From Championship to European Nights: The Parallel Rise of Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest

On the 28th of November 2018, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest played out an emphatic 5-5 draw in the Sky Bet Championship. Back then the thought of Premier League football returning to both clubs was seen as something of a distant dream, especially for Forest who had spent two decades away from the top flight.

But next season both clubs will be playing European football with Villa in the Europa League and Forest in the Conference League. With both clubs having historic success in Europe in the late 70’s and early 80’s, it marks not just a return to continental competition, but a return to where both clubs believe they truly belong.

Their rise back to the European stage has been a memorable one for both fan bases after some dark days in the Championship in which, in some cases, it felt like both sides were never going to make it out of the division. The interesting part of all this is that both clubs have seen a very similar trajectory over the last few years.

Their similarities start back in both clubs' respective promotion seasons. Villa got promoted the same season that they drew 5-5 with Forest but it wasn't the nicest of starts for the West Midlands outfit.

They started the season off with just three wins in their opening eleven games and after a 3-3 draw at home to Preston North End, Steve Bruce was sacked with the side sat 15th. With the club hierarchy wanting more after heavy investment.

For Forest, their start was even worse. In the 2021/22 season the Reds picked up just one point from their first seven games and were sat bottom of the table and Chris Hughton was given his marching orders after a 2-0 defeat at home to Middlesbrough.

The idea of an experienced manager who had promotion experience was not working for either side. Both went in a new direction with a younger coach and more modern day tactics. Boyhood Villa fan Dean Smith took the reins at Villa Park after a successful spell with Brentford while Forest appointed former Swansea City head coach Steve Cooper.

Both sides’ seasons started slowly before starting to pick up. Villa would climb up to 8th by January. Cooper’s Forest would lose just three games in the time of his appointment and January with the Reds sat in 12th going into the new year.

The January transfer window proved to be pivotal for both club’s promotion campaigns. They both wanted a central defender and both ended up signing one from AFC Bournemouth. Villa went with Tyrone Mings while Forest signed experienced man Steve Cook.

Both signings would go on to make a significant impact, bringing much-needed stability and leadership to their respective defences during crucial stages of the campaign.

From January to the end of the season is when both sides would really put their foot on the gas, especially Villa who would win ten straight games towards the end of the season.

Forest form also played into their hands when they narrowly missed out on automatic promotion after a 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth. So they both achieved a play-off place with Villa finishing 5th and Forest 4th.

Their play-off campaigns also saw a huge similarity. Villa faced fellow West Midlands side West Bromwich Albion while Forest faced Sheffield United, with the two sides having a lot of history against each other. This did also add an extra layer of intensity, as both clubs weren’t just fighting for promotion, but also for bragging rights over sides they had personal history with.

Into their actual matches, Villa and Forest would win their first legs 2-1 with what you would have thought placed one foot into Wembley. But as both fan bases already knew, it is never easy with their clubs. They would end up losing their second legs on the night with West Brom winning 1-0 and Sheffield United coming from behind to win 2-1. The games would go to penalties.

Both keepers were huge in each club's shootout. Jed Steer (Villa) and Brice Samba (Forest) would save their first two penalties. The similarities don’t stop there though. Both sides missed their 4th penalty and the takers had their own reference to the other club. Albert Adomah would blaze over the bar. The Ghanaian would then join Forest the next summer. Joe Lolley almost sent his penalty out of the City Ground with the Aston Villa fan missing the chance to be the man to send Forest to Wembley.

Despite the misses, both sides won on penalties with Tammy Abraham being the hero for Villa and Samba saved a Morgan Gibbs-White penalty to send their clubs under the Wembley arch. Both players would not remain at their respective club next season.

Their play-off finals were not all too similar but they did have the same outcome. Villa would beat Derby County 2-1 courtesy of goals from Anwar El Ghazi and Forest would beat Huddersfield Town 1-0 after an own goal from Levi Colwill. The main thing was, both clubs were back in the top flight of English football and fighting against England’s elite once again.

With their first Premier League seasons since promotion, both clubs had an extremely busy summer. Villa and Forest had to deal with departures from the previous season. As previously mentioned, Abraham departed Villa as his loan from Chelsea expired.

Axel Tuanzebe would return to his parent club Manchester United while Yannick Bolasie returned to Everton. They would also release a further eight players that summer.

For Forest, they would also lose some very important loan players. Djed Spence, James Garner, Keinan Davis, Philip Zinckernagel and Max Lowe would all return to their parent clubs while fan favourites Brice Samba, Joe Lolley and Tobias Figueiredo would also depart.

These were players who had played vital roles both on the pitch and in the dressing room during Forest’s long-awaited return to the Premier League. So both clubs would need a big overhaul over their respective summer windows.

Over £150 million was spent by both clubs in their ambition to stay in the Premier League. Villa would secure permanent deals for both Tyrone Mings and El Ghazi after their successful loan spells. The signings of Douglas Luiz and Ezri Konsa would help shape Villa to where they are today while other signings failed to make a real impact in the long term.

Forest would spend just under £200 million bringing 23 players to the club as they had to pretty much buy an entire new squad after the summer departures. They smashed their transfer record to sign Gibbs-White from Wolves.

Criticised at the time, this has proved to be a highly successful signing for the club with Gibbs-White now being part of the England squad. Gibbs-White is one of eight players who signed that summer that are still at the club with the most notable ones being Taiwo Awoniyi, Willy Boly and Neco Williams.

Before getting into the clubs league campaigns, both went far in the Carabao Cup in their first season back in the top flight. Forest would get all the way to the Semi-Final where they were defeated by eventual winners Manchester United 5-0 over two legs.

Villa would go a step further and reach the Final but wouldn’t get past Manchester City after a 2-1 defeat at Wembley. Both clubs would struggle though when it came to the Premier League. Both would find themselves going into Gameweek 35 inside the bottom three with odds to stay up looking very slim.

Villa would go into the final day in 19th being the favourites to go down. But a Jack Grealish second half equaliser away to West Ham would confirm their safety with the game finishing 1-1, condemning AFC Bournemouth and Watford to relegation. Considering they went on a run of one win in twelve in the second half of the season, they truly defied the odds and stayed up.

Forest found life in the Premier League a struggle but a strong end of the season gave them safety. Like Villa, they went on a run of one win in twelve in the second half of the season where everyone had written them off.

But after losing just one of their last five games, The Reds stayed up on the penultimate game of the season after a Taiwo Awoniyi goal against Arsenal sealed a 1-0 win at the City Ground.

This gave them a memorable party day on the last day of the season at Crystal Palace where the popular “Waka Waka” chant was born. In terms of the timescale, the similarities would slow down. But both clubs made a big sale between their second and third seasons back in the big time.

Mainly to try and stay within the strict PSR rules, Villa sold starman Grealish for just over £100 million to Manchester City while Forest also let go of an academy graduate as Brennan Johnson joined Tottenham Hotspur for £50 million. It is difficult to see where both clubs would be today without those sales.

With Forest recently qualifying for the Europa Conference League, that strikes another similarity in where Villa’s return to Europe was the exact same competition. Villa qualified in the 2022/23 season in Unai Emery’s first season at the club.

After a dismal start under former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, the West Midlands side sat in 13th position upon Emery’s arrival in November 2022.

Emery’s first game in charge foreshadowed what was to come for Villa after beating Manchester United 3-1 at Villa Park and then he followed it up with an impressive 2-0 win away to Brighton & Hove Albion.

Villa’s form really picked up under Emery and it showed when they remained unbeaten at home from the start of March to the end of the season (which was also extended into the next campaign).

After beating Brighton 2-1 on the final day, Villa had confirmed their spot in the Conference League and were back in Europe after 13 years. Their return to Europe signaled a switch up in the club's ambition.

With improved recruitment and a rejuvenated squad while also having a manager with European pedigree. Villa have re-established themselves as a force not just in England, but across the continent. It shows a model of how a club can be down in the dumps and then have a complete change of fortune.

Villa have then since progressed by having a Champions League campaign last season where they reached the Quarter Finals just to narrowly be knocked out by eventual winners Paris Saint Germain.

With Forest stunning the Premier League last season by qualifying for Europe, it was different to how Villa did it. After Nuno Espirito Santo stirred the club to safety the season prior, many predicted it would be another relegation battle for the Reds. But they managed to prove them wrong.

Forest spent the majority of the season sat 3rd in the table while picking up impressive wins away to Liverpool, at home to Manchester City and a 7-0 thumping over Brighton. With the Reds 3rd going into their game against Villa in March, they had their sights set on the Champions League. But a 2-1 defeat at Villa Park on the day started a drop off in form from Nuno’s side.

Going into the final day, Forest were on a run of two wins in seven and suffered home defeats to Everton and Brentford before a 2-2 draw at home to already relegated Leicester City. After a 2-1 win at West Ham United in their final away game of the season to rejuvenate the confidence in the camp, it meant that it was all still to play for going into the final day.

With both Villa and Newcastle United losing their respective games on the final day, all Forest had to do was beat fellow challengers Chelsea at home for a Champions League spot or draw for a Europa League place. But after a Levi Colwill second half goal, Chelsea came away with a 1-0 win which condemned Forest to the Conference League.

Despite the disappointment of missing out on Champions League after being in the position for the majority of the season, the thought of a European tour for the Reds faithful is still something to be proud of after 30 years away.

So, with Villa in the Europa League and Forest in the Conference League. Both sides will be playing in Europe next season. It has shown how far both clubs have come since the famous 5-5 draw back in the Championship. Forest will be hoping to mimic Villa’s rise and go a step further next season while Villa will be aiming to get back into the Champions League.