FOREST AWAY: Manchester City, Wembley, FA Cup Semi-Final – Fan Guide Part Two
I think my overriding feeling from 2022 was the exhaustion of it, maybe it was more delirium as fatigue combined with sheer joy to make a sweet Wembley cocktail.
We partied and we sang, but there was relief and some tired faces. 23 years of trying to push a fat-bottomed football club up the hill. I’ll always savour the idea that we all played our part in that, dragging them clear of so much failure heaped on top of failure.
I think it’s right to say there isn’t the desperation and the anxiety strapped on to Wembley 2025. It is not all we have, and we can reasonably point to some exciting days ahead in the very near and the fairly near future. We scan our horizon and we feel pretty content with our new landscape; occasionally troubled by something or other and with the pain of the recent past not fully banished from our minds, but far enough way to stop it bothering us any longer.
What there now is is a hunger and a determination. It’s redemption for those cruel years, and it’s belief in an unsteady football club standing upright again and ready to swing a few more punches. And behind it on Sunday, at the home of our national game, will be 36,000 Foresters going absolutely fucking ballistic I have no doubt.
This might only be the semi-final but that won’t matter. Not one bit. Because the Garibaldi Reds are dancing down to Wembley again. The story isn’t about escape any more, it’s not about ending a couple of decades of pain. It’s a celebration of a proud old club sticking out its chest, clearing its throat and telling the rest: ‘The Reds Are Here.’
To Wembley, and beyond.
AWAY DAY 20: Manchester City, Wembley, FA Cup Semi-Final, Sunday 27th April 2025
Last Visit: A glorious 1-0 victory over Huddersfield Town to earn promotion back to the top flight in May 2022.
Famous Visit: 2nd May 1959, Forest lifted the FA Cup with a 2-1 win over Luton Town. It remains there last FA Cup victory…
Away End: This time Forest fans will occupy the other end of Wembley. Close to 36,000 Reds will be in attendance.
Tickets: Be mindful of the very strict rules Wembley operate around access. Tickets will have been sent by now to all holders and there is the option to print at home or have a digital ticker on your phone. If choosing the latter then make sure that you add the ticket to your phone ‘wallet’ as it may be difficult to be downloading it on the day.
The stadium will open to supporters at 14:30 (2 hours before KO).
What else do I need?
We are encouraging all Forest supporters to wear red and bring a scarf with you. Please pass this on to anyone else who will be at Wembley. Further instructions will follow on our social media pages ahead of Sunday.
TRAVEL
RAIL: I covered logistics around train travel in our Wembley guide Part One at the start of the week. To summarise briefly, due to engineering works at Bedford there is only one service per hour from Nottingham, complimented by other services from other local stations such as Long Eaton and Derby.
If you are still looking at train travel as an option please take a look at our previous guide so you are properly prepared. The best advice may be to organise travelling from Newark or Grantham on the East Coast Line. LNER have announced recently that they are putting on extra trains to meet demand and it can often work out cheaper to travel this way.
Given concerns from EMR on the direct line regarding the return journey, especially with the possibility of extra-time, I think using LNER is likely to be the best option.
If using this route, make sure you fully explore the different options to purchase tickets as it can work out considerably cheaper. A standard return from Grantham to London Kings Cross is currently at £75 on Trainline.com, and obviously this doesn’t factor in your journey from Nottingham. Another look at the EMR website brings up a slightly cheaper return price of £70. On this line, however you can obtain a Group Saver which permits groups of 3 or 4 to get a discount off your fare if travelling together for the entire journey.
So by purchasing 4 return fares from Grantham to London at once, the price comes down to £57 each.
There are so many options and scenarios just spend some time trying to find the best route and the best price.
The three stations close to Wembley are:
Wembley Stadium – on the Chiltern Railways overground line
Wembley Central – on the Lioness (overground) line or the Bakerloo (underground) line
Wembley Park – on the Jubilee / Metropolitan underground line
Advice is that supporters should plan their journeys to arrive at these stations approximately one hour before kick-off to allow sufficient time to make their way to the stadium and gain entry through the turnstiles in good time.
ROAD: I’m sure that many of you will have worked out a plan by now if you are planning to drive, but official stadiums around Wembley will need to be pre-booked as will other parking options in the proximity of the stadium. The parking apps, I gather, have thrown up some good options although these will becoming more scarce now and likely more expensive too.
For London based games, I will usually reel off the usual northern based tube / train stations. For Wembley the best of these is going to be Stanmore which is a few stops up the Jubilee line (accessed via Jct 4 of the M1) from Wembley Park or Watford Junction which is as the top of the Lionesses overground for Wembley Central. Both have decent sized car parks but, because they are so handily placed, may be very, very busy from early in the day. In the case of Stanmore, with the volume of people who will likely use this over the entire weekend parking may be at a premium from Saturday.
If you do find yourself struggling then there are plenty of other options. From Stanmore you can quickly get to Canons Park (pretty small car park) or Edgware. The latter is not on the same line to Wembley but should hopefully have more parking options and you can still get across to Wembley easily enough.
I would also suggest Luton Parkway normally but given the train issues I don’t know how reliable this is. Trains that are running from there may be already busy with Forest fans heading down, although there are more local services which should be okay.
The very best advice will be to decide on parking, book it in advance if you can, and depart early. Oh and get your scarves on show for the journey down!
Do also consider the impact of the ULEZ camera which stretch further north these days. There is a website you can add your car registration to to check if your car is compliant.
COACHES: I was informed on Thursday afternoon that there are 85 coaches heading down which have been notified to the police. The expectation is that there will be more than this but these are the ones that have been to Nottinghamshire Police. Please ensure that any coach heading to Wembley is notified to PC Simon Travell in advance of the day.
Of the 85 known coaches, 42 of these will be official travel departing from the City Ground. If you are on one of these then presumably parking will be at a premium and so you may be best to arrive early and park in the local area where permitted.
We are on a coach departing from the Trent Navigation at 8am. If you are travelling with us please arrive by 07:45am but the Nav will be open from 7am for us, including breakfast cobs being served.
PUBS
The official list of pubs welcoming Forest fans around Wembley is as follows:
The Blue Check, 12 -13 Empire Way, Wembley, HA9 0RQ
Wembley Tavern, 121 Wembley Park Dr, Wembley Park, HA9 8HG
Stadium Sports Bar, 125 Wembley Park Dr, Wembley Park, HA9 8HQ
The Torch, 1-5 Bridge Rd, Wembley Park, HA9 9AB
Crock of Gold, 23 Bridge Road, Wembley, HA9 9AB
Black Sheep, 2 Olympic Way, HA9 0GU
Box Park, 18 Olympic Way, HA9 0JT
Be advised that Box Park is a ticketed event and this sold out very quickly. Although I understand that Box Park would normally fall into the City list of pubs and they made a specific request to host Forest fans, such was the success of the 2022 event. Certain other pubs may also have booking options available, but I am informed that all others will have the option to turn up on the day.
Forest fans have been allocated the East Concourse / Village fan park which will open from 11am. I believe this caters for a couple of thousand people.
Beyond the Wembley area there are plenty of other options across London, but with the London Marathon being held in the city on the same day it may be busier than usual.
As we did in 2022, many of us will be meeting at the Sports Bar & Grill at Marylebone. It’s situated right next to Marylebone underground station, and although it got very busy last time the Victoria & Albert pub next door nicely dealt with any overspill and most stood outside in between the two pubs. I even recall an impromptu game of street football taking place. There was a booking function for the venue but this has now been exhausted but walk-ins are accepted until the capacity is met.
With thanks to Alex Tatner, Will D’Hooghe (NFFC), PC Simon Travell (Notts Police), Rob Burton (EMR), the team at the FA / Wembley and Brent Council for their assistance in helping me pull the information together across both part of our Wembley away guide.
I hope you all have a fantastic day.
We’ll see you there.
COME ON YOU REDS!!!
Matt