FOREST AWAY: Arsenal, Saturday 13th September – Fan Guide
To London, to Swansea, to Burnley, to Spain.
The busiest ever period of away travel in a generation begins with a visit to the Emirates. And the beginning of another era for the Garibaldi Reds.
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My response to this week’s news has ranged from mild bewilderment to an uneasy level of acceptance how in the blink of a midnight social media post another manager departs.
It is apparent that various relationships had broken down, or never even began, but it’s troubling how it came to this. Whichever way you look at it, if a manager leaves three games after signing a new contract something has gone badly wrong somewhere.
I think maybe there was an idea from some fans to keep things cooler with Nuno after the trauma of Cooper’s departure but it was hard not to be won over by his cool and charming demeanour. And that he steered a team into the European places and gave us those days at Anfield, Old Trafford and the rest. Plus some incredible moments at the City Ground too, and our Wembley adventure.
Hopefully there can now be a calming of the waters. I personally hope we can return to something close to the point where Forest were being admired for how we were taking on the upper reaches of the Premier League and disrupting the established order. Other matters have become too loud and too distracting; it’s time again to get our heads down and get people talking about the football again.
Thank you, Nuno. I’ll raise a glass to you in Seville.
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I’m being asked a fair bit about the European away guides, beginning with the visit to Seville in a couple of weeks. The idea is that it will be in a similar format to the existing guides, but also trying to cater for the additional items to consider.
I have already been in contact a couple of times with PC Simon Travell at Nottinghamshire Police. There has been a visit to Seville this week to try and establish certain bits of information, the main one perhaps being the recommended areas to congregate. I won’t start publishing anything yet, as things are not confirmed, but I am aware of one area that is likely to be a designated area for Forest fans.
I have agreed to co-ordinate efforts with Notts Police to try and get information out to supporters where necessary, especially while we are out there. A number of people have asked me about places to watch the game as they don’t expect to get match tickets. I’ll do my best to try and suggest some ideas but I’ll see what the official advice is on this front.
It also won’t have escaped your attention that the cost of the ticket is £17.30. This in a country that receives far less TV revenue that England. It can be done; our clubs just don’t want to.
For those who have acquired tickets, or are hoping to, the seats in the away end are all odd numbered so don’t be alarmed if your group appears to be all be two seats away from each other. You may have also missed that you do need to provide your passport number to the ticket office separately to acquiring your ticket and Forest will manually add the details onto the ticket. We are informed this is a recommendation from UEFA and part of rules in Spain, so don’t forget to do this.
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Away Day No.2: Arsenal, Saturday 13th September, 12:30pm KO
Last Visit: A 3-0 loss in November 2024. It must have been pretty dour as I can’t recall much about it!
Famous Visit: Our record at the Emirates is brief and pretty atrocious. It’s been four defeats from four and include a 5-0, 5-0 and last season’s aforementioned 3-0. The only game we emerged with any kind of credit was the 2-1 defeat on the opening day of the 2023/24 season under Steve Cooper.
Useful Information:
We have been allocated the usual section on one side of the lower tier behind the goal.
If you find yourself with a little bit of time to kill before the game, the old Highbury ground isn’t too far away from the Emirates and is sort of still standing. It’s been converted into apartments but much of the façade still exists. The pitch is now communal gardens I think but it’s not accessible.
Sunglasses / Hat Rating: 6/10. If the sun it out it can be an issue down low in the away end so go prepared! Although plenty of rain is in the forecast this weekend.
TRAVEL
TRAINS: The direct trains out of Nottingham into St Pancras run at the following times:
06:12 – Arrive 07:54
06:49 – Arrive 08:27
07:12 – Arrive 08:55
07:46 – Arrive 09:27
08:12 – Arrive 09:54
08:50 – Arrive 10:27
09:12 – Arrive 10:54
The standard return price varies from £63 – £66. If travelling in multiples of two, then look at the Two Together Railcard option. They save a third off and will virtually pay for themselves with one trip, plus you will have a whole year to make further decent savings.
You can also look at splitting your journey up (usually via Kettering) as two split returns can sometimes work out cheaper.
There is also the option to head to Grantham / Peterborough and head into Kings Cross, but I’m looking at the option more infrequently these days as it doesn’t seem to be as good value these days.
The Emirates is served by a few different rail / underground stops.
Closest is ‘Arsenal’ which is only a short walk from the stadium and it situated on the Piccadilly underground line. On the same line is Holloway Road, the stop before if travelling north from central London.
On the Victoria Line there is Highbury & Islington (a bit further to walk but see the ‘Pubs’ section below), and Finsbury Park. The latter is a 15 minute walk or so to the ground.
All of these stations are short tube rides from Kings Cross.
On the overground, there is Drayton Park which appears to serve trains coming in from north of London.
After the game, I’ve usually been hesitant to rely on ‘Arsenal’ as I expected it would be extremely busy, but at the end of last season’s game we managed to get access into the station quite easily. There was a little knack to this we discovered by not joining the queue that naturally forms on the walk from the stadium. Instead walk past the station and there is a shorter queue on the other side. Maybe this doesn’t work every time but it got us away much quicker.
ROAD: I always think the best route, especially for the north London clubs, is to ditch the car somewhere just short of the city and jump on a train or tube. There are various options but here are three I think work best:
Cockfosters (Underground) – You can reach this off the M1 or Jct 24 of the M25. It’s a tube stop with a sizeable car park and a 20-25 minute tube ride to Finsbury Park / Arsenal / Holloway Road which all serve the Emirates. Probably the most straightforward of the options here.
Edgware (Underground) – Another a little bit further out but a straightforward parking option you can reach just off Jct 4 of the M1. Don’t park in the Sainsbury’s car park, use the dedicated commuter one which is closer to the station and works out cheaper. You’ll need to change at Kings Cross and then use any of the suggested routes referenced in the previous section.
Luton Parkway – This option, just off Jct 10 of the M1, cuts right down on the car journey. Trains are pretty regular and you can be at St Pancras in around half an hour with the same short hop on the Victoria / Piccadilly Line towards the stadium. Unlike the above options, this isn’t part of the London travel pass zone so a return fare will be £15.10. However, if travelling in a group you can usually get a discounted fare which saves around a third off the fare. Just keep in mind there are restrictions with travelling on certain trains from here; the discount won’t always apply on the very quick services.
PUBS
From recent experience, it’s one of the worst places to visit to try and drink around the stadium. There are plenty of bars around Finsbury Park but it’s not always easy to by-pass the security on the doors checking tickets. Last season a few of us, along with a modest number of Forest fans, drank in the World’s End very close to Finsbury Park station but it is very much a home fan dominated pub.
The previous advice from the Met Police was that the Hercules pub on Holloway Road will also admit away supporters but I’m not certain that this information is still up to date.
If looking for an easier pre-match drink then I’d suggest either the various bars around Kings Cross or Highbury & Islington. There are a few options around here; back in 2023 a lot of Forest fans drank at the Vineyard but last year away supporters were being denied entry. But there are a fair few places that you should be okay with entry to.
Safe travels to those of you heading down.
See you there.
Matt