Nottingham Forest returns to Premier League after 23 yrs
By Story Agencies, May 30, 2022Far have they travelled and much have they seen, and perhaps Nottingham Forest have served their time in the footballing doldrums and deserved their good fortune.
It certainly felt hard to begrudge any of the wild celebrations at the end of a long exile from the Premier League.
Forest overcame Huddersfield at Wembley Stadium thanks to an own goal by teenage defender Levi Colwill and a generous oversight or two by the officials.
Steve Cooper’s team did not perform particularly well. They were far from fluent. They were outplayed for most of the second half and they survived two strong penalty appeals as nerves frazzled in the closing stages.
But they dug in and defended well and they were roared across the finishing line by their fabulous supporters, desperate to see their proud club with its rich history back in the top flight where it belongs.
For their boss Steve Cooper, it was a sweet success after defeat with Swansea on this stage last year and the completion of a remarkable transformation because Forest were bottom of the Championship with one point after seven games.
‘The first objective was to get out of the relegation zone,’ said Cooper, who was appointed at the City Ground in September.
The steep ascent has been simply staggering, almost clinching automatic promotion with a late run of form and leading Forest to Wembley for the first time in 30 years, back when Brian Clough’s team lost a League Cup final against Manchester United.
There has been much suffering since.
Nottingham Forest started well enough, dominating the early possession without piercing the well-manned Huddersfield defence.
Ryan Yates glanced a header narrowly wide from a free-kick swung in by James Garner and Yates fired over a decent chance from the edge of the penalty box after a neat touch to release him from Philip Zinckernagel.
These teams finished the season third and fourth in the Championship only two points apart over 46 games. Forest recovered from a dreadful start to the campaign, gathering momentum across the second half of the season, and Huddersfield arrived at Wembley unbeaten in nine games.