Expansion work at the City Ground has long been on the agenda at Nottingham Forest, as Evangelos Marinakis continues to try and push the club forward through significant investment.
For several years now, Marinakis has been exploring how to potentially expand the City Ground rather than move elsewhere, after it was made clear to him by supporters that any ideas of demolishing their current home should be removed from existence.
Most recently, the club submitted plans to the local council in Nottingham to expand the City Ground to 52,500. Planning permission is still to be approved, but just how realistic are these plans?
Marinakis told to ‘put his hand in his pocket'
In an interview with Football Insider, a top football financial adviser has provided Marinakis with some food for thought as the club battles to stay in the Premier League.
Nottingham Forest FC have submitted two planning applications for the phased redevelopment of its City Ground home, targeting a future stadium capacity of 52,500.https://t.co/Ax51xOC5Zp
— Construction News (@CNplus) January 10, 2026
Stefan Borson, who has previously worked as a financial adviser, has told the Forest owner that the only realistic way these plans come to fruition is if the club remain in the Premier League long-term. He told Football Insider:
“Clearly, they’ve got to remain in the Premier League. They’re not going to sell 50,000 seats in the Championship, so they’ve got to stay in the Premier League.
“Those extra seats can generate a pretty significant amount of money and everything that goes with that, but these developments are also very expensive.
“You increase the debt, or the owner pays with equity, puts his hand in his pocket, and that makes a big difference.“
FGG says: More than just Premier League football may be necessary
While we agree that Premier League football is a necessity if Nottingham Forest wants to have a stadium with a capacity of more than 50,000, it will take more than just that, in our opinion. This season, the club are competing in the Europa League, and football supporters do have a habit of taking things for granted and forgetting where they have previously been.
Now that the club are back battling to survive the drop, empty seats have started to creep back in at the City Ground for Premier League matches. Unless the club can make themselves a club akin to Aston Villa and Newcastle, then perhaps these grand expansion plans should be parked.