
How to remember 2024-25
That Nottingham Forest and their supporters were disappointed at missing out on a place in the Champions League speaks volumes about the strides the club has taken over the past 12 months. The final whistle at the weekend brought with it a strange mix of feelings. While celebrating European football returning to the City Ground for the first time in a generation and acknowledging the efforts of a small, ultimately too-thin squad in taking the behemoths of English football all the way in the race to finish in the top five, it did feel a little flat.Being one equaliser away from the Europa League undoubtedly hurts, as does not claiming an extra couple of points somewhere along the way that would have meant Champions League football.But this season will be remembered as the best in 30 years, with some huge landmarks along the way such as being the first Premier League team ever to double their points tally year-on-year and the first Forest team ever to win at Anfield and Old Trafford in the same season. Beating Liverpool was also their first win at Anfield in 55 years.There was the huge win over Brighton, a golden glove for the excellent Matz Sels, a monumental first season in English football for player of the season Nikola Milenkovic, some remarkable goalline clearances (Murillo and Harry Toffolo spring to mind!), 20 goals for Chris Wood, a first FA Cup semi-final since 1991, and for the travelling fans, 10 away wins. For context, across their previous three seasons in the top flight, they had won nine.Not a Forest fan? Find and follow your club hereAll this for a team and a club widely tipped to be relegated by a number of high-profile pundits ahead of the season. Even the most optimistic Forest fan might have struggled to see a top-half finish, and now they have a European campaign to prepare for.An interesting summer lies ahead because the current squad struggled with a whole season of Premier League football. Ultimately, it was half a dozen games too thin as fatigue and injuries kicked in. As they try to develop further for next season, depth would have been needed - even without Thursday nights across Europe to consider!Listen to full commentary on every Nottingham Forest game, and In The Game every weeknight from 18:00, on BBC Radio Nottingham.And subscribe to the Shut Up And Show More Football podcast on BBC Sounds.
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BBC News
34 minutes ago
- BBC News
New investment in Argyle has fallen through
Plymouth Argyle chairman Simon Hallett says proposed new investment in the club has fallen who first invested in the Pilgrims in 2016 and became majority shareholder two years later, had agreed in principle to sell a stake in the club to new in a statement following confirmation that head coach Miron Muslic has joined German side Schalke, Hallett says the deal is comes a month after Argyle were relegated from the Championship, having finished 23rd in the second tier."We have been in talks with a prospective new investor in our club for over a year - those talks led to an application for approval of that investment being lodged with the EFL in February," he said."Unfortunately, negotiations have taken too long and the key information that both we and the EFL required to complete the deal has not been forthcoming. I no longer believe that news of the new investor is imminent." Hallett says he and the club's existing shareholders - Argyle Green and the Holliday family - will match the level of funding they had planned with the new investor for this season, a level he says is twice the budget the club had when they won League One in Hallett's ownership, Argyle have redeveloped the Mayflower Grandstand and are helping to fund new academy facilities at what was the also bought land adjacent to Home Park to improve the first team's training facilities."I completely understand that this will be very frustrating for fans, as it is extremely frustrating for me and the rest of the Argyle board," he added."I have said constantly that my resources can enable us to be a sustainable Championship club, but that if we wish to aspire beyond that we would need new investment. I can provide some of that new investment, with the Holliday family's and Argyle Green's help, but not all."While progress towards a transaction in its current form looks to have stalled, we will continue to explore alternative routes, including being open to revised terms with other investment groups."It is important we get the right investor, not the quickest investor, and this may take some time. We are committed to this, but in the meantime, current shareholders can (and will) support the club through its next stage of development."


Sky News
39 minutes ago
- Sky News
Prison officer stabbed at HMP Long Lartin 'with knife brought in from outside jail'
A prison officer who received emergency treatment after being attacked at a high security jail was stabbed with a weapon from outside of prison, Sky News understands. The 25-year-old officer was airlifted to hospital after allegedly being attacked by an inmate who used a knife that wasn't made inside the jail, which is otherwise known as an "improvised" weapon. It is not known how the weapon was brought into the prison. However a recent inspection of HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire described the "incursion of drones" as "an increasingly critical problem" for the jail, and a "threat" that was "unsettling" for staff. The officer is in a stable condition following the attack on Friday morning but underwent emergency surgery, after sustaining what West Mercia Police described as serious injuries. A 22-year-old suspect is being held in custody within the prison. West Mercia Police Assistant Chief Constable Grant Wills said on Friday that the incident was not being treated as terrorism. He added: "Our initial enquiries suggest there was a disagreement between an inmate and prison officer that escalated and is an isolated matter within the prison." This was the third attack at a Category A, high security jail, in less than two months. In April, the Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi allegedly assaulted prison officers using hot cooking oil and a homemade weapon while in a separation centre, which are used to house extremist and violent offenders. At HMP Belmarsh, Southport killer Axel Rudakubana has been accused of throwing boiling hot water over an officer through the hatch in his cell door earlier this month. There were 10,605 assaults on staff in the year to December 2024, a 15% increase on the year before, marking a record high. The government says the safety of frontline staff is a top priority and has commissioned a series of reviews to consider increased protection for officers, including stab-proof vests and the use of Tasers in certain situations. The independent reviewer of terrorism, Jonathan Hall KC, has also been appointed to carry out a review of the alleged Abedi attack at HMP Frankland, to consider whether separation centres are fit for purpose. A Prison Service spokesperson said: "Police are investigating an attack on a prison officer at HMP Long Lartin.


Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
John Heitinga leaves Liverpool for Ajax job as Reds eye new assistant boss
John Heitinga has worked under Arne Slot for the last year at Liverpool and was an important part of the coaching staff as the team won the Premier League title - but now he has been poached by boyhood club Ajax Liverpool assistant coach John Heitinga has left Anfield to become Ajax's new boss, after just one season working under Arne Slot. The former Everton defender was a key part of Slot's staff that helped the coach win the Premier League in his first season and is highly rated as a coach. He has previously been linked to other coaching roles and was a target for West Brom after the exit of Carlos Corberan in December, before the Baggies opted to hire Tony Mowbray - who was sacked after just three months. Now Heitinga has now landed a much more high profile job with his boyhood club Ajax, who were looking for a new coach after Francesco Farioli decided to leave his post following just one season in charge. Heitinga started his coaching career with Ajax's youth teams in 2021 before a short spell as interim manager of the first team in 2023. He later developed his skills as assistant to David Moyes at West Ham before linking up with Slot last summer. In a statement, Heitinga said: "I am incredibly excited to start. The last years in England have done me a lot of good. I've been able to develop further alongside David Moyes and Arne Slot, while also getting a behind-the-scenes look at two major clubs. "I'm ready to continue as a head coach and I'm honoured to be given that opportunity at Ajax." Ajax hailed Heitinga's ability after his appointment and said his "drive" and ambitions as a manger were what drew them to him. Club chief Alex Kroes said: "John is a good coach with enormous drive. He is ambitious and has further developed himself over the past few years in the Premier League and the Champions League. "[Sporting director] Marijn Beuker and I spoke to him last year and have stayed in contact since." Heitinga's primary goal will be to restore the Eredivisie title to Ajax after a three season drought. The Amsterdam outfit looked like they were finally going to break that run after going nine points clear with seven points to go - before surrendering their lead to PSV, who pipped them by one point on the final day. Heitinga managed Liverpool for two games this season after Slot and assistant manager Sipke Hulschoff were banned, overseeing a 2-0 win over Newcastle and a 3-1 win against Southampton.