Reds Face Old Friends

Second bottom of the Premier League, and only two wins form a dozen matches in all competitions, Nottingham Forest manager, Sean Dyche, takes the Reds to Austria, and five-times Austrian Bundesliga champions, Sturm Graz for a Europa League tie that could, in effect, define their season.

Dyche is the Reds’ third manager already this campaign, owner Evangelos Marinakis parting company with first Nuno Espirito Santo, then, following an ill-fated spell at the helm, with Ange Postecoglu, so, the 54-year-old, who began his playing career under the legendary Brian Clough, has been tasked with saving the Reds’ season.

A win in his opening game, penalties from Morgan Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus giving them a 2-0 win at home to FC Porto in the last round of Europa League matches, was swiftly followed by a 2-0 defeat away to Bournemouth, and a battling, 2-2 draw with a resurgent Manchester United, in the Premier League.

Now it’s back to Europe, and a trip to a country the Reds last visited way back in 1984, and the quarter-finals of the old UEFA Cup, a game in which Forest won, over two legs, after extra-time, courtesy of a Colin Walsh penalty.

Paul Hart had afforded the Reds the lead in the first leg, his 70th minute goal giving them a 1-0 win at the City Ground on 7 March; a fortnight later, at the Bundesstadion Graz-Liebenau, in Graz, Austria, BOZO BAKOTA equalised, from the spot, shortly before the break to level the tie, on aggregate.

The tie stayed that way after ninety minutes, it finishing 1-1 on aggregate and the need for extra-time, with Walsh’s goal coming in the 114th minute to send the Reds through to a semi-final with Belgian outfit, Anderlecht (Forest lost 3-2 on aggregate).

NOTTINGHAM FOREST (vs. Sturm Graz, 21 March 1984, UEFA Cup QF Second Leg) Hans Van Breukelen, Viv Anderson, Kenny Swain, Chris Fairclough, Paul Hart, Ian Bowyer (capt), Frans Thijssen, Peter Davenport, Gary Birtles, Steve Hodge, Colin Walsh

Graz’s programme ‘Welcome to Graz’ notes for that second leg encounter would read as follows –

“It gives the greatest pleasure to welcome the players, officials and supporters of Nottingham Forest, the European Cup-winner 1979 and 1980, in Graz-Liebenau.

“We hope you enjoy the visit to our city, the capital of the province of Styria. It’s the second time that Sturm Graz has been paired with a British Team in European competition (1970 Sturm – Arsenal, London, 1984 Sturm – Mottingham Forest), and we are impressed by the quality of sides that our opponents have eliminated: Vorwärts Frankfurt (DDR), PSV Eindhoven and Celtic Glasgow.

“Tonight’s match will be Nottingham’s 38th game – Sturm’s 26th in an European Cup. Both Teams rightfully took their place in the quarter finals – and we look forward to building a lasting relationship with the officials and players of Nottingham Forest!”

A lot has changed since then, for both clubs, with the Reds looking to reclaim past glories and perhaps enjoy again, sustained adventures in Europe, and beyond.

An up-and-down relationship with European football, Sturm Graz’s history is also an interesting one; formed 11-years-ago, Die Schwoazn (The Blacks) are five-time Austrian Bundesliga champions, seven-time Austrian Cup winners, and three-time Austrian Supercup winners, winning the league in both 2024 and 2025, and the cup in 2023 and 2024.

First appearing on the European scene in 1970, they’ve reached the quarter-finals of both the European Cup Winners Cup (1976), and the UEFA Cup (1984); their early history meanwhile has seen them first contest the Styrian championship prior to a spell, in the late thirties and throughout the forties, residing in German football, entering Austrian football in 1949 as the first, non-Vienna-based club to participate.

Fast-forward to the present day and, although going into this game with Nottingham Forest on the back of a four-match winless run, Jürgen Säumel’s charges have won ten and drawn one of their eighteen matches in all competitions; the ‘draw’ being aa 10-9 penalty shoot-out success in the Austrian Cup Round of 16 clash with Admira Wacker, the sides finishing at 1-1 after ninety minutes.

Prio to their recent run, Säumel’s side had only lost four times in fourteen outings, they’ll also be looking to kick-start their campaign; manager Säumel, at 41-years-old, is a former Graz midfielder whom, over two spells with the club, played over 190 games, whilst also having a brief spell in Italy, with Torino and Brescia.

His first coaching job, Säumel replaced Christian Ilzer in November last year, and will celebrate a year at the helm later this month, for him, hopefully with a win over Forest under his belt to add to the 2-1 win against Glasgow Rangers in early October.

His side is captained by the Austrian international midfielder, Stefan Hierländer, who returned to his homeland following a spell in Germany with Red Bull Leipzig (2014-16) having played for RB Salzburg prior to that.

He’s now made over 300 appearances for Graz, whom he joined in 2016, and endeared himself to the Graz faithful when scoring the winning goal, in extra-time, in the Austrian Cup final in 2018.

Numerous players have netted for The Blacks this season, with Georgia international, Otar Kiteishvili, and the Norwegian, Seedy Jatta, leading the way; Kiteishvili is closing in on 250 games for the Austrian side, scoring 60+ goals since he joined in in 2018, whilst Jatta has notched up over 70 appearances since 2023.

Slovenian international, Tomi Horvat, is also a regular scorer for the club and has played over 150 games himself since arriving in 2022; the trio among several experienced heads in which Säumel can call upon.

Anyone heading to Austria for the Europa League game against Sturm Graz, FORZA GARIBALDI (https://x.com/Forza_Garibaldi) have put together their useful, informative, and detailed travel guide that you can read HERE https://x.com/Forza_Garibaldi

With Graz having already played Midtjylland (lost 2-0), Rangers (won 2-1), and Celtic (lost 2-1), and after hosting Forest, they will then face Panathinaikos (27 November), Red Star Belgrade (11 December), Feyenoord (22 January), and Brann (29 January); the Reds meanwhile will renew friendships with Malmo (27 November), before facing Utrecht (11 December), Braga (22 January) and Ferencvaros (29 January).

Nottingham Forest face Sturm Graz, on Matchday Four of the 2025-26 UEFA Europa League Group Phase, on Thursday 6 November, KO 17:45 (18:45 Austrian time), at the Merkur Arena, Graz, Austria.