Buy Nottingham Forest vs Everton tickets for the 2026/27 Season, with kickoff set for Saturday 19 December 2026 at 17:00 at the City Ground. Forest have not beaten Everton in a Premier League match at this ground since September 1995. Three decades of trying, six defeats in the last nine meetings on the banks of the Trent, and a home crowd that has watched its side fail to score in two thirds of them. That record is the reason this fixture sells differently from the way the league table suggests it should.
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The City Ground holds just over 30,000, one of the smaller stadiums in the division, and Forest's season cards have been sold out with a waiting list running past 12,000 supporters. That combination leaves a public allocation for any single fixture that is a fraction of the headline capacity. Anyone weighing up Nottingham Forest matchday seats for December should treat the resale market as a parallel route rather than a last resort.
A Saturday teatime slot six days before Christmas adds its own pull. This is the last home fixture before the festive programme scatters matches across awkward dates and travel becomes harder, so supporters who pick and choose across the season tend to land on this one. For a buyer, that means the affordable sectors move earlier than a mid-table Premier League fixture would normally warrant.
Start with the thing Forest supporters cannot ignore. Everton have won six of the nine Premier League meetings at the City Ground and are unbeaten here in the league since Forest returned to the division. Three straight away wins have followed promotion, and the visiting end knows it. Buyers looking at Everton away allocations should move early, because Merseyside travelling support fills a Bridgford Stand allocation for fixtures with far less history attached than this one.
Forest's own crowd responds to that record rather than ignoring it. The Trent End has spent three seasons watching a side that beats bigger names lose to this one, and the atmosphere for the fixture carries an impatience that is quite different from the noise generated against the division's elite. It is not a glamour tie. It is a grudge that has quietly accumulated.
Capacity does the rest of the work. At just over 30,000 the City Ground is among the tightest grounds in the Premier League, and with season cards exhausted the number of seats reaching open sale for any fixture is small. Scarcity, not prestige, is what governs pricing here.
The fixtures that draw the widest attention, Forest against Liverpool among them, sit in a higher pricing band and clear almost immediately. That shapes this fixture indirectly: supporters shut out of the marquee dates spread their budget across two or three other home matches, and a pre-Christmas Saturday is a natural choice.
In practice, a MyForest Membership is close to essential for home matches. Forest sell in phases: season card holders first, then members through dedicated windows, with loyalty points ordering the queue on the highest-demand fixtures. General sale exists on paper but for most matches there is little left by the time it opens, and for the busiest dates it does not open at all.
Season cards themselves are not a realistic route. They are sold out, and the waiting list has grown past 12,000 supporters, which means joining it today is a plan for a future season rather than for this December. Membership is the faster option, though it buys a place in a queue rather than a seat.
Forest also run a Ticket Exchange that lets season card holders list a seat they cannot use. It is a genuinely useful mechanism and it explains where a share of resale stock originates, but it is restricted to members and the listings appear on the club's own timetable, often only in the final week before a match. Category pricing applies throughout, with fixtures banded from the highest tier down, and a mid-table opponent typically sitting in the middle or lower band at face value.
The top band shows what the system does under pressure. A fixture such as Forest against Manchester City is priced and released in a way that effectively closes it to anyone outside the membership. A verified marketplace fills that gap by carrying seats from members and season card holders who cannot attend, which means stock that never reached a public window is still reachable, and a buyer in Dubai or London can commit months ahead rather than waiting on a sale date they cannot attend in person.
Five things move the price here: where the seat sits, how much of the small public allocation has already gone, the Saturday teatime slot before Christmas, the pricing category the club has applied and whether the listing carries hospitality. Forest's face values for adults have run from roughly £38 in the lower categories up to around £70 for the top band, with hospitality starting several hundred pounds higher. Resale sits well above face value at this ground because the supply reaching open sale is so thin.
The gap between face value and resale is wider at the City Ground than at most Premier League clubs, and the reason is structural rather than opportunistic. A season card saves a holder roughly a third against buying the same fixtures individually, so the people holding them rarely give them up, and the small number of seats that do circulate are chasing demand from a fanbase 12,000 deep on a waiting list. Expect to pay a premium for the privilege of a seat that was never going to reach open sale.
| Ticket Type | Resale Price Range | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper tier and corner blocks | £90 – £155 | Buyers prioritising value | Furthest from the halfway line but unobstructed. Where seats survive longest |
| Trent End | £120 – £190 | Atmosphere-first supporters | Two tiers behind the goal, the vocal heart of the ground, safe standing in parts |
| Brian Clough Stand and Peter Taylor Stand | £170 – £300+ | Buyers prioritising the view | Longside seating with the strongest halfway-line angles. Central blocks price highest |
| Premium seating | £280 – £490+ | Couples or small groups marking the occasion | Padded central seating, wider legroom, faster concourse access |
| Hospitality and VIP | £540 – £980+ | Corporate guests, special occasions | Lounge access, catering and hosting. Packages start around the £540 mark per person |
Prices reflect typical resale ranges and may change as demand and availability shift closer to the match.
The City Ground is a proper old English football stadium: four separate stands, no continuous bowl, every side built in a different decade and looking like it. That is part of the appeal and it also means the experience varies more from stand to stand than at a modern arena. Buyers weighing up broader City Ground matchday availability across the season will see the same stand names used throughout.
The four sides break down clearly. The Brian Clough Stand runs along one touchline on two tiers with executive boxes dividing them. Facing it is the Peter Taylor Stand, the original main stand, redeveloped at the start of the decade and now housing the club museum and shop. The Trent End sits closest to the river, rebuilt ahead of Euro 96 and two tiers high. Opposite it the Bridgford Stand carries its distinctive stepped roof, dipped at one end so daylight still reaches the houses behind, and its lower tier is where visiting supporters are placed.
| Area | What It Suits | Pricing Bracket | Guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trent End lower | Supporters who want the singing | Mid | The noisiest part of the ground. Expect to be on your feet for long spells. Not the place for young children on a winter evening |
| Trent End upper | Atmosphere with a better view of the pitch | Mid | Same end, more elevation, a clearer read of play developing. A sensible compromise |
| Brian Clough Stand | Buyers who want the classic longside view | Upper mid to premium | Two tiers split by executive boxes. Upper central blocks give the strongest angles in the stadium |
| Peter Taylor Stand | Comfort and facilities | Upper mid to premium | The redeveloped main stand, with the museum and shop attached. Good concourse access before kickoff |
| Corner blocks | Groups buying together late | Lower | Where seats together tend to survive longest. Angles are tighter but views are unobstructed |
| Bridgford Stand lower (visiting supporters) | Everton supporters travelling from Merseyside | Mid | Allocation usually in the region of 3,000 to 3,500, expandable for larger followings. Clear sightlines, though the front rows sit outside the roofline in rain. Blue belongs here and nowhere else in the ground |
If you are undecided or buying as a neutral, the upper tier of the Trent End is the safest call. You get the noise without committing to ninety minutes standing, and the gap in price against the longside stands is meaningful. A December teatime kickoff beside the Trent is genuinely cold, so the covered central blocks earn their premium in a way they would not in August. Wearing Everton colours outside the Bridgford lower tier is a poor idea, and stewards enforce that line firmly.
| Hospitality Option | Typical Buyer | Main Appeal |
|---|---|---|
| Premium seat with lounge access | Couples or pairs marking an occasion | Padded central seating with lounge entry before the match and at half time |
| Matchday lounge package | Small groups and visiting supporters wanting comfort | Reserved lounge with dining before kickoff, table service and a short walk to the seat |
| Executive box | Companies entertaining clients, larger family groups | Private box between the tiers of the Brian Clough Stand with its own catering and hosting |
| Group hospitality package | Corporate buyers and travel groups | Block seating with hospitality bundled, arranged so a party stays together |
Forest's published hospitality descriptions set out what each tier includes, and packages generally start in the region of £540 per person before any fixture uplift. The practical difference between tiers is time rather than food: a lounge product lets you arrive well before kickoff, eat properly and reach your seat without queuing on a freezing Saturday when the approaches to the ground are at their busiest.
Hospitality is also the first thing to disappear on fixtures close to Christmas, because corporate bookings are placed months ahead for the whole winter block rather than match by match. If a premium package is the point of the trip, treat late November as the deadline rather than the fixture week.
| Delivery Type | What to Confirm |
|---|---|
| Mobile ticket | Whether the barcode arrives by app or as a transfer plus the release window stated in the listing |
| Electronic ticket (print at home) | That the PDF is emailed before you travel and that you print a clean copy as a backup |
| Collection in Nottingham | The exact collection point and its opening hours, plus the photo ID the seller expects you to present |
| Courier to your address | Lead time against your travel date plus whether delivery to a hotel in Nottingham is accepted |
One practical note on timing. Sellers release tickets when the club makes them available rather than when an order is placed, so a purchase made in the autumn for a December fixture will sit in a confirmed but undelivered state for weeks. That is the normal rhythm in the Premier League rather than a problem, and the order status tells you where things stand at any point.
Read the listing notes before you buy. Premier League grounds have moved almost entirely to digital entry, so charge your phone before you leave and make sure you can access the wallet or app the ticket lands in. Carry photo identification in case a steward asks, and allow time on approach: Trent Bridge and the roads feeding the ground from the city centre get heavily congested in the last half hour before kickoff.
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Step1
Confirm the fixture
Make sure you are on the Saturday 19 December 2026 fixture at the City Ground. Premier League kickoff times move for broadcast, so the date on the listing is what counts.
Step2
Set up your account
You can create an account in under a minute. It keeps your order history, delivery details and any seats-together requests in one place.
Step3
Filter by stand and budget
Narrow the listings to the stands you are willing to sit in before comparing prices. At a four-stand ground the difference between sides matters more than the difference between rows.
Step4
Read the listing notes
Delivery method, release timing, restricted view flags and whether seats are guaranteed together are all stated on the listing. It is the single most useful minute you will spend.
Step5
Select your quantity
Choose how many seats you need. Pairs are the most widely available at the City Ground, while blocks of four or more hold out longest in the corners and the upper tiers.
Step6
Review the total
The payment page shows the full amount including fees and delivery before you confirm anything. No figure appears after you have committed.
Step7
Complete the purchase securely
Pay through the encrypted payment page. Your confirmation email lands immediately and carries the reference you will need for any follow-up.
Step8
Follow your order to delivery
Use track order to watch the status through to dispatch. Tickets for a December fixture are frequently released in the fortnight before kickoff, which is normal rather than a warning sign.
Overseas and long-distance buyers have the smoothest route with mobile or electronic delivery, which removes any dependence on a courier reaching a hotel during a holiday week. If your seats are listed for collection, confirm the collection point and its hours against your arrival time before booking travel, and carry the same photo identification you used at purchase. Nottingham is well served by direct rail from London and the north, and East Midlands Airport sits within easy reach by road for buyers flying in.
Reaching the ground is simple enough on foot. The City Ground sits on the south bank of the Trent, just over a mile from the city centre and roughly twenty-five minutes' walk from Nottingham railway station, heading south towards Trent Bridge with the cricket ground as the landmark. There is no tram or rail stop at the stadium itself and driving on matchdays is not worth the trouble, so walking or a taxi to the north side of the bridge is the sensible default. Groups should flag a seats-together request at the point of purchase rather than afterwards, because sellers can usually accommodate it while a listing is open and rarely once it has been split. Supporters planning the return meeting at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Merseyside should apply the same caution to that date, since the Premier League confirms the second half of the calendar in stages.
Nine Premier League meetings at the City Ground, six Everton wins, two for Forest and one draw. Seven goals scored by the home side across the whole series against thirteen conceded. For a fixture with no traditional rivalry attached, that is a lopsided enough record to have become a story in its own right.
It was not always this way. Forest won here in March 1995 and again in September 1995, the second a five-goal afternoon that remains the highest-scoring meeting of the series and still, three decades on, their most recent home league victory over Everton. That 1995/96 season was the high-water mark of Forest's Premier League existence. Everything in the fixture since has run the other way.
The 1990s closed badly. Defeats in October 1996 and September 1998 both came in seasons that ended with Forest going down, and the second of those was the last City Ground meeting before a gap of twenty-four years while Forest worked their way back through the divisions. When the fixture returned in 2023 the pattern resumed immediately, with a draw followed by three consecutive Everton wins, the most recent of them a two-goal defeat that matched the heaviest home loss in the series.
The absence itself is part of why the current run stings. Forest spent those twenty-four years working back up through the divisions before promotion in 2022 restored the fixture, and a generation of supporters at the Trent End had never seen this opponent at their ground. What they have seen since is a draw and three defeats. The novelty wore off quickly.
What gives the fixture its character is not history in the conventional sense but the weight of a pattern nobody at the home end can explain. Forest have beaten Manchester clubs and European qualifiers at this ground in recent seasons while losing to this opponent every time. Everton supporters travel expecting a result rather than hoping for one, and the tension that produces inside a tight, loud, four-stand ground is what makes the fixture worth the ticket.
All figures cover Premier League meetings at the City Ground with Nottingham Forest as hosts, from the competition's 1992/93 inception to the end of the 2025/26 season.
| Metric | Total |
|---|---|
| Matches played | 9 |
| Nottingham Forest wins | 2 |
| Everton wins | 6 |
| Draws | 1 |
| Nottingham Forest goals | 7 |
| Everton goals | 13 |
| Biggest Forest win | 3-2 |
| Biggest Everton win | 2-0 (recorded twice) |
| First Premier League meeting in scope | 7 November 1992 |
| Most recent meeting in scope | 30 December 2025 |
Figures compiled from archived Premier League season datasets, ESPN match records, RSSSF England archives and StatMuse historical results.
Every Premier League fixture between the two clubs at this ground with Forest as hosts, newest first. Seasons are missing where Forest were outside the top flight.
| Date | Score |
|---|---|
| 30 Dec 2025 | 0-2 |
| 12 Apr 2025 | 0-1 |
| 02 Dec 2023 | 0-1 |
| 05 Mar 2023 | 2-2 |
| 08 Sep 1998 | 0-2 |
| 28 Oct 1996 | 0-1 |
| 17 Sep 1995 | 3-2 |
| 08 Mar 1995 | 2-1 |
| 07 Nov 1992 | 0-1 |
Scores shown as Nottingham Forest first. Each result cross-referenced against archived Premier League season data, ESPN match records, RSSSF archives and StatMuse.
For the club's own sales windows, in practice yes, since season card holders and members are served first and little reaches general sale. A resale marketplace is the route that does not require one.
Autumn tends to offer the steadiest pricing. The last ten days before a festive fixture usually carry a premium as local and travelling supporters commit at the same time.
Visiting supporters occupy the lower tier of the Bridgford Stand, with an allocation usually in the region of 3,000 to 3,500. Everton colours should be kept to that section only.
Mobile transfer, emailed electronic ticket, courier delivery or collection in Nottingham, depending on the seller. The method is stated on each listing before you commit.
It is roughly a twenty-five minute walk from Nottingham railway station, south towards Trent Bridge. No tram or rail stop serves the ground directly and matchday driving is heavily restricted.
Sources: Nottingham Forest FC official ticketing, membership and hospitality information, Premier League fixture listings, City Ground venue and capacity records, archived Premier League season datasets, ESPN match records, RSSSF England archives, StatMuse historical results and published matchday travel guidance.