On 29 May 2022, Nottingham Forest beat Huddersfield Town 1-0 at Wembley in the Championship play-off final to seal their return to the Premier League after 23 years in the wilderness. For the thousands of Forest fans who had endured two decades of false dawns, financial crises, and seemingly endless mediocrity, it was the most emotional day of their footballing lives. But the road to that moment was long, painful, and often deeply improbable.
This is the story of how Forest got lost — and how they finally found their way home.
The Fall: Relegation in 1999
When Forest were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 1998-99 season, nobody expected it to take 23 years to get back. The club had been a fixture in the top flight for most of the previous two decades, and relegation, while painful, was supposed to be a temporary setback — a season or two in the Championship, then a return to the big time.
The final season under Ron Atkinson (who replaced Dave Bassett mid-season) was grim. Forest finished bottom of the Premier League with just 30 points from 38 games, winning only seven matches all season. Key players departed. The squad was ageing. And the club's financial position, weakened by years of overspending on transfer fees and wages that could not be sustained by a mid-table Premier League club, was precarious at best.
Relegation was confirmed on 17 April 1999 with several games still to play. The City Ground, which had hosted European Cup winners just 19 years earlier, fell silent. Nobody knew then that it would be over two decades before Premier League football returned.
The 2000s: Decline and Despair
David Platt was appointed as manager with a brief to win immediate promotion. It didn't happen. Platt's tenure was marked by inconsistency, big-name signings that didn't deliver, and a growing sense that the club was living beyond its means. He was sacked in July 2001.
Paul Hart took charge and steadied the ship, but couldn't mount a serious promotion challenge. His eventual departure was followed by a revolving door of managers: Joe Kinnear, Gary Megson (for just seven weeks), and others. The club was directionless.
The unthinkable happened. In the 2004-05 season, under Joe Kinnear and then Gary Megson and Mick Harford, Forest were relegated to League One — the third tier of English football. For a club with two European Cups, this was an absolute nadir. The City Ground, which had hosted finals between the best clubs on the continent, was now watching games against Hartlepool and Bournemouth.
Relegation to League One was a wake-up call. The club that had conquered Europe was now in the same division as Yeovil Town and Barnsley. For older supporters who had been in Munich and Madrid, it was almost too much to bear. But it also marked the moment when things began, slowly and painfully, to turn around.
League One and Recovery: 2005-2008
Colin Calderwood was the man tasked with getting Forest out of League One. He did so in his first full season, 2007-08, winning promotion as runners-up with 82 points, behind champions Swansea City. Nathan Tyson, Kris Commons, and Julian Bennett were among the key players. It was a step in the right direction, but getting out of the Championship would prove far harder.
The Championship Years: 2008-2022
If League One was a pit stop, the Championship was an extended stay in purgatory. Fourteen years of it. Fourteen years of managers who couldn't quite crack it. Fourteen years of playoff near-misses, mid-table finishes, and the occasional terrifying flirtation with another relegation.
Billy Davies (first stint) brought structure and ambition. Forest reached the Championship play-offs in 2010-11, losing to Swansea City in the semi-finals. It was the closest they had come to the Premier League in over a decade. But Davies's abrasive management style wore thin, and he was sacked in June 2011.
Steve McClaren arrived with a big reputation but lasted less than a year. Alex McLeish followed and lasted just 40 days. Then Billy Davies returned for a second spell, but it ended acrimoniously in March 2014. The managerial merry-go-round was exhausting for everyone — fans, players, and staff alike.
More managers. Stuart Pearce (the beloved former player), Dougie Freedman, Philippe Montanier, Mark Warburton, Aitor Karanka, Martin O'Neill. Each arrived with optimism. Each departed without achieving promotion. The club lurched from one philosophy to another, never settling on a long-term vision.
Sabri Lamouchi came agonisingly close in 2019-20. Forest were in the play-off places for most of the season, but a catastrophic final-day collapse — a 4-1 defeat to Stoke City when a draw would have been enough — saw them miss out. It was one of the most painful days in the club's modern history.
After Lamouchi came Chris Hughton, a widely respected manager who simply couldn't find a way to make Forest competitive. By September 2021, Forest were bottom of the Championship, with one win from their opening seven games. Hughton was sacked. The club needed a miracle.
Steve Cooper: The Man Who Changed Everything
When Steve Cooper was appointed manager on 21 September 2021, Forest were rock bottom of the Championship. They had lost four of their first seven league games. Morale was low. Expectations were lower. Cooper, who had previously managed Swansea City and led England's youth teams to World Cup glory (winning the Under-17 World Cup in 2017), was a relatively unknown appointment.
What followed was nothing short of extraordinary.
Cooper's first task was simple: stop the rot. He reorganised the defence, instilled discipline, and made the City Ground a fortress. Within weeks, Forest were winning games. Within months, they were climbing the table. Brennan Johnson, the young Welsh international, was electrifying on the wing. Djed Spence, on loan from Middlesbrough, was a revelation at right-back. Ryan Yates, a local lad and Forest academy graduate, became the heartbeat of the midfield. Steve Cook and Scott McKenna solidified the defence. Brice Samba, the goalkeeper, became a hero.
Forest's second half of the 2021-22 season was sensational. From the depths of the relegation zone, they surged into the play-off places. The City Ground, half-empty at the start of the season, was sold out and rocking every match day. The old magic was back. Forest fans, who had spent two decades waiting for something to believe in, finally had it.
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Take the QuizThe FA Cup Run: Beating Arsenal and Leicester
Cooper's Forest didn't just mount a promotion charge — they had a magical FA Cup run too. In the third round, they beat Arsenal 1-0 at the City Ground, Lewis Grabban scoring the winner. It was Forest's first victory over Arsenal in 13 years, and the City Ground erupted. In the fourth round, they dispatched Leicester City 4-1 in a stunning display. The run eventually ended in the fifth round against Liverpool, but it added to the sense that something special was happening on the banks of the Trent.
The Play-Offs: Sheffield United and Wembley
Forest finished fourth in the Championship, securing a play-off spot that had seemed impossible six months earlier. Their semi-final opponents were Sheffield United, managed by Paul Heckingbottom.
The first leg at the City Ground was a nervy affair. A 2-1 victory for Forest — with goals from Jack Colback and Brennan Johnson — gave them a slender advantage. The second leg at Bramall Lane was even more dramatic. Sheffield United dominated possession, created chances, and scored twice through Morgan Gibbs-White and John Fleck. The scores were level on aggregate at 2-2 (Forest had scored a crucial away goal through Johnson). It went to penalties.
This was the moment that defined Forest's season. Brice Samba, the big, charismatic goalkeeper, saved three penalties in the shootout. Three. Forest won the shootout 3-2, and the scenes of celebration at Bramall Lane were extraordinary. Samba was mobbed by his teammates. Cooper stood on the touchline, overwhelmed. Forest were going to Wembley.
The Final: Huddersfield Town, 29 May 2022
The Championship play-off final at Wembley. Nottingham Forest versus Huddersfield Town. A place in the Premier League at stake. And an estimated 40,000 Forest fans turning north London red.
The atmosphere was extraordinary. Forest fans, many of whom had never seen their club in the top flight, were emotional before kick-off. Older supporters, who remembered Clough and the European Cups, wept. This was 23 years of pain, frustration, and hope condensed into 90 minutes of football.
The match was settled by a single goal. In the 43rd minute, Levi Colwill, the Huddersfield defender on loan from Chelsea, turned the ball into his own net after a dangerous low cross from the Forest left. It was scrappy, unglamorous, and the Forest fans did not care one bit. 1-0. That was all they needed.
The second half was tense. Huddersfield pressed for an equaliser but couldn't find one. Samba was solid. The defence held firm. Cooper's tactical adjustments were spot-on. And when the final whistle blew, the eruption of emotion from the Forest end was one of the most powerful things English football has witnessed in recent years.
Twenty-three years. Twenty-three years of relegation, financial crises, managerial chaos, a drop to League One, and endless Championship mediocrity. And now it was over. Nottingham Forest were a Premier League club again.
What It Meant
Promotion in 2022 was more than a football result. It was the restoration of a club to its rightful place. Forest are not a club that belongs in the second tier — not with their history, their fanbase, their stadium, and the weight of what they have achieved. Two European Cups. A league championship. Four League Cups. The Brian Clough legacy.
Steve Cooper had done something remarkable. He had taken a broken, demoralised squad at the bottom of the Championship and, in less than nine months, led them to the Premier League. It was a feat of man-management, tactical intelligence, and sheer force of will that drew comparisons with Clough himself.
For the fans, it was simpler than that. It was about belonging. About being able to watch their club play against the best teams in the country. About telling their children that Forest were in the Premier League, where they belonged. About walking into the City Ground on a Saturday afternoon and knowing that this was where they were supposed to be.
The wilderness years were over. Forest were home.
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