Nottingham Forest return to European action for first time in 30 years
The Red are away to Real Betis in the Europa League
Last updated 24th Sep 2025
Tonight, Nottingham Forest will return to the European stage in what's been a 30 year wait for fans.
The tricky trees face Real Betis in Spain as they open their Europa League campaign tonight.
The club are two-time European Cup winners, with the last European fixture against Bayern Munich in 1996.
The club's last encounter with a Spanish side came in the final of the European Super Cup in 1980, when Forest went head-to-head with Valencia in a two-legged affair.
This competition fixture comes about as they were promoted to the Europa League due to Crystal Palace's demotion.
Speaking to his club ahead of the match, Head Coach Ange Postecoglou spoke of the importance of the experience for the supporters:
“It’s special for the football club and the supporters that haven’t had this for 30 years. It’s easy to take for granted for clubs that are in Europe pretty regularly.
“It’s going to be special and I’m excited for it as well. I love European campaigns and it’s a great place to start one.
“I know what it means to the people. There will be so many that watched the greats of the past and have been passing on the stories to the current generation, who now want their own stories.
“It’s our responsibility now to make sure it’s a memorable campaign that can stand the test of time for generations.
“Over the past 30 years the passion from the supporters hasn’t waned at all. The majority will have heard the stories but not lived the experience, but now they get the chance to create their own stories and experience it for themselves.
It’s the magical part of football and why we’re all involved."
Ange says he recognises the competition is completely different from what the Reds are used to competing in in the Premier League each week.
Well plenty of fans have been making their way to Seville for the game, although some have had issues, with passengers at London Stansted Airport experiencing disruption after a fire in a departure lounge.
Alex is one of those Reds fans who missed their flight due to delays in security:
"They shut security so we missed our flight, though it still took off without any passengers or luggage to Faro. Perhaps we should have been slightly more organised and gone yesterday but work commitments meant it wasn't to be, but we couldn't have foreseen this happening."
Alex actually decided to travel from Stansted to Luton to combat the issue, and gave us an update once he was there:
"We are currently what staff would call SAG so it's seated at gate, we basically have to hope a few people don't turn up and we're assigned seats before boarding closes."
He's one of the few that did make it on one of those flights out.
Meanwhile, lifelong supporter James Bogue is watching from home tonight, he says he's looking forward to a good performance:
"30 years, it hardly seems real, I was at that last European game and that whole campaign was fantastic; the noise, the pride, the belief that Nottingham Forest belong on the biggest stage. Now after all those years of waiting we're finally back.
"It feels like coming home, where we belong, under the lights in Europe.
"We're so excited. I fully expect Forest to get on the front foot of this game and I'm hoping to see a positive performance."
Kick tonight is at 8pm.