FOREST AWAY: Crystal Palace, Sunday 11th October – Fan Guide

I, along with others from Forza Garibaldi, had the good fortune to spend Thursday evening at the Nigel Doughty Academy in the company of fellow Forest supporters and a number of club officials and staff. This included a tour of the training facilities, an update from Andy Reid on the club’s academy and concluding with a lengthy presentation from George Syrianos, Chief Football Officer, at NFFC.

I am fortunate enough to be in occasional contact with Syrianos, chiefly to spur on some FG activities and around our successful attempts to freeze season card prices and reintroduce the Young Adult ticketing category. It is a sign of the increased co-operation between club and supporters that Syrianos reacted to the suggestion of hosting of a forum evening by swiftly putting this event in place. We have also enquired about a similar evening with Oliver Glasner at some point in the near future. It would, however, be our desire for future events to become open to a wider group to ensure fair attendance from the fanbase.

The presentation section was separated into a number of key areas:

~ The appointment of Oliver Glasner and why he was ultimately the club’s choice over the long term

~ The data driven recruitment utilised by NFFC and how this has benefited the club

~ Recovery of players and how they are looking to improve on last season’s injury record

~ The focus on youth players and how we are aiming to find the next wave to supplement the first team squad

~ The role of supporters in rejuvenating the City Ground atmosphere

Perhaps most refreshing was the openness of Syrianos and the team to try and be as transparent as possible. There is quite clearly an attempt to learn from the events of last season and the churn of managers. Glasner, we were told, will be a long-term appointment but the club will quite simply need to understand that fans will always be wary of such statements given the managerial mayhem of the last 14 months. Hopefully though, we have moved away from the dramatic slide from one manager to another with almost the opposite principles in terms of style, to then lurch back weeks later. Syrianos spoke of a culture and a style that we adhere to over the long term and I found it refreshing to hear someone very close to the top of the club structure speak in this way.

There is an aim to gatherings such as the one on Thursday. In our conversations with Syrianos and the club last season and again this we spoke of how supporters need to see tangible examples from the club that they will listen; they will act and that the gratitude for the support has some deeper foundations. In 2025/26 we used the season card pricing as a clear example of how the club could act and demonstrate this. Hopefully events like this – and we do hope they continue for other supporters to participate in – can continue as one aspect of togetherness that the club are striving for.

Sadly, and this was put to the club on Thursday evening, there remains a rather obvious and sizeable hump in the road – no matter how many worthwhile initiatives, pre-match displays and the rest, the City Ground crowd are starved of victories on our home turf. It’s been a dreadful series of result over the last 12 months+ and it will always have an impact.

Clearly, Forza Garibaldi have a role on this and we need to be more active in the months ahead. Our own plans have been somewhat jammed in some admin but we have been working hard, and the club have been hugely receptive, to how we work around certain things. So you’ll be seeing us soon.

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Our boat trip (rearranged from the initial planned voyage last month) is now taking place ahead of our next home match against Arsenal. The initial trip was sold out but understandably some couldn’t make the new date. We have a small amount of spots left – probably around 20-25 – and we are hoping we can shift them to help with our fundraising. If anyone fancies joining us see our most recent social media posts and hopefully you can join us next week.

AWAY DAY NO.3 – Crystal Palace, Sunday 11^th October, 2pm KO

Away End: Forest fans will be located down at one end of the Arthur Wait Stand. The view worsens the further back you get; it’s actually pretty awful towards the back and the steel column about a third of the way up causes another viewing challenge. The concourse, most of which is outside, is also incredibly tight. But overall, it’s a decent away section which kicks up a lot of noise.

Last season it was a pain getting in through the turnstile, and queues usually do build up on the road outside, but I think this may have been caused by a failure of the scanners at the turnstile so hopefully it will be better this time.

Sunglasses / hat rating: 5/10. At the back of the Arthur Wait, you’ll begin to forget what the sun feels like on your skin. Closer to the front it’s sometimes a requirement – see the pic below – but for the majority it won’t be an issue.

TRAVEL

RAIL: The first train out of Nottingham is the 08:21 direct to London, arriving into St Pancras at 10:19. There are a couple of other services which involve a bus replacement so be mindful to avoid these. The next regular direct train is at 09:24, arriving at 11:23. And then another at 10:12 arriving at 12:07.

For the return leg, there are plenty of services back to Nottingham through the late afternoon / evening. Realistically, it will be at least 5pm until you are back at St Pancras. There is a 17:05 direct and a 17:35 direct. The final direct train is at 22:32.

A return fare on Trainline is currently £66.50.

The usual route from St Pancras is to change at London Bridge and then use the overground service from there to Norwood Junction. This is a 12 minute journey and there are multiple trains per hour, just don’t leave it too late. It’s around a 15-minute walk to Selhurst Park from Norwood Junction.

After the game the entry into the station is often controlled so this could cause a further delay getting onto the platform.

A couple of other stations local to the ground which could offer alternatives to Norwood Junction:

Selhurst – A similar distance away from the ground as Norwood Junction. But I am informed (thanks to PC Simon Travell at Notts Police) that Selhurst Station will be impacted by limited services across Sunday. There are, according to the Area Station Manager at Selhurst Station, trains operation but engineering works will disrupt the usual service.

Thornton Heath – This probably isn’t the best station to get you back north towards St Pancras / Kings Cross or to your car north of London but it might serve as an option.

ROAD: It’s a pain to drive to Selhurst. I’d suggest if you do want to get as close as you can have a look at a tube / train station you can pick up off the M25 and save yourself the hassle.

Alternatively, I would recommend cutting down on the driving and parking at somewhere north of London to make it through on train / tube. The best options I can offer are as follows:

Stanmore / Edgware/ Canons Park: All relatively easily reached from Jct 4 of the M1 but each have some issues with guaranteed parking. It could easily be over an hour to get back to your car from Norwood / Thornton Heath.

Cockfosters: Not brilliantly placed for Palace but a northern based tube stop which will get you in and out without too much fuss. Again, it’s a long journey round.

Luton Parkway: This could end up a decent shout. You can get from Luton Parkway (easily accessible off Jct 10 of the M1) to Norwood Junction direct in about an hour. That cuts down a lot of driving and saves time on the other options. One possible drawback is cost – a standard return is £25.50 on Trainline, but if you are in a group you can save a third on this. For around £16 for a direct train to Norwood Junction, that doesn’t feel too bad. Especially given it’ll likely be £8-10 to buy a London Travelcard. You will also have to pay for parking at Luton Parkway; from memory it’s around £5 using the APCOA Connect parking app.

PUBS

As is tradition the main contingent of Forest fans will drink around London Bridge. The George is usually the focal point for this with its large, enclosed courtyard but there are plenty of other options nearby, especially as The George typically gets busy quickly.

Closer to Selhurst Park the Prince George next to Selhurst station was, as of last season, was a dedicated away pub. I’m not aware of that changing. Another I’ve seen mentioned is the Elgon View Sports Bar which is close to Thornton Heath station.

Closer to Norwood Junction (which most will use if coming in via London Bridge) there is a small place on the right as you first come out of the station. I can’t recall the name of it but it’s more like someone’s front room and I seem to remember they just served cans. A decent little pit stop if you do have time for one upon landing nearer to the ground.

See you at Selhurst.

Matt