Nottingham Forest v West Ham United
Premier League, City Ground, Sunday 31 August 2025, 2pm BST
West Ham United return to Premier League action away at Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon.
Following a challenging start to the 2025/26 campaign, the Hammers will be eager to get their first points on the board at the home of the Tricky Trees, who currently sit fifth following a victory over Brentford and a draw at Crystal Palace.
Nuno Espírito Santo's side have seemingly picked up where they left off at the end of 2024/25, a hugely positive season that saw them flirt with UEFA Champions League qualification throughout, eventually finish seventh and reach the FA Cup semi-finals.
While Forest brace themselves for Europa League participation this term, having being promoted to the second tier of continental competition in place of Crystal Palace, West Ham will be relishing the opportunity to prove their credentials against a side that has enjoyed plenty of success over the last 12 months.
Indeed, they will be looking to recapture the sort of form that yielded victories in both of the sides' meetings in 2023, 4-0 in February and 3-2 in November, both at London Stadium.
As the countdown to kick-off in the East Midlands continues, scroll below for everything you need to know about this weekend's enticing encounter.
Tickets…
West Ham fans are advised that the Club’s allocation of 2,932 tickets have sold out.
The first 90% of tickets sold out to Bondholders, Away Scheme Members and Season Ticket Holders with 16+ Loyalty Points. The remaining 10% (293 tickets) were then made available by a ballot process to Season Ticket Holders who had yet to purchase for this fixture. The ballot closed at 12noon on Monday 11 August.
Travel…
The address for your sat nav is City Ground, Nottingham, NG2 5FJ. However, there is not much by way of parking to be had in the streets around the stadium.
From the south, that means you’ll leave the M1 at Junction 24 and follow the signs for Nottingham and then for football traffic.
There are a number of car parks within a mile of the City Ground, including those at Meadow Lane (Notts County’s home ground), Nottingham railway station, County Hall, the Cattle Market, Lady Bay Sports Ground and Victoria Embankment.
For those travelling by train, Nottingham is on the East Midlands Railway line from London St Pancras.
Direct trains leave St Pancras at 09.00, 10.05 and 11.00, arriving at Nottingham just under two hours later. From there, it’s a 20-minute walk along Queens Road, London Road and along the River Trent.
West Ham United fans will be situated in the lower tier of the Bridgford Stand.
After the game, direct trains depart Nottingham for London at 16.10, 16.47, 17.10 and 17.45.
How To Follow…
Sunday’s 2pm kick-off has been selected for live broadcast in the UK by Sky Sports. If you live outside the UK, click HERE for details of Premier League listings in your territory.
You can follow the action via our live blog on whufc.com and our app, and across our social media channels. We will also have a match report, highlights and exclusive reaction for you after the final whistle on our website, app and social media.
Live audio commentary will be available worldwide on our official website and app.
Away Fan Zone...
West Ham United supporters travelling to Nottingham Forest on Sunday are invited to join us at The Nest, Nottingham, for a special Away Fan Zone ahead of the Premier League fixture at the City Ground.
Hosted by Ben Mundy, the event will bring Hammers fans together for a day of street food, live music and entertainment - including a Q&A with West Ham legend Marlon Harewood.
Entry to the Away Fan Zone is completely free, but supporters must sign up in advance, Simply click HERE to secure your place.
Click HERE for more information.
We are West Ham. United...
West Ham United has a zero-tolerance approach to any form of discrimination. Equality, equity, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of the Club and we are committed to ensuring that everyone feels welcome to attend our fixtures in a safe environment.
Any form of discriminatory behaviour or chanting is unacceptable; it has no place in football and has serious criminal consequences. West Ham United will take the strongest possible action against any individual found to be engaging in such behaviour, including potential lifetime bans and referral to the police.
The Club can also face disciplinary action if any of its supporters are found to have engaged in this behaviour, which is not representative of the West Ham United fanbase and will not be tolerated by the Club.
West Ham United provides a number of support mechanisms on matchday to ensure that supporters can report any incidents discreetly and in confidence. To report any incidents during Sunday's match, either follow Nottingham Forest’s reporting procedures at the City Ground or contact West Ham United at [email protected]. Please provide as much information as possible, including the stand, row, seat number, description of the offender and incident.
We believe that the overwhelming majority of West Ham United supporters share these values and will work with us to continue to protect the Club’s status as an equity leader in the Premier League, a position recognised and acknowledged through our award and continuous retention of the Advanced level Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Standard - the League’s highest accolade attainable in this area. Anyone attending matches who does not share these values, does not share the diverse and inclusive values that West Ham United and our community stand for.
Please view our Supporter Conduct Charter for more information.
Team News…
Graham Potter will hold his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. However, we know that young midfielder George Earthy is back in training after recovering from an ankle injury sustained early in pre-season, though he wasn't involved at Wolves in midweek.
Elsewhere, attackers Luis Guilherme and Crysencio Summerville continue to work themselves back to full fitness following shoulder and hamstring injuries, respectively.
For Nottingham Forest, Nicolás Domínguez is unavailable due to a knee problem.
Opposition…
It is 50-and-a-half years since Brian Clough was appointed manager of Nottingham Forest.
Back then, in January 1975, Forest were 13th in the old Second Division. They finished the 1974/75 campaign 16th and winning major trophies and European qualification seemed unthinkable.
However, Clough had a track record of success, having led Derby County from the second tier to the league title and the European Cup semi-finals in the space of three years between 1970 and 1973.
The outspoken manager, working with his long-time trusted assistant Peter Taylor, then similarly transformed Forest. They won promotion in 1976/77, stormed to the First Division title at the first attempt and lifted the League Cup the following season, won the 1978 Charity Shield, went 42 league games unbeaten, retained the League Cup, then defeated Malmö to win the 1979 European Cup. For good measure, they then beat Barcelona to win the European Super Cup and overcame Hamburg to retain the European Cup.
For a club which had previously won just two FA Cups, it was an incredible period of dominance.
Clough remained in charge until 1993, winning two further League Cups and two Full Members Cups, and left having added 13 pieces of silverware to the City Ground trophy cabinet.
Of course, while Forest will not repeat that success, their seventh-place finish in the Premier League and subsequent European qualification last season served a reminder that the club from the city of Robin Hood has a history of mixing it with the richest in the game.
Certainly, that history has been rekindled since the arrival of Greek businessman Evangelos Marinakis as the club’s owner in 2017.
While comparisons between Clough and Marinakis are unfair, both are larger-than-life characters whose presence at Forest helped transform the club from second-tier also-rans to top-flight challengers.
Under Marinakis’ ownership, Forest have risen from the lower reaches of the EFL Championship to the upper echelons of the Premier League.
After narrowly avoiding relegation in 2022/23 and 2023/24, Forest put together their best campaign in 30 years last term.
With former Valencia, Porto, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur head coach Nuno Espírito Santo in the dugout and a young and exciting team on the pitch, the Tricky Trees spent large parts of 2024/25 challenging for a place in this season’s UEFA Champions League.
A run of four defeats in their last eight games saw them ultimately fall short of that target, and though they had initially been allocated a space in the Conference League, they were eventually afforded Crystal Palace's Europa League spot as a result of the Eagles being judged to have breached multi-ownership rules.
The feel-good factor at Forest has continued on the pitch so far in 2025/26, with the Reds powering to a win over Brentford and a draw at Palace in their opening two Premier League clashes, while anticipation brews for their exciting return to the continent for the first time since 1995/96.
Previous Meetings…
West Ham United’s first visit to the City Ground was on 5 April 1920 and ended in a 2-1 Second Division victory for Nottingham Forest. The Hammers lost on each of their first five trips to West Bridgford before Tommy Yews and Jimmy Ruffell scored in a 2-0 FA Cup second-round win there on 31 January 1925.
West Ham’s biggest margin of victory at the City Ground was a 4-1 Championship win on 28 August 2011, when Winston Reid, Kevin Nolan and Carlton Cole were among the scorers.
All three visits since Forest’s return to the Premier League have ended in home wins, with Forest triumphing 1-0 in August 2022, 2-0 in February 2024 and 3-0 in November last year.
Match Officials…
Referee: Craig Pawson
Assistant Referees: Simon Bennett and Dan Robathan
Fourth Official: Ruebyn Ricardo
VAR: Andy Madley
Assistant VAR: Craig Taylor
Craig Pawson has been confirmed as the referee for West Ham United’s Premier League trip to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
One of the country’s most experienced officials, the 46-year-old has been a part of the Select Group of Referees since 2013 and has held the whistle once in the Premier League so far this campaign, at Aston Villa’s curtain-raiser against Newcastle United on the opening weekend.
Pawson has previously taken charge of the 2017/18 EFL Cup and 2021/22 FA Cup finals, as well as two Community Shield clashes, in 2016 and 2022.
He has refereed 26 fixtures involving the Hammers during his esteemed career, most recently the memorable 1-0 triumph over Arsenal at Emirates Stadium in February this year.
The South Yorkshire native took charge of three West Ham fixtures in 2024/25, including the 2-0 victory at Newcastle at the end of November 2024 and the 3-2 win against Fulham, in what was Graham Potter’s first match in charge at London Stadium.
For more information about the officials, click HERE.
