Head coach Steve Cooper has spoken about the importance of ensuring Nottingham Forest fans continue to have a team to be proud of as he prepares for Sunday’s promotion decider.
The Welshman has taken the Reds from bottom of the table when he arrived last September to within 90 minutes of the Premier League. During that time he has also created a sense of unity and struck up a tangible rapport with supporters.
Those fans will get the chance to watch their team at the new Wembley Stadium for the first time this weekend, with Huddersfield Town the opponents in the play-offs final. And Cooper is eager to give the Forest contingent a day out to remember.
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“It means a lot to me that, if people are feeling proud about their club. I’m very proud of that. It means a lot,” he said.
“But it also makes me feel that we’ve got to keep striving to improve. We’ve got to keep striving not to let anybody down.
“If people are feeling proud of their club, then let’s do our very best to increase that and not take it for granted. For me, personally, I like feeling like that.
“My attitude has always been to be the best I can be and we can be, because of the feeling it gives to so many people if we succeed. If people are feeling good about their football club and feel that, at the moment, the team is a good representation of it, then, I have to say, that’s important to me.
“The support has been immense. It’s not just helped me, it’s the players, it’s all of us.
“You often hear me say, there’s no hierarchy here, certainly at the training ground. We’re all level.
“We have so many people who nobody sees who do such a good job and are contributing so much to the team playing well. We’re all here to help the team play well, because the supporters want to see the team play well, they want to feel connected and they want to feel associated with it.
“That’s very important to us, because when we do that, we know we have a brilliant opportunity to go and win a football match, because of the identity and the belonging we have. It’s about really understanding that, continuing to embrace it and taking it to another away day, which is Wembley this time.
“We’re not thinking it’s the end, that’s for sure. But the fact we have managed to give a generation of supporters the opportunity to go to Wembley for the first time has to be important.
“This football club is built around the history and built around the fanbase, so a day like Sunday is what you want to try to give the supporters. That means a lot to me, being able to give the club the opportunity and the supporters the opportunity to do that. But for us, the focus is on what happens there.”
