Little more than a week ago Nottingham Forest celebrated in front of a buoyant away end as the season came to a close at Crystal Palace.
But already the focus is quickly shifting to next term. Pre-season plans are beginning to take shape and the Reds have announced their retained list.
There may not be any football to look forward to just yet, but there is still plenty of work taking place behind the scenes Trentside. Here’s our round-up of all the latest goings-on at the City Ground.
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Emotional exit
His time at the club may have come to an end, but Cafu will always have cult status at Forest. Not least for that penalty he scored against Sheffield United in the play-offs and for getting Derby County’s Louie Sibley in a headlock.
The midfielder penned a heartfelt note to Reds supporters after it was confirmed he will depart when his contract expires at the end of this month. It garnered plenty of messages of thanks from fans as they bid him farewell.
And the comments from some former teammates are also testament to how the Portuguese was a popular member of the dressing room. Serge Aurier described him as “Le boss”, while Orel Mangala called him “my player” and Richie Laryea wrote “legend”.
Alex Mighten and Jonathan Panzo responded to Cafu’s post with heart emojis, and there was an enthusiastic “CAFUUUUUU CAFUUUUUU” from former Red Yuri Ribeiro. The winner for most popular reply, however, goes to Djed Spence.
“What a player,” said the fellow promotion-winning hero. The same could be said about him.
Memorable season
Taiwo Awoniyi's stunning end to the campaign, scoring in four successive matches, is one of the reasons why there is plenty of excitement ahead of next term. There is a good foundation in place for Forest to build on.
The striker’s goal against Crystal Palace on the final day was his 10th in the Premier League. He found the net in eight top-flight matches and put the Reds 1-0 up in each. According to Opta, the last player to open the scoring more times in a single season for a newly-promoted club was Andrew Johnson for Crystal Palace in 2004/05.
“A season to remember,” Awoniyi wrote on Instagram. “It all started on the streets of Agbooba, Ilorin, Kwara state, only with hope and belief, having the only source of help from the lifter of men and trusting the process against all odds.
“Yea, thou it tarry yet I will wait. Forever the greatest my God.
“Incredible support from our fans throughout the season @officialnffc. Glad we were able to keep the hope alive! Thank you Reds.”
New film
After a well-attended premiere in Beeston last month, new Forest film Local Heroes is released on digital, DVD and Blu-ray today. The brilliant feature-length documentary tells the story of how European Cup winners Viv Anderson, Garry Birtles and Tony Woodcock rose to the top.
"It started around about lockdown,” Woodcock told NottinghamshireLive of how the idea came about. “If you win the European Cup in this day and age, you're lucky if there's three guys from one country, not three guys from one city winning the European Cup twice.
"We've got Long Eaton, Clifton and Eastwood. Three areas which are pretty well-known in Nottingham as fight-for-survival areas! There’s the stories which come from that and how we were brought up in those areas.”
The film is a really good watch, providing a different angle to a well-known tale. It is available on Blu-ray, DVD & digital (including Amazon, Sky, Virgin & iTunes) from today.
Loan review
Forest’s season might have ended, but some of their loan players are still in action around the world. Among them is midfielder Lewis O’Brien, whose spell at MLS outfit DC United is due to run until July 16.
The 24-year-old was suspended for his team’s game against Inter Miami at the weekend. He received a one-match ban and was fined an undisclosed amount for “serious foul play”.
O’Brien was shown a yellow card late on in last week’s 2-2 draw with Montreal Imp. However, the five-person MLS disciplinary committee reviewed the 84th minute incident, where the former Huddersfield Town man chased Zachary Brault-Guillard from behind and stepped on the back of his right calf, and issued a red card suspension.
In better news, O’Brien, who has revealed a love of singing and The Great British Bake-Off during his time across the Atlantic, received praise from one of his teammates. According to The Boot Room, former Leeds United man Mateusz Klich, who now plays for DC, named the Reds man as one of the best players he has played against when doing a Q&A session.
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