How Steve Cooper guided bottom-placed Nottingham Forest into Championship play-off final

It was not only in the Championship, but Nottingham Forest also performed miracles in the FA Cup against top Premier League clubs.

Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper; Credit: Twitter@SkyBetChamp
By Karthik Raman | May 18, 2022 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Nottingham Forest had a start to forget at the beginning of the 2021-22 campaign in the EFL Championship, as the club was rooted to the foot of the table. As early as September, they had to make a managerial change, relieving Chris Hughton from his post before appointing former Swansea City manager Steve Cooper. Then began the journey of Nottingham’s incredible rise, which saw the team jump from the bottom of the table to the Championship play-off final. They are now only one game away from securing the Premier League promotion for the first time in 23 years.

Nottingham Forest were early favourites to go down 

The poor start endured by Nottingham Forest convinced many that they are destined to get relegated to the third division. Losing six of the first seven games and managing only one draw was enough for Chris Hughton to get the sack by the middle of September. It was inevitable as Forest seemed to have not improved from their 17th-placed finish last season. Falling back to League One was almost a given before Steve Cooper was named as the first team head coach on 21st September. 

Before Cooper took charge of the side, caretaker manager Steven Reid guided Nottingham Forest to their first Championship win of the season by shocking Huddersfield Town 2-0. It brought an end to a 13-match winless league run that stretched back to the previous season. Still, Nottingham had only four points from eight games when Cooper was finally appointed as the manager. Not much was expected from the Welshman at that time and his main task at hand was to help the club avoid relegation.

READ MORE – FA Cup: Arsenal suffer shock loss to Nottingham Forest

Steve Cooper transformed Nottingham into a Championship giant

Their poor start to the campaign did not remotely suggest anything close to a fairytale ending. They were not expected to be promotion candidates at that time but what had transcribed since then has been nothing short of a dream run for Nottingham fans. Since Cooper’s appointment, they have secured more points than any other side in England’s second division. Infact, the Reds lost only six times in the division under the 42-year-old manager to book a play-off spot with a fourth-place finish. They managed 80 points from 46 games in the EFL Championship this campaign.

It was not only in the Championship, but Forest also performed miracles in the FA Cup against top Premier League clubs. They had beaten Arsenal and trounced Leicester City before narrowly losing to Liverpool. Their reward for a fantastic turnaround is a trip to Wembley where they will face Huddersfield Town in the Championship play-off final. A victory will end their 23-year long wait to return to the Premier League.

Nottingham Forest PositionMatchesWinsDrawsLossesPoints
When Steve Cooper was appointed2481164
End of the season44623111280

When was the last time Nottingham Forest were in Premier League?

Nottingham Forest were once an English football giant. Their two European Cups are proof of that. But the recent past has not been kind to the City Ground faithful. The 1998-99 season was the last time they were in the top flight. That campaign ended with the Reds collecting just 30 points to finish bottom of the table. Since then, they were not able to jump back into the top division. Infact they even fell down to League One in 2005. 

At long last, they seem to have found their feet in the Championship, thanks to Steve Cooper’s revolution. The 42-year-old transformed the side rooted at the bottom of the table into an unlikely promotion candidate. Standing between Nottingham and a Premier League promotion is Huddersfield Town. The two sides will face each other in the Championship play-off final. What was considered a distant dream at the beginning of the season could very well turn into a fairytale ending if Nottingham pass the final test on 29th May.





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