Nottingham Forest's improvement this season is being driven by a huge revamp of their training ground that has transformed the club’s preparation for matches.
Owner Evangelos Marinakis is thought to have spent several million on upgrading the facilities at the club’s Nigel Doughty Academy base not far from the City Ground and the venue is unrecognisable from how it looked when Forest were promoted in 2022.
The dining area has been transformed from a basic canteen into a stylish restaurant, with communal areas that include table tennis and table football, comfortable chairs in front of a large TV screen, and even a barista serving high-quality coffees and smoothies.
Coach Nuno Espirito Santo dictates that players must eat at the same and spend as much time in each other’s company as possible and Forest have satisfied him with a huge revamp of their training ground. One golden rule: never, ever disturb Nuno when his eating his lunch.
In a glossy video published on their social media channels, Nuno gives a tour of the main building, taking the viewer to the new dressing room areas, the smarter analysis and meeting rooms and the enhanced gym – spanning more than 400m squared – and treatment facilities.
Since Forest's promotion to the Premier League, new training pitches have been brought in
‘When we were promoted, the pitches were not of the best standard,’ said club skipper Ryan Yates. ‘Now they are basically identical to the City Ground, which is huge. ‘It’s helping us become better players. There has been huge investment to make sure the pitches are world class.
‘Everything has improved dramatically. The canteen/lounge area wasn’t even here really and little touches like having a barista go a long way to making it feel like a proper Premier League training ground.’