Ex-CEO backs Nottingham Forest to win 'wrangle' that's blocking major investment

Nottingham Forest will eventually win their battle with the local council over the crowd flow issues surrounding their upgrade to the City Ground.

That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Reds will "resolve" the issue with a favourable outcome.

The East Midlands outfit recently saw their plans to upgrade the City Ground to a 52,000 capacity approved, but they must first move to address the crowd flow issues that the council have identified.

Forest cannot begin work on their £790million investment into their stadium until a method of handling the dispersal of an extra 20,000 fans is agreed upon.

That is likely to mean a new bridge over the River Trent, but the council have suggested that the club would have to pay for that at this stage.

The issue is currently preventing building work from commencing, but Wyness does not expect it to hold things up for much longer.

Nottingham Forest issue is nothing new

Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that the issue Forest are experiencing is nothing new for football clubs.

The Scottish businessman is clear that grapples with local councils are relatively commonplace when it comes to upgrades to stadiums.

Speaking on Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness outlined his belief that Forest will overcome the issue sooner rather than later.

"Well, it's interesting about the stadium. They got the planning through to a degree, but they haven't got permission to start building," he said.

"They haven't got permission on how to fill the stadium, is what I understand. They can take it up to a certain level of construction before the other transport arrangements, et cetera, have to be approved 

"There's still the talk about the bridge, and those sort of things have still got to be resolved before they can actually increase capacity and take people in the stadium. 

"It's the usual planning wrangle for clubs, and I expect it all to get resolved."

City Ground upgrade to force 'big-name' sales

Wyness also told Football Insider earlier this week that Forest's £790m investment in their stadium is likely to force a "big-name" sale from the squad annually moving forward.

The former boardroom man suggested that the upgrades to the City Ground will leave a "£60m-a-year" gap in the club's finances that must be bridged.

Wyness also suggested that the Reds are likely to load their transfer deals with more instalments moving forward, rather than paying heavy fees up front.

They may struggle to spend big in the coming years, but that is seen as a necessary evil in order to increase their capacity long-term.