Nottingham Forest F.C. Under 21s or Nottingham Forest F.C. B Team are the reserve team of

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

. The team mainly consists of Under-21 players at the club, although senior players occasionally play in the reserve side, for instance when they are recovering from injury. The B team is coached by Warren Joyce. Nottingham Forest F.C. Under 18s are the youth team of

. The youth team is coached by Tom Mallinson. The Nottingham Forest Academy as a whole is managed by Chris McGuane.

Under 21s & Under 18s

The Nottingham Forest F.C. Youth Academy was launched in 1997 under the supervision of

Paul Hart Paul Anthony Hart (born 4 May 1953) is an English football manager, coach, and former professional player who made 567 appearances in the Football League as a defender. Hart was most recently assistant manager to Nathan Jones at Charlton ...

. The academy is run by full and part-time staff including ex-professional footballers alongside Chris McGuane. The academy is located at a site in Nottingham. Since its inception the academy has nurtured the talents of many players that have made it into top flight football; these include

Jermaine Jenas Jermaine Anthony Jenas ( ; born 18 February 1983) is an English television presenter, football pundit and former professional footballer. He played as a central midfielder for English club sides Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, Tottenh ...

, Michael Dawson, his brother Andy,

James Perch James Robert Perch (born 28 September 1985) is an English former professional footballer. Perch was versatile and has covered many positions in both defence and across midfield. However, he is usually deployed at right back. Career Nottingham F ...

, Carlos Merino,

Scott Loach Scott James Loach (born 27 May 1988) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Loach played for Ipswich Town, Watford and Hartlepool United. He had also spent loan spells with non-League Stafford Rangers and Y ...

Andy Reid Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Reid was previously the head coach of the Philadelphi ...

and

Marlon Harewood Marlon Anderson Harewood (born 25 August 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Harewood started his career at Nottingham Forest. During his career there, he had loan spells at Haka and Ipswich Town befor ...

. Many of these players have gone on to play at international level. Others were released by the academy and went on to develop their careers successfully elsewhere, including

Shaun Wright-Phillips Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips (born 25 October 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. He played in the Premier League and Football League for Manchester City, Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers, in Major Leagu ...

and

Tom Huddlestone Thomas Andrew Huddlestone (born 28 December 1986) is an English former professional Association football, footballer and coach, who is currently a first team assistant coach at Birmingham City F.C., Birmingham City. He played as a midfielder#D ...

. The Nottingham Forest youth team has been part of the

Premier Academy League The Premier Academy League (sometimes abbreviated as FAPAL) was the top level of youth football in England before it was to be replaced by a new league proposed by the Elite Player Performance Plan in 2012, which was accepted by the 72 member c ...

since 1997, playing in group D. Their best season was 2000–01 when they won the whole competition. They almost repeated this in the 2009–10 season but eventually lost 5–3 to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the play-off final. The Nottingham Forest academy was officially renamed The Nigel Doughty Academy in October 2012 in memory of the former owner

Nigel Doughty Nigel Edward Doughty (10 June 1957 – 4 February 2012) was a British investor and football club owner, who was co-chairman and co-founder of Doughty Hanson & Co, a European private equity firm based in London. Doughty was born in Newark, Nott ...

, who died earlier in the year. In May 2021, the academy secured a conditional licence to operate a Category 1 Academy. This would allow the club's U21 and U18 teams to enter the elite academy games programme, including Premier League 2 and cup competitions. For the 2023–24 season, Forest entered an under-21 side to the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

for the first time.

B Team

Current Squad

U18 Team

Current Squad

Staff

Honours

**Winners: 2000–01 *

Dallas Cup The Dallas Cup is an annual international football tournament for invited youth teams. The tournament was established in 1980 and is held in Dallas, Texas, with FC Dallas serving as its host club. Venues used for the tournament include the Cotton ...

**Winners: 2002 * Premier League International Cup **Winners: 2024–25

Notable Academy graduates and attendees

Players currently playing for Nottingham Forest are listed below in bold. The decade players are listed in indicates when they began playing with the academy, not the first team.

1960s

* Bob Chapman * Duncan McKenzie * Henry Newton *

Ian Storey-Moore Ian Storey-Moore (born 17 January 1945) is an English former association football forward. He scored over 100 league goals for Nottingham Forest, and earned one cap for England during his time there. In 1972, he moved to Manchester United, but ...

1970s

Viv Anderson Vivian Alexander Anderson (born 29 July 1956) is an English former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He is best known for his ten-year stint with Nottingham Forest, with whom he won the First Division title in 1978, as well ...

* Paul Bannon * Stuart Gray * Bryn Gunn *

Mark Hateley Mark Wayne Hateley (born 7 November 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), striker. He started his career with Coventry City F.C., Coventry City in the Football L ...

* Gary Mills * John Robertson * Steve Sutton * Tony Woodcock *

Chris Woods Christopher Charles Eric Woods (born 14 November 1959) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is goalkeeping coach for the Scotland national team. As a player, he was a goalkeeper (association football), goalke ...

1980s

* David Campbell *

Gary Charles Gary Andrew Charles (born 13 April 1970) is an English football coach and former professional player. He played as a right-back, notably beginning his career with Nottingham Forest and featured in the inaugural Premier League season under Brian ...

Steve Chettle Stephen John Chettle (born 27 September 1968) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a defender from 1986 to 2005 and was best known for his time as a player at Nottingham Forest where he made 41 ...

Paul Crichton Paul Andrew Crichton (born 3 October 1968) is an English football coach and former footballer. He is the goalkeeper coach of National Women's Soccer League club Orlando Pride. Aa a player he was a goalkeeper from 1986 to 2011. During his playi ...

Nigel Clough Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was capped by ...

Mark Crossley Mark Geoffrey Crossley (born 16 June 1969) is a football coach and former Wales international footballer. As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1988 until 2011 and he has previously played for numerous clubs in England's top flight, notably fo ...

Sean Dyche Sean Mark Dyche (; born 28 June 1971) is an English professional football manager and former footballer who was most recently the manager of Premier League club Everton. During his playing career, Dyche played as a centre-back, making his pro ...

Chris Fairclough Courtney Huw Fairclough, commonly known as Chris Fairclough, (born 12 April 1964) is an English football coach and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a defender from 1981 to 2001. He most notably played for Nottingham Forest a ...

Scot Gemmill Scot Gemmill (born 2 January 1971) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player, who is the head coach of the Scotland under-21 team. As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Nottingham Fore ...

Lee Glover Edward Lee Glover (born 24 April 1970) is an English-born Scottish professional football manager and former footballer who is a coach at club Doncaster Rovers. A forward, he started his career with Nottingham Forest in 1987. He spent seven yea ...

Steve Hodge Stephen Brian Hodge (born 25 October 1962) is an English retired footballer who played as a midfielder. He enjoyed a high-profile club and international career in the 1980s and 1990s. One high point of his career was playing in the 1986 World ...

* Bobby Howe * Ian Kilford * Steve Stone *

Des Walker Desmond Sinclair Walker (born 26 November 1965) is an English football coach and former player who played as a defender. At club level he played in seven cup finals for Nottingham Forest at Wembley, winning five of them. He was Forest's play ...

1990s

* Craig Armstrong *

Julian Bennett Julian Bennett may refer to: *Julian Bennett (footballer) (born 1984), English footballer *Julian Bennett (archaeologist) (1949–2025), British archaeologist * Julian Bennett (politician) Julian Bennett (May 3, 1929 – October 27, 2013) was a ...

* Brian Cash * Richard Cooper *

Andy Dawson Andrew Stuart Dawson (born 20 October 1978) is an English former professional footballer and current first team coach at Hull City. As a player he was a defender from 1997 to 2015. Having left Nottingham Forest as a youngster he joined Sc ...

* Kevin Dawson * Michael Dawson *

Gareth Edds Gareth James Edds (born 3 February 1981) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a defender or midfielder. He was last employed as the head coach at Northern Fury in 2013. Club career Edds started his career in 1999 with ...

* Keith Foy * Simon Francis * Robbie Gibbons *

Phil Gilchrist Philip Alexander Gilchrist (born 25 August 1973) is an English former footballer and manager. He played as a defender. Career Gilchrist first joined Oxford United from Hartlepool United for £100,000 in February 1995. He soon formed one of the ...

Mark Goodlad Mark Goodlad (born 9 September 1979) is an English former professional footballer who was most recently John Askey's assistant manager at club Hartlepool United. Goodlad was a goalkeeper and began his career at Nottingham Forest, playing on l ...

* Steve Guinan *

* Ian Kilford * Richard Liburd * Paul McGregor * Steve Melton * Carlos Merino * Chris O'Grady *

Jon-Paul Pittman Jon-Paul Pittman (born 24 October 1986) is a football coach and former professional player, currently interim head coach of Brentford U18. Pittman began his career in Aston Villa's academy before moving to Nottingham Forest where he spent eigh ...

* David Prutton *

* Andy Todd * Justin Walker * Vance Warner *

Craig Westcarr Craig Naptali Westcarr (born 29 January 1985) is an English professional footballer who last played as a striker for Eastwood. He began his career at Nottingham Forest, becoming the youngest player ever to play for the club when he made his f ...

* Gareth Williams *

2000s

* Mo Adams *

Mickaël Antoine-Curier Mickaël Antoine-Curier (born 5 March 1983) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker from 2001 until 2018. Born in France, he represented Guadeloupe at international level. Antoine-Curier played in seven countries for twenty ...

Patrick Bamford Patrick James Bamford (born 5 September 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Leeds United. He made one appearance for the England national team in 2021. Bamford began his career at Nottingham Forest, maki ...

Felix Bastians Felix Bastians (born 9 May 1988) is a German former professional footballer who played as a centre-back or left-back. Club career Early career Bastians began his career with SG Wattenscheid 09 and VfL Bochum before moving to Borussia Dortmund. ...

Hamza Bencherif Hamza Bencherif (; born 9 February 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender or midfielder for Northern Premier League club Worksop Town where he is club captain. Born in Paris, he has played in the Football League for several ...

Jack Blake Jack James Blake (born 22 September 1994) is a professional footballer who plays for USL Championship side Indy Eleven. Born in England, he has represented Scotland at youth level. Career Nottingham Forest (2013–2015) Blake started his ...

Matt Bodkin Matthew James Bodkin (born 16 September 1983) is an English Association football, footballer, who plays as a winger for Chatham Town F.C., Chatham Town. Career Bodkin began his career as a trainee with Nottingham Forest F.C., Nottingham Forest, ...

Eugen Bopp Eugen Bopp (born 5 September 1983) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in Ukraine, he represented the Germany national under-19 team. Early life Bopp was born in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR to an ethnic German f ...

Oliver Burke Oliver Jasen Burke (born 7 April 1997) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a right winger or forward for club Union Berlin. He came through the academy at Nottingham Forest, signing a professional contract in September 2014 a ...

Mark Byrne Mark Byrne (born 9 November 1988) is an Irish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Crumlin United. Club career Nottingham Forest Byrne signed for Nottingham Forest in July 2007 from Dublin schoolboy side, Crumlin United after unsuccessful ...

* Neill Byrne *

Callum Chettle Callum Louis Chettle (born 28 August 1996) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Barwell. After leaving Nottingham Forest for Ilkeston at the age of 15, he moved up the divisions to join Nuneaton Town in July 2015, and ...

Karl Darlow Karl Darlow (born 8 October 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Leeds United and the Wales national team. Darlow is a product of the Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest academies and spent most of his career at ...

Tony Diagne Anthony Diagne (born 7 September 1990) is a French footballer who plays as a defender. Career Born in Aubergenville, Yvelines, Diagne started his career playing in the youth teams at Nottingham Forest. On 2 June 2010 he was released by Forest ...

Vincent Fernandez Vincent Fernandez (born 31 January 1975) is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines, Fernandez began his career with Paris Saint-Germain. He was loaned to LB Châteauroux to e ...

* Kieron Freeman * Kieran Hayes * Joe Heath * Arif Karaoğlan *

Jamaal Lascelles Jamaal Lascelles ( ; born 11 November 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and is club-captain for club Newcastle United. Lascelles previously played for Nottingham Forest, where he was developed through their ...

Lewis McGugan Lewis Shay McGugan (born 25 October 1988) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. A player with excellent natural stamina, technical skills and mental attributes, he represented England at ...

* Alex Mighten *

Brendan Moloney Brendan Anthony Moloney (born 18 January 1989) is an Irish former professional footballer who played mainly as a right-back. Career Born in Beaufort, Killarney, County Kerry, he was a graduate of the Nottingham Forest Youth Academy and capta ...

* David Morgan *

Wes Morgan Westley Nathan Morgan (born 21 January 1984) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a Centre Back, centre-back. Born in England, he played for the Jamaica national football team, Jamaica national team. He was als ...

* Ben Osborn * Alan Power * Shane Redmond * Gregor Robertson *

Barry Roche Barry Christopher Roche (born 6 April 1982) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and now works as a goalkeeping coach for Fleetwood. He is an Irish former Under-21 international. Career Nottingham Forest Born i ...

* Nialle Rodney * Tom Shaw *

Emile Sinclair Emile Anthony Sinclair (born 29 December 1987) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a striker. Career Nottingham Forest Born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, Sinclair started his career with Bradford City's youth system in 2005 be ...

* Jordan Smith *

Richard Tait Richard Graham Tait Commander of the British Empire, CBE (born 22 May 1947) is a British journalist and Professor of Journalism at Cardiff University. He had been a member of the BBC Trust, the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporat ...

* Robert Taylor * John Thompson *

George Thomson George Thomson may refer to: Government and politics * George Thomson (MP for Southwark) (c. 1607–1691), English merchant and Parliamentarian soldier, official and politician * George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth (1921–2008), Scottish p ...

* Matt Thornhill * Kieran Wallace * Spencer Weir-Daley * Ryan Yates

2010s

* Zach Abbott *

Anel Ahmedhodžić Anel Ahmedhodžić (; born 26 March 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Championship club Sheffield United. Born in Sweden, he played for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Ahmedhodžić started his profess ...

* Arvin Appiah *

Kostakis Artymatas Kostakis Artymatas (, born 15 April 1993) is a Cypriot professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for and captains both Cypriot First Division club Anorthosis Famagusta and the Cyprus national team. Club career Early career ...

Fin Back Finley Jude William Back (born 25 September 2002) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right back or defensive midfielder for Wycombe Wanderers. Career Nottingham Forest Back joined the Nottingham Forest academy at the age of eig ...

* Matthew Bondswell * Liam Bossin * Ben Brereton Díaz *

Matty Cash Matthew Stuart Cash (born 7 August 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Aston Villa and the Poland national team. Cash started his career at Wycombe Wanderers and later the FAB Academy before he signed his fi ...

Adam Crookes Adam Mark Crookes (born 18 November 1997) is an English semi-professional association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for club Gainsborough Trinity F.C., Gainsborough Trinity. A graduate of the Nott ...

* Aaron Donnelly * Toby Edser * Danny Elliott * Yassine En-Neyah * Tim Erlandsson * Dimitar Evtimov * Morgan Ferrier * Tyrese Fornah * Jordan Gabriel * Adrian Galliani * Joe Gardner * Virgil Gomis * Jorge Grant * Oli Hammond *

Riley Harbottle Riley-Jay Harbottle (born 26 September 2000) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for club AFC Wimbledon. Career Nottingham Forest Harbottle joined the Nottingham F ...

* Alex Iacovitti *

Brennan Johnson Brennan Price Johnson (born 23 May 2001) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Tottenham Hotspur and the Wales national team. Born in Nottingham, England, Johnson began his professional career with Nottingham Forest and ...

* Idris Kadded * Andreas Karo * Konstantinos Laifis * Josh Macdonald *

Kyle McClean Kyle McClean (born 3 October 1998) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for NIFL Premiership club Linfield. He has previously played for St Johnstone. Career McClean started his career in England at Nottingha ...

* Gerry McDonagh *

Jake Mulraney Jake David Mulraney (born 5 April 1996) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic. Born in Dublin, Mulraney has previously played for Ilkeston, Queens Park R ...

Frederik Nielsen Frederik Løchte Nielsen (born 27 August 1983) is a Danish tennis coach and a former professional player. A Wimbledon men's doubles champion, he peaked at world No. 17 in the rankings in April 2013. Nielsen reached five other doubles finals ...

* Esapa Osong *

Konstantinos Panagou Konstantinos Panagou (; born 11 June 1998) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Athens Kallithea. Career Panagou signed a contract with PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club (), or with its full name Panipir ...

Ben Perry Benjamin Jefrey "Ben" Perry (born 7 March 1994) is a Canadian cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2015 to 2023. Career He was educated at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School in St. Catharines where, prior to focusing on cycling, he ...

* Deimantas Petravičius * Ilias Polimos * Danny Preston * Max Ram * Rezart Rama *

Josh Rees Joshua David Rees (born 4 October 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Hornchurch. Club career Arsenal Rees joined Arsenal as a schoolboy and worked his way through the side's academy, until he left t ...

* Jayden Richardson *

Roger Riera Roger Riera Canadell (born 17 February 1995) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Primera Federación club Atlético Sanluqueño. Club career Born in El Masnou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Riera joined FC Barcelona's ' ...

Marcelo Saraiva Marcelo Andrés Valencia Saraiva (born 17 May 2002) is a Guatemalan professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder. Club career Nottingham Forest Saraiva joined the Nottingham Forest under-23's side on 7 January 2021, signing a con ...

George Shelvey George William Shelvey (born 22 April 2001) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Gateshead. Career Born in Nottingham, Shelvey began his career with Nottingham Forest, moving on loan to Truro City in February 2020, ...

Marios Siampanis Marios Siampanis (, born 28 September 1999) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Super League club Volos. Club career On 14 April 2015 it was announced that Siampanis signed a professional contract with PAOK and star ...

* Will Swan * Jake Taylor * Nikolay Todorov * Tyler Walker * Joe Worrall *

Jordan Wright Jordan Wright (born October 7, 1991) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Middleweight division. He formerly fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Wright started gymnastics at age four, but after watching th ...

2020s

Brandon Aguilera Brandon Aguilera Zamora (born 28 June 2003) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club Rio Ave and the Costa Rica national team. Club career In July 2022 Premier League side Nottingham Forest ann ...

Baba Fernandes Baba Fernandes (born 3 July 2000) is a Bissau-Guinean professional footballer who played for Accrington Stanley as a defender. A former youth international for Portugal, he plays for the Guinea-Bissau national team. Club career On 28 December ...

* Billy Fewster * Kristian Fletcher * Nicky Hogarth *

Pharrell Johnson Pharrell Junior Johnson (born 19 May 2004) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Swindon Town. Career Johnson began his career with Nottingham Forest, signing for Swindon Town in January 2024. He was loaned to ...

Ateef Konaté Ateef Konaté (born 4 April 2001) is a French professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder who currently plays for Valenciennes B. Career Le Havre Konaté played with the Le Havre academy from the age of thirteen, before earnin ...

* Julian Larsson * Jamie McDonnell * Joel Ndala * Manni Norkett * Dale Taylor

References

{{Coord, 52, 55, 40.2, N, 1, 08, 42.1, W, display=title Reserves and Academy Football academies in England Central Combination