Winner of the play-off to the Premier League by beating Huddersfield (1-0) on Sunday at Wembley, Nottingham Forest will return to the elite of English football next season, after 23 years of absence. Historic club in England and winner twice (1979, 1980) of the European Cup of champion clubs, the ancestor of the Champions League, Forest had finished 4th in the regular season, two points behind Huddersfield.
They had to resort to a penalty shoot-out in which their French goalkeeper Brice Samba – former Caen player, in particular – had been the hero to dismiss Sheffield United in the semi-final of the play-off (2-1, 1-2, 3-2 a.p. and t.a.b.). For its part, Huddersfield, who had played from 2017 to 2019 in the Premier League, had taken the best of Luton (1-1, 1-0). But all these results were erased at the start of the match, the Nottingham Reds monopolizing the ball in the first period, without being very dangerous.*
It even took a little help from fate to take the lead, in the form of an own goal from Levi Colwill (1-0, 43rd), who inadvertently deflected a cross entering the top corner of his cages. The second half was very tense, with the referee not awarding a penalty to Huddersfield on two very contentious plays. But with 0 shots on target in 90 minutes, the Terriers saw their dream of returning to the highest level quite logically stopped.
Nottingham Forest will accompany Fulham, winner of the Championship (D2) and their runner-up Bournemouth, two teams that have made the lift. They will replace Norwich and Watford, who spent just one season in the top tier, as well as Burnley.
