Forest Find Out Europa Schedule

It’s certainly been an interesting summer, off the field, for those connected to Nottingham Forest.

There’s been a transfer window that has seen eight new players arriving at the City Ground, and ten departing, there’s been the vocalisation between manager Nuno Espirito Santo and owner Evangelos Marinakis (read into that what you will), and the saga that was Crystal Palace, which eventually ended in the London club being demoted to the Conference League, and the Reds, well they found themselves promoted to the Europa League.

Although it’s not the highly lucrative, exciting adventure of the UEFA Champions League, that fans were hopeful of for the majority of last season, an adventure in the Europa League has, following the draw on Friday (29 August) thrown up eight, rather tasty ties, and an old friend, in Malmo FF.

For Forest, it’s been thirty years since they last embarked on a European adventure, doing back in the mid-nineties when they faced, again, Malmo, as well as Auxerre, Lyon, and then Bayern Munich, as they reached the quarter-finals of the ‘old’ UEFA Cup,

Speaking of quarter-finals, the other side in which they face in this season’s competition they’ve faced before was Sturm Graz, who they also opposed in the quarters of the UEFA Cup, a decade prior to the afore-mentioned cup run.

They were in the 1980s and 1990s though, a lot has changed in the beautiful game since those, somewhat heady days, it’s even been some 35-years since the club lifted a major trophy, with the League Cup success of 1990 being the last hoisted aloft.

Who knows though, the revamped Group Phase of European competition could play into the hands of Nuno’s men, and, with eight exciting contests to come, against Ferencvaros, Malmo, Midtjylland, and Porto (at home) and Sporting Braga, Real Betis, Sturm Graz, and Utrecht (away), maybe another trophy can be claimed.

But who are the eight in question, four games at home, and four on the road, that awaits the Reds over the coming months. Well, let’s have a little look, shall we….

FERENCVAROS (Budapest, Hungary) The Hungarian giants, record 36x national champions, 24x Hungarian Cup winners, are managed by someone very familiar to the British game, ex-Republic of Ireland international, Robbie Keane. Ferencvaros were early winners of the now-defunct, Inter Cities Fairs Cup, back in the mid-sixties, and are captained by their shot-stopper, Denes Dibusz, whose been at the club for over a decade now; they’ve won their nations’ last seven, league championships (matchday eight, 29 January 2026, home, KO 20:00)

MALMO FF (Malmo, Sweden) Managed by Kalmar legend, Henrik Rydstom, Malmo are one of two clubs drawn in this season’s Group Phase in which they’ve faced before, most notably the 1979 European Cup final, at the Olympiastadion, Munich, Germany, with Trevor Francis scoring the winner in a 1-0 for the Reds (they also faced each other, as mentioned, in the UEFA Cup, that was back in 1996). The Swedish side have lifted numerous trophies and are captained by star midfielder, the Dane, Anders Christiansen, who’s been at the club since 2018 (matchday five, 27 November 2025, home, KO 20:00)

MIDTJYLLAND (Herning/Ikast, Denmark) Perhaps the unknown to most, and the ‘baby of the bunch,’ more so in footballing terms, having only been founded a little over twenty-five years ago, in 1999. Managed by Thomas Thomasberg, the Danes were promoted in 2000 and not looked back. Captained by Mads Bech Sorenson (played for Brentford and AFC Wimbledon between 2017 and 2022/23) they’ve won four Danish Superliga championships and a pair of Danish cups (matchday two, 2 October 2025, home, KO 20:00)

FC PORTO (Oporto, Portugal) A mainstay of European football across the decades, and a giant of Portuguese football, Porto are managed by a relative unknown in Francesco Farioli. The club has lifted 30 Primeira Liga championships, 20 Portuguese cups, 24 Super Cups, as well as a pair of European Cup and UEFA Cup successes – although it’s been a couple of decades there. They are captained by their rock, former youth player, reserve goalkeeper, Diogo Costa, the Portuguese international having been in the first team since 2019 (matchday three, 23 October, home, KO 20:00)

SPORTING BRAGA (Braga, Portugal) The second Portuguese side the Reds will face is managed by Carlos Vicens, who between 2018 and 2025 was employed by Manchester City, under the tutelage of a certain Pep Guardiola, primarily with their U18s but also as assistant manager. Braga have won a trio of Portuguese cups and are captained by Ricardo Horta who, after a loan spell, joined them permanently in 2017 (matchday seven, 22 January 2026, away, KO 20:00)

REAL BETIS (Seville, Spain) A romance-style tie for Reds to look forward to, and a trip to Seville, and Real Betis, managed by the Chilean legend that is Manuel Pellegrini, someone who has over three decades of managerial experience to his name. Betis though have only won one La Liga title, way, way back in 1935, as well a trio of Copa Del Rey’s. UEFA Conference League runners-up last season, they are captained by Isco, the former Real Madrid star (2013-2022), and joined Betis from rivals Sevilla in 2023 (matchday one, 24 September 2025, away, KO 20:00)

SK STURM GRAZ (Graz, Austria) Austrian side who are managed by their two-time former player, and ex-national team player, Jurgen Saumel, and have won five Austrian Bundesliga titles, seven Austrian cups, and three Austrian Supercups. They are captained by Stefan Hierlander, himself an Austrian international and who has been with the club since 2016 (matchday four, 6 November 2025, away, KO 17:45)

FC UTRECHT (Utrecht, Netherlands) Dutch side who are managed by Ron Jans, who began his playing career in the mid-seventies, and, like Real Betis’ boss, Pellegrini, has over three decades of managerial experience to his name, his longest spell being at Groningen between 2002 – 2010. Their only league championship success came in 1935, and they’ve won a hat-trick of KNVB cups, their last in 2004. Utrecht’s captain is Nick Viergever, the former Ajax and PSV player having joined the club in 2022 (matchday six, 11 December 2025, away, KO 17:45)

The Group Phase of this seasons Europa League runs between 24/25 September 2025, and 29 January 2026, with the final set to take place on 20 May 2026, at the Besiktas Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey, by which time the Reds will have finally played their fiftieth European encounter.

The Reds’ first European outing, against Valencia in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, way back in 1961, supporters will be hoping, praying, and singing loud and proud in the hope that, this version, can go all the way to lifting the trophy in Istanbul.