Nottingham Forest City Ground Fire (1968): The Main Stand That Burned at Half-Time
The Nottingham Forest City Ground fire broke out on Saturday 24 August 1968, as Forest played Leeds United in the First Division. With the score 1-1 and the players walking off at half-time, flames took hold of the wooden Main Stand and the match was abandoned. All 31,126 spectators got out safely and, as the club’s official history records, there were no casualties, but the stand and much of Forest’s paperwork, trophies and memorabilia were lost. Forest then spent six winless “home” games at their city rivals’ Meadow Lane, a strange chapter in our On This Day series.
What follows is the hour that gutted a First Division ground, the weeks of exile that came next, and the rearranged tie that closed the loop six months later.
Key Facts
- Played on Saturday 24 August 1968 at the City Ground, the opening day of the 1968-69 First Division season, Nottingham Forest against Leeds United.
- The match was abandoned with the score 1-1, the fire taking hold as the teams left the pitch at half-time.
- According to Nottingham Forest’s official club history, the crowd of 31,126 all escaped and there were no casualties.
- The blaze is thought to have begun somewhere near the dressing rooms and swept through the largely wooden Main Stand, taking with it a large part of the club’s paperwork, trophies and other memorabilia.
- Forest then played six “home” matches at Meadow Lane, the ground of their city rivals Notts County, and won none of them.
- The abandoned fixture was rearranged for 25 February 1969, when Leeds United won 2-0 at the City Ground through Mick Jones and Peter Lorimer.
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The Day the City Ground Went Up in Smoke
A First Division Opener That Should Have Been Routine
Forest arrived at the 1968-69 season as a club that had recently sat near the top of English football. They had finished First Division runners-up in 1966-67, on 56 points behind Manchester United’s 60, a side good enough to chase a title. The Main Stand at the City Ground had been largely rebuilt as recently as 1965. On paper, the visit of Don Revie’s Leeds United on the opening Saturday was the sort of heavyweight fixture a settled ground is built to hold.
The football itself gave little warning. The two sides had reached 1-1 by the interval, an even contest between two of the division’s stronger teams. As Nottingham Forest’s official club history puts it, the players were walking off towards the tunnel when smoke started billowing out of the timber structure and supporters began spilling from their seats. What had been a level match on a warm August afternoon was about to become the most serious afternoon in the ground’s history.
Flames, Evacuation and Abandonment
Once the fire caught, the timber structure gave it everything it needed. The blaze is thought to have begun close to the dressing rooms, and it moved through the wooden Main Stand quickly enough that spectators spilled down onto the pitch to get clear. The referee had no option but to abandon the match at 1-1. Within a short time the stand that had stood on the Trent-side ground was a ruin, and with it went a large part of the club’s paper history: trophies, paperwork and memorabilia that no payout could ever replace.
The remarkable part is what did not happen. A packed wooden grandstand catching fire mid-match reads like the opening of a tragedy, and yet, according to Nottingham Forest’s official history, all 31,126 present got out and there were no casualties. Set against the Bradford City fire of 1985, which killed 56 people in a comparable timber stand, the City Ground’s escape looks like the near-miss it was. The cause was never established with certainty; the club’s own account says only that the fire began somewhere near the dressing rooms.
Here is how the afternoon unfolded:
- Kickoff: Nottingham Forest host Leeds United on the opening day of the 1968-69 First Division season, in front of 31,126.
- First half: the match settles at 1-1 between two of the division’s leading sides.
- Half-time approaches: as the players head for the tunnel, smoke starts pouring from the Main Stand.
- Evacuation: supporters leave their seats and move down onto the pitch to escape the timber stand.
- Abandonment: with the fire taking hold, the referee abandons the match at 1-1.
- Aftermath: the Main Stand is gutted, and a large part of the club’s recorded history, from trophies to paperwork, is lost, but all 31,126 spectators are accounted for with no casualties.
Six Home Games a Guest of the City Rivals
A club with no usable main stand needs somewhere to play, and Forest’s answer carried a particular sting. They crossed the Trent to Meadow Lane, home of Notts County, the older club and Forest’s city rivals. According to the official history, Forest staged six “home” matches at Meadow Lane and won none of them, a wretched run of results to go with the loss of their ground. The exile eventually ended with a return to a rebuilt City Ground, but the 1968-69 campaign never recovered its footing: Forest slid to 18th, a fall from the runners-up finish of two years earlier.
| Arrangement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Temporary home | Meadow Lane, ground of city rivals Notts County |
| “Home” matches there | Six, none won (per Forest’s official history) |
| Return | Back at the City Ground later in 1968-69 as the Main Stand was rebuilt |
| The abandoned tie, replayed | 25 February 1969 at the City Ground, Leeds United won 2-0 (Mick Jones, Peter Lorimer) |
The fixture itself still had to be settled. When Forest and Leeds finally replayed the abandoned match on 25 February 1969, there was no fairytale: Leeds United’s own match records show a 2-0 away win at the City Ground, with Mick Jones and Peter Lorimer scoring. Revie’s side went on to win the title comfortably that season, so the two points they had been denied in the smoke of August were duly collected in the cold of February.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About the Nottingham Forest City Ground Fire (1968)
What happened at the Nottingham Forest City Ground on 24 August 1968?
On 24 August 1968, fire broke out in the Main Stand of Nottingham Forest’s City Ground as the club hosted Leeds United in the First Division. The blaze took hold around half-time, with the score 1-1, and the match was abandoned as spectators evacuated onto the pitch. The wooden stand was destroyed, and a swathe of the club’s records and trophies went with it, yet the crowd of 31,126 escaped without casualties.
What was the score when the Nottingham Forest v Leeds match was abandoned in 1968?
The match was level at 1-1 when it was abandoned. According to Nottingham Forest’s official club history, the teams were walking off at half-time with the score at 1-1 as smoke began pouring from the Main Stand. The result did not stand, and the fixture was replayed the following February.
Was anyone killed or injured in the 1968 City Ground fire?
No one was killed. According to Nottingham Forest’s official history, there were no casualties, even with 31,126 people inside the ground. A full wooden grandstand catching fire during a match could have been catastrophic, which is why the escape is remembered as a near-miss rather than a tragedy.
How many people were at the City Ground when the fire started?
There were 31,126 spectators at the City Ground for Nottingham Forest against Leeds United on 24 August 1968. That figure comes from the club’s own history of the ground. All of them left safely once the Main Stand caught fire and the match was abandoned.
Where did the City Ground fire start and what caused it?
The fire is thought to have begun near the dressing rooms before spreading through the largely wooden Main Stand. Nottingham Forest’s official history describes the origin that way but does not name a definite cause, and the exact source of the blaze was never established with certainty. The timber construction of the stand allowed it to spread quickly.
What was destroyed in the 1968 Nottingham Forest fire?
The fire destroyed the City Ground’s Main Stand, a structure substantially rebuilt only three years earlier, in 1965. According to the club’s history, it also consumed much of Nottingham Forest’s records, trophies and other keepsakes, wiping out a large part of the club’s documented past. The physical stand could be rebuilt, but the lost archive could not.
Where did Nottingham Forest play after the City Ground fire?
Nottingham Forest played their next “home” matches at Meadow Lane, the ground of their city rivals Notts County across the River Trent. According to the club’s official history, Forest staged six home fixtures there and failed to win any of them. They returned to the City Ground once the Main Stand was rebuilt.
How many games did Nottingham Forest play at Meadow Lane in 1968?
Nottingham Forest played six “home” matches at Meadow Lane after the 1968 fire, and won none of them, according to the club’s history. The spell as guests of Notts County added a losing run on the pitch to the loss of their ground. It ended when the rebuilt City Ground was ready to reopen.
Was the abandoned Forest v Leeds match ever replayed?
Yes. The abandoned fixture was rearranged and played at the City Ground on 25 February 1969. Leeds United’s match records show that Leeds won 2-0, with goals from Mick Jones and Peter Lorimer. The two points completed the business that the fire had interrupted the previous August.
How did the fire affect Nottingham Forest’s 1968-69 season?
The fire disrupted Nottingham Forest badly. Homeless for six matches at Meadow Lane, where they won none, Forest never settled and finished the 1968-69 First Division season in 18th place. That was a steep fall for a club that had finished as First Division runners-up in 1966-67.
How good was Nottingham Forest before the 1968 fire?
Nottingham Forest were one of the stronger sides in English football in the mid-1960s. They finished First Division runners-up in 1966-67 with 56 points, behind champions Manchester United on 60. That recent second-place finish is what makes the club’s slide after the fire, to 18th in 1968-69, so stark.
Why did Nottingham Forest use Meadow Lane and not another ground?
Meadow Lane was the obvious practical choice because it was the nearest senior ground, sitting just across the River Trent from the City Ground. It happens to be the home of Notts County, Forest’s older city rivals, which gave the arrangement an awkward edge. Forest played six home fixtures there before returning to their rebuilt stadium.
How does the 1968 City Ground fire compare with the Bradford fire?
The 1968 City Ground fire destroyed a wooden grandstand during a match without any loss of life, whereas the Bradford City fire of 11 May 1985 killed 56 people in a comparable timber stand. Both showed how fast old wooden stands could burn once alight. The City Ground escaped the worst; Bradford tragically did not, and it drove sweeping changes to stadium safety.
Why does the Nottingham Forest City Ground fire of 1968 still matter?
The Nottingham Forest City Ground fire matters because it destroyed a top-flight ground mid-match yet cost no lives, a rare outcome that later stadium disasters make sobering to reread. It also reshaped a season, sending a recent runners-up side into exile at their rivals’ ground and down to 18th. For football history, it is one of the clearest near-misses of the pre-safety-legislation era.
Nottingham Forest City Ground Fire (1968)
A level match, a wooden stand and a crowd of 31,126 who all walked away: the City Ground fire of 24 August 1968 was the day Nottingham Forest lost their ground and much of their history in an afternoon, then spent six winless “home” games as guests of their city rivals. For more days that reshaped clubs, from stadium disasters to the results nobody saw coming, keep exploring our On This Day series and the channel.
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