FOREST AWAY: Crystal Palace, Sunday 24th August – Fan Guide

Welcome.

Another season of away days is about to begin and, as you are all accustomed to now, they are accompanied by these little guides to entertain, to inform and, yes, to suggest a parking spot quite often which I know is the main draw for many of you! I think these away previews began in 2017 and every season (except for 2022) I half consider knocking them on the head. But we get an awful lot of people chase for them each week and it seems they have carved out a nice place within the fanbase as a reliable and interesting piece.

I also had to consider that the guide was about to evolve into a European edition for the first time. Bar a comprehensive two-part issue I produced in 2019 for the two-game trip to Athens in pre-season. I’ve already begun a little bit of work on this front but, of course, nothing can really happen until the draw is made at the end of next week.

So here we are, Episode 1 of what will be a minimum of 23 away trips across 2025/26 (19 in the Premier League and 4 in the Europa League) and I suspect / hope there will be a few more on top too. An Istanbul special guide next May would be rather splendid, wouldn’t it?

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There have been many tumultuous summers in the modern history of NFFC, but I think this one might have topped the lot. I can’t say I have enjoyed it; social media would regularly make me feel a bit like I had a thick layer of grime all over me, and I’ve done my best to avoid the carnage.

The Morgan Gibbs-White saga was enough for any close season, but when we throw in the Crystal Palace shenanigans it’s been, at times, a farcical period. I could produce a dissertation on this dual subject but I think enough has been said already. And then within the last 24 hours arguably the most mind-bending moment of them all entered the fray with a frenetic Friday of Nuno’s position seemingly being at risk, followed quickly by a rather candid and worrying press conference.

In truth, I’m not really sure what to make of it. But I had hoped we had left managerial uncertainty behind us for a fair old while at least. Let’s hope that calmer heads and some logic can win the day because nobody wants us to lose this momentum.

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I have sympathy for the Palace cause. The rules are silly and the use of blind trusts and meeting certain deadlines make a mockery of the rulebook. Although it’s hard to remember this at times, away from the shouting online, a lot of decent, loyal Palace fans have missed out on a more prestigious and exciting European adventure through no fault of their own. And many haven’t fell into the trap of trying to heap blame elsewhere.

Palace fell afoul of a rule and have been punished for it. I know many pointed to how we took our punishment for the points deduction but let’s not pretend we also didn’t get upset and didn’t fight that ruling all the way with expensive legal representation. Football seems to produce this understandable but also bizarre tribalism that ends up with supporters trying to defend those who have made a bad mistake and created all of the mess in the first place, just because they are the custodian of their club. I think it’s right to say the owners of both Forest and Palace have got a lot right of late, but they aren’t beyond culpability if something goes wrong. With our points deduction, Forest pointed out the weakness with the current PSR accounting rules but had certainly broken the existing rules. We were punished. Similarly, Palace probably weren’t wrong to say the multi-club ownership rules are unfit, but they did not follow the rules and were punished.

Which leads us nicely onto the actions this summer of the Crystal Palace owner. I think Parish’s actions have been pretty atrocious, akin to a child who will happily point the finger anywhere else to avoid culpability. The idea of Sunday now becoming a potentially unsafe environment for Forest and their supporters rests on his shoulders, but hopefully that is just more hot air being vented on this exhausting subject.

Over the summer, Parish has embarked on a public relations tour with the apparent effort of deflecting any blame away from him. Again, I don’t reject all of his claims and I do think the rules are somewhat ridiculous, but his attempts to point the finger at Forest have created a really hostile mentality and probably turned a lot of otherwise sympathetic Forest fans to feel aggrieved. Parish seems to rest his argument on this letter issued by Forest to UEFA. Nobody seems to know what it said, and I wouldn’t be certain it even exists. If Parish does know then he is long past the point of providing some evidence because it seems to have become rather slanderous otherwise to continue to insist we played a part in their expulsion from the Europa League. I’d be disappointed if we had tried to do that, but such a manoeuvre would have had no bearing on this matter anyway, surely.

Some Palace fans, as football fans tend to do, have happily gobbled this up and launched their tirades in our direction. In return, many Forest fans have fired arrows back in the direction of South London. It’s all a big mess really, but Parish gets what he wants because hot and heavy tribalism always wins the day in football. Far better to have two sets of supporters waging war as long as nobody looks in his direction.

Both football clubs have shown their worth in the last year. Breaking up the dominance of the English elite and rightfully taking their place in Europe, it’s a shame that it had to end up in an unsightly squabble.

AWAY DAY 1: Crystal Palace, Sunday 24^th August

Last Visit: A 1-1 draw on a Monday night in May earlier this year.

Famous Visit: A really fun 3-2 victory in August 2000, almost 25 years ago exactly. Forest had coasted into a 3-0 lead, including a fine strike from player-manager David Platt, but were hanging on at 3-2 in the final minute when goalkeeper Dave Beasant was harshly adjudged to have conceded a penalty. Beasant was dismissed and Palace scored the penalty past his replacement, Barry Roche, only for the referee to order a re-take due to encroachment. Roche saved the next penalty and there was pandemonium in the away end.

General information: For that game in 2000, away fans used to be down at the other end of the Arthur Wait Stand next to the Holmesdale Road end, but on our recent visits this has changed. It’s a pretty shoddy view from most of the higher parts of the away section due to the low roof  / gantry and a stonking great steel column (see the below pic).

Given the raised profile of this game, you will have likely seen the news that there are concerns for tensions to spill over. I have been informed by Nottinghamshire Police that additional police officers will be in attendance as a precautionary measure but there ‘is no specific information that disorder is planned for either side.’ The NFFC stewarding and security team will also be present in and around Selhurst Park.

Notts Police have asked Forest supporters to consider their actions and behaviour around the stadium.

Forest have been cast as agitators in this and it would be wise for us not to play into Parish and co.’s hands with behaviour that will only help push their own narrative.

TRAVEL

RAIL: Direct trains out of Nottingham to London (via EMR) on Sunday morning are at the following times: 08:21, 09:26 and 10:16. Anything after that and you’ll be rushing to make kick-off. However, Trainline does show a lot of these services being full. I don’t think that stops you turning up at station and buying a ticket but it does prevent you buying online for a little cheaper. And it does suggest that trains will be very busy.

I understand that the East Coast Line via Grantham isn’t operating into Kings Cross on Sunday so this probably explains how busy the trains are from Nottingham.

If you are planning to travel by train and haven’t yet acquired a ticket then definitely try and get things sorted as soon as you can today.

Selhurst can be reached via a number of local stations, all within walking distance of the stadium.

Norwood Junction – Approximately a 15-minute walk from Selhurst Park. Note that last season entry into the station was controlled so this could cause a further delay getting onto the platform. This will likely be the main option for those travelling via London Bridge; it’s only a short ride from there to Norwood Junction.

Selhurst – A similar distance away from the ground as Norwood Junction.

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: I’m not a fan of driving to Selhurst Park. I’m sure there are some parking options littered about; the best option might be to try and pre-book using one of the parking apps, and it should be a little easier getting in with it being a bank holiday.

I’ve listed a few options to consider if you want to cut down on the driving and get a train / turn through London. Unfortunately, none of these are particularly quick.

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.

Cheshunt: A couple of junctions around the clockwise M25 although it’s a bit of a trek down to London Bridge from here; taking an hour with a change at Liverpool Street.

Watford Junction: Not a bad stop for a direct route into London Euston, but still takes a while overall to get down to around the ground.

Luton Parkway: This doesn’t look like a good option, being around an hour and a half travel time to and from stations around Selhurst Park, but considering it’s 1hr + to get back to the options above, this might not be a bad shout. The real drawback is that you’ll have to pay a train fare on top of your usual London Travelcard costs, but there are often group save options from here if travelling in groups of 3 or 4.

South London stops – If you are okay braving the M25 over the bank holiday then there are plenty of possible train / tube stops you could aim for without having to drive too close to Selhurst Park. I don’t have much experience using this route but it could be worth a look.

 

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.

 

Safe travels one and all.

See you there.

Matt