FOREST HISTORY · Historic event
East Stand opens as Busby Babes visit
On this day in 1957 Forest open the new East Stand as Manchester United’s Busby Babes visit the City Ground.
The City Ground marked a major stadium moment when the new East Stand opened for the visit of Manchester United’s Busby Babes.
The occasion brought together two stories at once: Forest’s developing home and one of the most admired teams in English football. Manchester United won 2–1, with Stuart Imlach scoring Forest’s goal shortly after half-time before United went on to take the points.
The new £40,000 stand included bench seating for around 2,500 supporters. Along with improvements to the Colwick Road Terrace, it helped raise the City Ground’s capacity to about 48,000, with around 6,500 seats overall.
The match also gained extra weight in football memory because of the visitors. The Busby Babes were in the final months before the Munich air disaster, which later made every surviving fixture from that period feel more poignant.
The 1957 East Stand was later replaced by the larger Executive Stand, which eventually became the Brian Clough Stand. For Forest, the day remained a stadium landmark rather than a matchday triumph: a defeat on the pitch, but an important step in the City Ground’s development.
Sources
Nottingham Forest official site; MUFCInfo; City Ground records
Forest timeline
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