Nottingham Forest chairman Tom Cartledge has delivered a pretty contradictory stance on the future of the City Ground.
The club’s home is symbolic in the eyes of supporters and the hope is that it will remain as such for the foreseeable.
There has been talk that Forest might leave their home – with Toton identified as a possible destination for the football club.
That wouldn’t go down well, with the planned site sitting closer to Derby’s Pride Park than it does the City Ground.
Now, in an exclusive interview, Cartledge has probably left the fans with more questions than answers.
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Tom Cartledge addresses future of Nottingham Forest at the City Ground
It would appear as though this interview has done little to ease any fears that Forest fans might have had about the City Ground.
In fairness to Forest Focus host, Matt Davies, he asked all of the right questions and for that he should be praised.
First, Cartledge made a statement that appeared to suggest he was keen to leave the City Ground.
He told the Forest Focus podcast: “Well the reality is that the stadium site we sit in at the moment has all these restrictions.
“There are residential neighbours close by, limited car parking, the river is there too.
“FIFA compliance means the pitch has to be in a certain director which is sometimes forgotten about.
“We can achieve a lot at the City Ground but we still have to be mindful it will still only go a certain distance in terms of providing attendance and a revenue we might need going forward.”
Later in the piece, however, he appeared to backtrack emphatically and suggested that a solution to stay is the preference.
He continued: “The City Ground, and I have talked about this in the press, is our home.
“We want it to be our home. We spent £10-15m last season and the season before on upgrades. After Take That leave, a series of more investments will be signed off.”
Cartledge leaves Forest fans with more questions than answers
It might not be a scandalous call to move to a new site and build a new stadium but no way should it be Toton.
That would take Nottingham Forest Football Club out of Nottingham and it wouldn’t make a deal of sense.
There are some good points made by the chairman and hopefully, a compromise can be struck to remove some of the obstacles on the site of the City Ground.
Forest fans would be in uproar if the City Ground was to be no more and this interview from Cartledge won’t have done much to eradicate any worries.
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