- Club Chairman Nicholas Randall KC and Nottingham Forest Community Trust leadership Hugh White and Calum Osborne visit Forest Sports Zone
- £1.9m redevelopment will include two new all-weather pitches, a new community building, and improved access for more people to participate in more sport
- Located on the historic site where Forest played its first official fixture in 1866, the facility will partially reopen on Monday 13 July before fully opening later this year
Nottingham Forest Chairman Nicholas Randall KC visited the Forest Sports Zone this week to see the progress being made as the facility undergoes a major £1.9 million redevelopment.
He was joined by Hugh White, recently appointed Chair of Trustees at Nottingham Forest Community Trust, and Calum Osborne, Chief Executive Officer of Nottingham Forest Community Trust, as they toured the facility and saw improvements taking shape.
Located on the historic site of Nottingham Forest’s original home, where the Club’s first official fixture was played against Notts County in 1866, the Forest Sports Zone has become a key community facility which now welcomes more than 2,000 people every week through sport, education, health and wellbeing programmes.
Work taking place includes a newly re-laid 3G pitch, with improved LED lighting and upgraded infill – one of the key upgrades that will improve the experience for thousands of local people who use the site every week.
The adjacent sand-based pitch is also being transformed into a second all-weather 3G pitch, while the pavilion building is being extended to create improved facilities, including a new entrance, expanded office space and a dedicated community area.
Speaking on the day, Nottingham Forest Chairman Nicholas Randall KC said: “In order to be a successful football club – particularly a Premier League club – you must pull the community together, even if they may not be actual supporters of Forest. It’s crucial for us to reach out into the community and show that we’re connected.
“The Community Trust does a fantastic job, which is really important to the work that we do. We hope this redevelopment will be recognised by the community and the future generations as an expression of our commitment to our society and our community.
“There’s a wonderful circularity to bringing this fantastic facility to a place which has so much history and importance for the Club. We need to attract younger people to the game in significant numbers, and this is one of the ways of doing it. I think it’s also symbolic of showing that the Club reaches out beyond just the City Ground.”
Hugh White, Chair of Trustees for Nottingham Forest Community Trust, added: “This facility has been operated by the Community Trust since 2015, with over 2,000 people coming through on a weekly basis. It’s well used and needed refurbishment.
“What’s so exciting about it is the expansion. It’s putting down two 3G pitches, enhancing the pavilion and making a much bigger footprint for the community in terms of community provision.”
As part of the transformation, the Forest Sports Zone will be renamed the Forest Sports Hub when it reopens later this year. The new name reflects its evolution from a sports venue into a community-centred hub of activity, bringing together sport, health, wellbeing, learning and community programmes under one roof.
Speaking about the name change to the Forest Sports Hub, Hugh highlighted: “The Sports Hub represents a movement away from traditional football facilities. The more traditional elements are at the core, but we really want to provide people with a hub of sport and recreation. The power of football can get access into communities, and once we can do that, we can then enrich their lives and support them. Having a facility like this in the heart of the city is that outreach and hopefully in time there will be more.”
Calum Osborne, Nottingham Forest Community Trust CEO, added: “We’re one of the most utilised community football facilities in the UK and I hope the people of Nottingham see this redevelopment as a real community asset that they can be proud of. Our work is about creating positive impact, and this facility will continue to improve health and wellbeing opportunities for young people and adults.
“This redevelopment sits at the heart of our new strategic game plan for the next five years. It’s a place where people can connect and belong, access our services and opportunities and properly realise their potential. We believe this facility will drive that agenda for us.”
The Forest Sports Hub will partially reopen on Monday 13 July, welcoming its first customers back since the site closed eight weeks ago. Work will continue across the remaining areas of the redevelopment ahead of a full reopening later this year.
The project is being delivered by Nottingham Forest Community Trust in partnership with Nottingham City Council and the Football Foundation. More information on the redevelopment can be found here.
Posted on 10 July 2026
