It’s been one of those seasons at Nottingham Forest, battling relegation in the Premier League, alongside reaching the semi-finals of the Europa League.

Add into that, numerous managerial changes, and exiting domestic cup competitions at the hands of Welsh pairing, Wrexham (FA Cup) and Swansea City (Carabao Cup), and you get some idea as to what has been happening at the City Ground.

This isn’t about all of that though, this is about celebrating Forest’s European journey; progression to the latter stages of a European competition for the first time since the 1996 quarter-final loss to Bayern Munich, and reaching a semi-final for the first time in some forty-two years.

Back then, in 1983/84, Forest was participating in the Europa League’s alter ego, the UEFA Cup (competition changed names in 2009), and progressed from the First Round to the Semi-Finals, before controversially exiting at the hands of Belgian side, Anderlecht who would be later found guilty of bribery after admitting paying Spanish Referee Emilio Guruceta Muro who gave a dubious penalty and chalked off a Forest goal in a second leg which the Reds lost 3-0 after a 2-0 first leg win at the City Ground.

THE 1983/84 SEASON

Under the legendary Brian Clough, and with a squad consisting of Hans Van Breukelen (goalkeeper), Viv Anderson, Ian Bowyer, John Anderson, Steve Hodge, and Garry Birtles, the Reds finished fifth in the old First Division in 1983, qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

Joining them in that 1983/84 UEFA Cup campaign, Watford, who’d finished as runners-up, Tottenham Hotspur (fourth), and Aston Villa (sixth), as all four progressed from the First Round; Watford defeated German side, Kaiserslautern, 4-3 on aggregate, Tottenham hammered Irish participants, Drogheda United, 14-0 (6-0 and 8-0 – that wasn’t even the highest aggregate score as Austria Memphis put fifteen past Aris Bonnevoie, and Inter Bratislava hit Rabat Ajax for sixteen).

Aston Villa, who Forest will oppose in this season’s semi-final, won 5-1 against the Portuguese side, Vitoria S.C., and Forest, they saw off one of the other German participants, Vorwarts Frankfurt, 3-0 (2-0 and 1-0 on aggregate) – the German side was regular, European entrants during the sixties, seventies, and eighties.

Aston Villa exited in the Second Round, against Russian side Spartak Moscow, with Watford’s journey coming to an end in the Third Round, whilst Tottenham, they went all the way, beating Anderlecht on penalties following a 2-2 aggregate score in the final.

As for Forest’s journey, having seen off the Frankfurt side at the beginning of their adventures (Ian Wallace, Steve Hodge, Ian Bowyer netting the three goals), PSV Eindhoven were there seen off, 3-1 on aggregate (Peter Davenport’s brace and a Colin Walsh penalty) in the Second Round.

Scottish giants, Glasgow Celtic, were then faced in a Battle of Britain Third Round clash; a goalless first leg in Nottingham was to be followed by a 2-1 win at Celtic Park, thanks to goals from Hodge and Walsh.

The quarters pitted Forest with Austrians, Sturm Graz, Walsh netting an extra-time penalty in the second leg after Paul Hart had afforded the Reds a first leg lead; the semis, for both English sides, were to be close affairs, Tottenham seeing off Hajduk Split, from the former Yugoslavia, on away goals (2-2 aggregate score), whilst Forest succumbed to the Belgians, Anderlecht.

Hosting the first leg, at the City Ground, on 11 April 1984, Clough’s charges registered a 2-0 win thanks to late goals from Steve Hodge, in the 84th and 88th minutes; queue the second leg, at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brussels, a fortnight later.

Some 36,500 spectators were in attendance as the multi-time Belgian champions wiped put Forest’s two-goal advantage within an hour, legendary playmaker, Vincenzo Scifo, halving the deficit inside twenty minutes, and Danish international, Kenneth Brylle Larsen, levelling the tie just before the hour, from the penalty spot.

The winner, after a nervy final thirty minutes, went the way of the Belgians as prolific scorer, Erwin Vandenbergh, netted in the dying minutes, sealing a 3-2 aggregate success for the hosts, and crushing Forest’s dream of adding what would have been a fourth, European trophy (two European Cups, and a European Super Cup).

As for the Anderlecht, they lost the final, 4-3 on penalties, following a 2-2 aggregate score with Tottenham Hotspur, Steve Archibald with decisive, successful spot-kick; for Forest however, although they played in the UEFA Cup First Round the following season, losing 1-0 on aggregate to another Belgian side, Club Brugge, there would be just one further adventure (1995/96) over the next four decades.

THE 2025/26 SEASON

Fast-forward those four decades, and Forest have been enjoying another European adventure, way more than their domestic season, a Premier League campaign that, following the previous campaigns dizzying heights, has seen a relegation battle.

Between 1999 and 2022 the Reds would find themselves experiencing either Championship, or League One football, finally returning to the Premier League after winning the 2022 Play-Offs, finishing 16th (2023) and 17th (2024) in their first two seasons back at the top table.

Last season however, the Reds dared to dream, flirting with Champions League qualification before, and following situations elsewhere, finishing seventh in the league, and gained entry into the Europa League.

A lot has changed since Forest’s last European adventures, of the eighties and nineties, group stages now the norm in European competition and, after the qualifying rounds had whittled entrants down, the ‘League Phase’ beckoned for the Reds, alongside thirty-five other clubs with dreams of European glory.

Forest’s Brazilian striker, Igor Jesus, got the campaign up-and-running with a brace in the 2-2 draw away to Spanish outfit, Real Betis, before a 3-2 home loss to Danish side, Midtjylland, was endured, Dan Ndoye and a Chirs Wood penalty affording some hope.

Matchday three was a 2-0 win over FC Porto (penalties from Morgan Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus) was then followed by a goalless draw in Austria, as Forest renewed acquaintance with 1983/84 quarter-final opponents, Sturm Graz.

Another former European opponent (from the 1980 European Cup final), Malmo FF, were seen off 3-0 at home on matchday five, goals coming from Ryan Yates, Arnaud Kalimuendo, and Nikola Milenkovic, then Utrecht were seen off in the Netherlands, Kalimuendo, and another Jesus strike, earning a 2-1 win, boosting hopes of qualification.

The final two league phase matchdays saw a narrow, 1-0 loss away to Braga, before a stunning, 4-0 home win over Hungarians, Ferencvaros, sealed qualification for the play-off game, an own-goal, a James McAtee penalty, and a brace from Jesus, giving Reds fans joy away from the doldrums of the Premier League season.

Turkish side, Fenerbahce, were seen off in the knockout play-offs, Murillo, Jesus, and Gibbs-White netting in the first leg, and Callum Hudson-Odoi the second, sealing a 4-2 aggregate success; Muhammed Akturkoglu’s second leg brace giving the visiting Turks some fight in the contest.

League Phase opponents Midtjylland, and Porto, were the Reds’ next two opponents, in the Round of 16, and Quarter-Finals, respectively; the former beaten 3-0 on penalties following a 2-2 aggregate, Gibbs-White, Ibrahim Sangare, and Neco Williams, all successful from the spot, whilst in the latter an even tighter, 2-1 aggregate success was claimed, Gibbs-White with the decisive goal, at home, early in the second leg.

Now, it’s all eyes on the Europa League semi-finals, a first for the Reds since 1984, whilst their opponents, fellow Premier League side, Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, they’ve been enjoying European adventures in recent seasons – 2024 saw them reach the Conference League semi-finals, and 2025 the Champions League quarter-finals, where they lost to Paris Saint-Germain.

On the other side of the draw, the other Europa League semi-final, Portuguese side, Braga (fourth in the Primeira Liga), and Germans, SC Freiburg (seventh in the Bundesliga) – ties to be played 30 April and 7 May.

The remaining quartet, they’re eyeing a date at the Besiktas Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey, for the final on 20 May, the Reds hoping that, along with European success, the hat-trick from Gibbs-White in Sunday’s 4-1 Premier League home win over Burnley, helps seal a place in next season’s English top division….

And the UEFA Champions League!!

*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).

*Main image @NFFC Nottingham Forest v Anderlecht in 1984.