Cooper embracing Nottingham Forest’s history for top-flight return

When Steve Cooper announced to thousands in Market Square after sealing their playoff final triumph in May: “To all Nottingham Forest supporters, welcome back to the Premier League”, he was greeted with a ground-shaking roar. He has made the city believe in its football team again and they are putting their faith in him to keep the good times rolling.

Forest had one point after seven games in the Championship last season until Cooper arrived, so it is remarkable they are about to start their first Premier League campaign in 23 years against Newcastle on Saturday.

The former Swansea City head coach turned around the fortunes of the club after replacing Chris Hughton, winning 27 of 45 games that culminated in a Wembley playoff triumph over Huddersfield and included victories over Arsenal and Leicester City in the FA Cup.

Again Cooper will be the difference between success and failure in his first season as a Premier League head coach. When Forest were relegated in 1998-99 they went through three managers, a sign of their instability and a key reason they finished bottom, starting a trait that became all too common at the City Ground. Things have not changed much in recent years – they have gone through six permanent appointments since 2016 – but they hope Cooper has finally brought stability.

“As we have gone on the journey last season and now into the Premier League, there’s a lot more people watching us and a lot more scrutiny and pressure, excitement,” Cooper says. “It is still the same feeling of: ‘We know how big the club is, we know what we want the team to look like, what the fans want to see and we are just doing it on a bigger scale.’ What’s great for the supporters, they’ve always been proud of the team but we