898, Forest have developed the City Ground on numerous occasions.
Further improvements would be preferable over a stadium move and there will hopefully be some kind of agreement between Forest and the council to make that happen.
Few could watch that rendition of Mull of Kintyre on Saturday and then believe that Forest’s home should be elsewhere.
This is one of the most historic stadiums in the country and leaving for a new home would sting; just as it still does for West Ham United fans after leaving Upton Park for the London Stadium.
Replicating that roaring atmosphere in a ‘bowl’ stadium has proven difficult for many fanbases over the years and Forest have something special at the City Ground which should be cherished.
There are bound to be more reports and rumours about Forest’s future over the summer, but the City Ground is Forest’s true home – and long may that continue.
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