Buy Manchester City vs Nottingham Forest tickets for the 2026/27 Season, with the fixture currently listed for Saturday 16 January 2027 and a 15:00 kick-off at the Etihad Stadium. The Premier League confirms exact slots round by round once broadcast selections are made, and City are among the most frequently moved sides in the division, so treat the time as provisional until it is fixed. This is matchday 21, the first home league date after the turn of the year but one.
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The number that shapes this one is 7,000. That is roughly how many general admission seats the expanded North Stand added to the Etihad before the end of last season, taking the ground past 61,000 and making 2026/27 the first full campaign at the new size. More seats has not meant an easier ticket. It has meant a bigger season ticket base, a longer list of members with a claim on what is left and a stadium that now sells more and releases proportionally less.
Forest arrive as a settled Premier League side rather than a novelty. They came up in 2022 after twenty-three years away and this is their fifth consecutive season in the division, which changes how the fixture reads. Anyone weighing up Nottingham Forest tickets for the trip north is buying into a rivalry that has quietly become an annual fixture again.
The expansion changed the arithmetic in a way that catches people out. A bigger ground releases more seats in absolute terms, but City filled the new capacity with structural demand rather than walk-up: more than 4,000 new Flexi Season Tickets went on sale for 2026/27, half of them reserved for junior supporters, while the standard season ticket allocation was already long since taken. What reaches general sale is the residue after two committed groups have been served.
The club's own sale sequence makes this explicit. Season ticket holders buy first, including additional seats for selected matches. Members buy next, ordered by accumulated loyalty points. Whatever survives both stages goes to open general sale, and for a Saturday afternoon league fixture that pool is thin rather than empty. The club states plainly that membership does not guarantee a ticket.
Pricing works against availability rather than for it. City froze season ticket prices for a third consecutive season and held match-by-match prices for adult and junior Matchday Members at the same rate for a third year running. Seats that have not risen in price for three seasons do not get abandoned, and a renewal base that stable recirculates very little.
The one genuine softener is the fixture itself. A mid-January home match against opposition without a historic rivalry sits in the lower demand tier for City, which means loyalty point requirements are lower than for a Manchester derby or a visit from Manchester City's title rivals. That is exactly why it is worth looking early rather than late.
Not through the club, no. City gate general admission behind Cityzens membership, and the sale windows that matter open to Premium, Matchday and Junior Members before anything reaches the wider public. If you are not already in that system, the club route is closed to you for this fixture unless stock survives to general sale, which for a league Saturday is a thin bet.
The membership tiers are worth understanding because they set what you are actually buying. Junior membership is published at £20 and was held flat for 2026/27. Adult Matchday Membership sits at £38 after a £3 increase for the season, and there is a premium tier above it carrying additional benefits. None of these buy a seat. They buy the right to join a queue that is ordered by loyalty points, which are accumulated by attending matches, which requires already having tickets.
That circularity is the whole reason a resale market exists for this club. A first-time visitor from overseas, a family in Manchester for a weekend or a Forest supporter who missed their own club's away allocation has no realistic path through the membership system in time for a specific date. They need seats that already exist in someone else's name.
One structural detail helps here. City operate a generous ticket transfer system, letting supporters list up to eighteen friends and family members at any point in the season regardless of membership status. That volume of legitimate transfer activity is part of why seats circulate for City fixtures at all, and it is worth reading any listing's transfer notes carefully so you know how the seat will actually reach you.
Five things move the price. Which stand you sit in comes first, then the tier within it, then how the club has categorised this fixture, then how close to kick-off you buy and finally whether hospitality is involved. City's published general admission prices for adults have run in the region of £60 to £75 depending on the stand, and those were held for 2026/27, so the face value floor is known and stable.
The ranges below reflect typical resale behaviour for a mid-tier league fixture at a ground where the season ticket base is effectively full. A January date against opposition outside the traditional top six sits below derby pricing and well below the visits of the division's biggest draws.
| Ticket Type | Resale Price Range | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Stand upper, Level 3 | £60 – £110 | Value buyers and solo visitors | The newest part of the ground and the largest block of general admission seats, which usually means the widest choice late on |
| North Stand lower and rail seating | £75 – £135 | Atmosphere seekers | The safe standing area sits here, with a minimum of 3,000 rail seats installed and room to extend |
| Kippax, East Stand | £85 – £150 | Regulars and returning visitors | The traditional home side of the ground, carrying the name of the old Maine Road terrace and a settled crowd |
| Colin Bell Stand, West | £100 – £180 | Comfort and a side-on view | The main stand, with the clearest read of the pitch and the highest general admission pricing |
| Premium and hospitality | £150 – £400+ | Couples, groups and business guests | A wide range at this ground, with the club listing new spaces from around £130 and packages rising well beyond that |
Prices reflect typical resale ranges and may change as demand and availability shift closer to the match.
The gap between face value and market price is narrower here than at grounds with chronic shortage, and that is a direct consequence of the expansion. Seven thousand extra seats is a meaningful supply increase in a division where most clubs are capacity constrained, and for a fixture in the lower demand tier it shows up as resale pricing that sits nearer face value than City's marquee dates. The fixtures where that gap widens sharply are the derby and the visits of the title contenders, not this one.
The Etihad opened as a football ground in August 2003, converted from the athletics stadium built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and it now holds around 61,000 after the North Stand work. Sightlines are consistent and there is no running track, so the decision is about atmosphere, shelter and how far you want to climb rather than distance from the pitch. Use the Etihad Stadium seating plan to place each area before you commit.
| Area | What It Suits | Pricing Bracket | Guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Stand, now the Pep Guardiola Stand | Value buyers and larger groups | Lower to mid | The expanded end behind the goal, added before the close of last season. Level 3 here is steep and high, with fifty-nine rows in the upper section, so check your row number rather than assuming |
| North Stand rail seating | Supporters who want to stand | Mid | At least 3,000 safe standing places with room to expand. Expect a louder and more mobile section than a conventional seated block |
| Kippax, East Stand | Home regulars and neutrals | Mid | The long side opposite the main stand, named after the Maine Road terrace. Level 1 gives a low and close view, Level 3 a fuller picture of shape and space |
| Colin Bell Stand, West | Comfort and clear sightlines | Upper | The main stand, holding the dugouts, the press area and most of the premium seating. Central blocks clear first |
| South Stand | Travelling Forest support | Mid | The away end, running across three tiers behind the goal with an allocation of roughly 3,000 for a league fixture. Released through Forest rather than on open sale |
| Corner blocks | Late buyers and value hunters | Lower to mid | The balance point between price and angle, and usually the last general admission areas to clear |
If you are neutral or visiting for the first time, a Level 1 block in the Kippax or the Colin Bell Stand is the sensible default, and the North Stand upper is where the money goes furthest. January in east Manchester brings wind and rain more often than not, and the upper tiers are exposed at the corners, so check whether your row sits under cover before you buy and use the Etihad Stadium tickets listings to compare what is open on the day.
This is worth knowing before you buy a seat at the Etihad, and it is something almost no ticket listing mentions. The club relabelled the entire stadium ahead of the 2025/26 season. Levels were renumbered, block numbers shifted with them and the row system changed from letters to numbers across the whole ground. Nothing physical moved. The labels on top of it all changed.
Why it matters for a buyer: any listing, forum post, seat review or stadium guide written before mid 2025 uses the old numbers, and plenty of them are still online and still ranking. A seat described as Block 230 in an old guide is Block 130 today. If a listing quotes a block number that does not match what the seating plan shows, the likeliest explanation is that it was written under the old system rather than that the seat is wrong. Check the level and the stand name together, because those two together identify the area unambiguously whichever numbering the listing is using.
Group buying at the Etihad is easier than at most Premier League grounds and the expansion is the reason. Seven thousand additional general admission seats concentrated in one stand means the North Stand routinely carries blocks of adjacent seats that a smaller ground simply cannot offer, and for a fixture in the lower demand tier those blocks survive much closer to kick-off than they would for a derby.
Two practical points. First, if four or more of you need to sit together, filter for quantity before you filter for price, because the number of listings that can actually seat a group of six is far smaller than the number that can seat two. Second, families should know that City reserved half of the 4,000 new Flexi Season Tickets for junior members, which tells you where the club is steering family demand and why junior-priced general admission is scarce on the open market.
The Etihad's premium offering grew with the expansion rather than staying still. The new North Stand brought a social bar space at the entrance to the expanded section holding around 300 people and a hospitality bar at the rear of Level 0 with room for roughly 500 on a matchday, which also works as an event space when there is no football. That is a meaningful addition to a ground whose premium stock was previously concentrated almost entirely in the main stand.
| Hospitality Option | Typical Buyer | Main Appeal |
|---|---|---|
| Executive boxes | Companies and private groups | Enclosed space with its own viewing position, sold as a unit rather than per seat, mostly on Level 2 in the main stand |
| New North Stand bar spaces | Supporters upgrading from general admission | Indoor social space with food and drink included, at entry-level hospitality pricing from around £130 |
| Colin Bell Stand premium seating | Couples and small business parties | Padded central seating with lounge access behind it, which matters on a January afternoon |
| Matchday lounge packages | Groups marking an occasion | Seat plus catering plus a dedicated room, with the range at this ground wider than at most Premier League venues |
Check what any premium listing includes before you pay. Inclusions vary considerably between products here, particularly since the new spaces came online, and a box listed for a group is sold whole rather than as separate seats you can split.
City run a digital ticketing system with named holders, so how a ticket reaches you shapes your matchday more than the price does. Confirm the delivery method before you buy, especially if you are travelling to Manchester on the day.
| Delivery Type | What to Check |
|---|---|
| Mobile ticket | That it opens without a data connection and that any name on it matches your identification. Load it into your phone wallet before you set off, because signal around the Etihad Campus on a matchday is unreliable. |
| Ticket transfer | Which account the seat is being transferred to and when. City allow supporters to list up to eighteen friends and family at any point in the season, so a transfer is a normal route rather than a warning sign. |
| Print at home (PDF) | Print before travelling. Barcode quality matters and a faded code slows the turnstile for everyone behind you. |
| Collection in Manchester | The collection window, the meeting point and the identification required. Build in time, because the walk from the city centre is longer than people expect. |
Three habits prevent most problems. Read the listing notes in full, because the name on the ticket is the name that has to pass the turnstile. Check your block number against the current seating plan rather than an old guide. Arrive early, since the Etihad Campus concourses fill steadily from an hour before kick-off and the expanded North Stand has changed the flow of people around the north side of the ground.
1BoxOffice has operated as a verified marketplace since 2006 and every order carries a 150% money-back guarantee, so the sequence below should take minutes rather than an evening.
Step1
Open the right fixture
Check the listing shows the January 2027 date at the Etihad. The reverse fixture is played at the City Ground later in the season, so if you want Manchester rather than Nottingham, confirm the venue before going further. Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City tickets covers the other leg.
Step2
Create an account first
You can create an account before browsing or during checkout. Doing it first is quicker, and your details are ready when a seat you want appears and needs claiming.
Step3
Set your quantity before your price
Filter for how many seats you need first. At a 61,000-seat ground the pairs are plentiful and the blocks of six are not, so filtering by quantity stops you falling for a listing that cannot actually seat your group together.
Step4
Place the block on the plan
Match the block number and level against the current seating plan rather than an older guide. The stadium was relabelled ahead of 2025/26, so a block number from an out-of-date source will not line up with what you see today.
Step5
Read the listing notes properly
Restricted view, rail seating, aisle position, delivery method and whether the seats are genuinely together are all stated in the notes rather than the headline. This is where most avoidable disappointment starts.
Step6
Check the total, not the headline
Look at the full price at checkout including any fees and delivery, then compare listings on that figure. A lower headline with a heavier delivery method often lands above a cleaner alternative.
Step7
Complete the purchase
Pay through the checkout and keep the confirmation. Every order is covered by the 150% money-back guarantee, which is the protection that matters when a seat is being transferred between accounts.
Step8
Follow the delivery
Use track order to see where your tickets are. If delivery is by account transfer, watch for the notification and accept it well before you travel rather than on the morning of the match.
The Etihad sits in east Manchester rather than the city centre, on a campus that also holds the club's training and academy facilities. The Metrolink tram is the straightforward route: the Etihad Campus stop on the East Manchester line puts you around five minutes from the South Stand side of the ground, and trams run frequently before and after matches. Expect them to be full in both directions.
Walking from Manchester Piccadilly takes roughly twenty to twenty-five minutes, either along the canal towpath or by the direct street route, and it is a reasonable option if the trams look heaving. Driving is less appealing. Stadium parking runs at around £12 to £14 per car and residents-only schemes extend for about a mile in every direction, so anyone arriving by road should book a space in advance rather than hoping to find one.
Delivery is where visitors from outside the UK get caught. Mobile tickets and account transfers suit travellers best, since courier services to a foreign address add days and collection windows can clash with train times. If seats together matter, confirm it before buying rather than after. The Premier League also confirms exact kick-off times only weeks ahead, so keep return travel flexible until the slot is fixed.
This is a fixture that vanished for a generation and came back. City and Forest were Premier League opponents through the mid-1990s, when City played at Maine Road and Forest were a regular top-flight side. Then both fell away. Forest dropped out in 1999 and did not return until 2022. City spent the late 1990s in the second and third tiers before rebuilding at a new ground. Twenty-six years passed between the sides meeting in the Premier League in December 1995 and meeting again in August 2022.
What has happened since 2022 is one-sided at this ground and less so away from it. Across the four Premier League meetings at the Etihad, City have won three and drawn one, scoring thirteen and conceding two. Forest failed to score on their first three visits before drawing 2-2 in March 2026, which remains the only Premier League point they have taken in Manchester. At the City Ground the record is much closer, which is why the widened picture below is more informative than the Etihad column alone.
Because the two clubs have met at the Etihad in the Premier League only four times, the tables that follow widen the scope to every Premier League meeting between them at any venue, covering both the 1990s period at Maine Road and the City Ground and the current run since 2022. A Venue column is included so you can separate the two.
| Measure | All Venues | At the Etihad Only |
|---|---|---|
| Matches played | 14 | 4 |
| Manchester City wins | 6 | 3 |
| Nottingham Forest wins | 3 | 0 |
| Draws | 5 | 1 |
| Manchester City goals | 26 | 13 |
| Nottingham Forest goals | 15 | 2 |
The split is the point. Away from the Etihad the fixture is close to even. At the Etihad it has been one-way, and Forest have needed four visits to register a point.
| Date | Venue | Home | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04 Mar 2026 | Etihad Stadium | Manchester City | 2-2 |
| 27 Dec 2025 | City Ground | Nottingham Forest | 1-2 |
| 08 Mar 2025 | City Ground | Nottingham Forest | 1-0 |
| 04 Dec 2024 | Etihad Stadium | Manchester City | 3-0 |
| 28 Apr 2024 | City Ground | Nottingham Forest | 0-2 |
| 23 Sep 2023 | Etihad Stadium | Manchester City | 2-0 |
| 18 Feb 2023 | City Ground | Nottingham Forest | 1-1 |
| 31 Aug 2022 | Etihad Stadium | Manchester City | 6-0 |
| 18 Dec 1995 | Maine Road | Manchester City | 1-1 |
| 30 Sep 1995 | City Ground | Nottingham Forest | 3-0 |
| 06 May 1995 | City Ground | Nottingham Forest | 1-0 |
| 08 Oct 1994 | Maine Road | Manchester City | 3-3 |
| 27 Feb 1993 | City Ground | Nottingham Forest | 0-2 |
| 03 Oct 1992 | Maine Road | Manchester City | 2-2 |
Every result above was confirmed against at least two independent match records before publication. Cup meetings between the clubs fall outside this scope, as do the seasons in which either side was outside the Premier League.
Not yet. 15:00 on Saturday 16 January 2027 is the listed slot, but the Premier League fixes exact times round by round once broadcasters make their selections, usually several weeks ahead. City are moved for television more often than most clubs, so keep travel arrangements flexible until the slot is confirmed.
You need one to buy through the club, but not to attend. City sell general admission to Premium, Matchday and Junior Members first, ordered by loyalty points, and membership itself does not guarantee a seat. Resale exists precisely for people outside that system, and the ticket you buy gets you through the turnstile the same way.
Because the stadium was relabelled ahead of the 2025/26 season. Levels were renumbered so that old Level 1 became Level 0, block numbers shifted to match and rows changed from letters to numbers. Old Block 230 is now Block 130. Nothing physical moved. Check the stand name and level together and the area will be unambiguous.
In the South Stand behind the goal, across three tiers, with an allocation of roughly 3,000 for a league fixture. Those seats are distributed through Forest rather than sold openly, and the Etihad Campus tram stop is about five minutes from that end. Visiting colours belong in that section and nowhere else in the ground.
Somewhat, and mainly for fixtures like this one. The North Stand added more than 7,000 general admission seats, but over 4,000 new Flexi Season Tickets absorbed a large share of that supply. The effect is real but uneven: a January match against opposition outside the traditional top six has visibly more choice than a derby does.
Sources: Manchester City official club announcements for 2026/27 season ticket and membership pricing, the North Stand expansion configuration, the stadium relabelling and the ticket sale sequence; Premier League fixture listings for the date and schedule status; ESPN, Sky Sports and the UEFA match centre for verified head-to-head results; the Association of Football Statisticians and Sports Mole head-to-head records for the 1990s meetings; Wikipedia and Football Ground Guide for stadium capacity, stand names, away allocation and transport detail.