Get the lowdown on the U’s next opponents: Nottingham Forest

The Opposition

Champions League contenders Nottingham Forest will send a competitive academy side to Gander Green Lane tonight, who will be looking to end a run of five games without a win.

Under the guidance of renowned youth coach Warren Joyce, the Reds have hit new heights under the former Manchester United coach. The club reached the FA Youth Cup final for the first time in the club’s history in 2022, and after winning 13 games and helping the club move to the top of the league, Joyce was promoted to the Under-21s coach role, where he helped seven players secure first team debuts. Under his watch, four youth team players have also made international debuts, along with Zach Abbott becoming Forest’s youngest ever player at 16 and Dale Taylor became Northern Ireland national football team’s youngest debutant.

As for Forest themselves, the young Reds currently occupy the last spot in the qualification zone, sitting 16th in the Premier League 2 with goal difference separating them from Leicester City in 17th, although they take a break from league action to visit South London in the National League Cup.

Joyce’s side currently sit sixth in Group D and need a win to leapfrog the U’s and secure their spot in the next stage of the competition, having previously drawn with Ebbsfleet United, lost to Braintree Town and beaten Dagenham & Redbridge.

Recent Form

Arsenal 2-0 Nottingham Forest

Ebbsfleet United 1-1 Nottingham Forest (2-1 on pens)

Nottingham Forest 2-4 Chelsea

Nottingham Forest 2-3 Manchester City

Braintree Town 1-0 Nottingham Forest

Dagenham & Redbridge 1-3 Nottingham Forest

The Manager

Warren Joyce

Former midfielder Warren Joyce has led Nottingham Forest’s youth teams since 2021 and has overseen positive development to the club’s youngsters.

A Bolton Wanderers academy graduate, Joyce spent six years at the Macron Stadium between 1981 and 1987, going pro in 1983. He went on to make 221 appearances for the Trotters, after initially joining as a trainee, scoring 21 goals.

Another extended stint at Preston North End followed, and he would become a popular figure at Deepdale over the next five years. In all, he played 208 matches for the Lilywhites and scored 44 goals, as well as winning the club’s player of the year award and being made club captain.

This preceded a brief stint at Plymouth Argyle which was followed by a return to Lancashire when he joined Burnley in 1993, where he appeared 90 times across a three-year spell. The end of his time at Turf Moor saw him move on loan to Hull City, and paved the way for a permanent switch to Boothferry Park in July 1996. He went on to play a total of 170 games for Hull and scored 19 goals, as well as later becoming club captain.

Midway through his time with the Tigers, Joyce was asked to stand in as caretaker manager following the departure of Mark Hateley and sparked the start of his coaching career, with Joyce taking on the dual role of player-manager. At the time of his appointment, City were rooted to the foot of the Fourth Division table and looked to be heading out of the Football League, as well as into bankruptcy, however, under Joyce’s stewardship, the Tigers staged a remarkable turnaround and achieved survival with games to spare, which the campaign later christened “the Great Escape”.

Joyce would continue his managerial career after opting to depart Yorkshire. Having initially spent time as a coach at Bury during his stint at Burnley, he had been introduced to a coaching career well before his playing days had come to an end and later joined Manchester United’s Under-16s, where he worked with renowned youth coach Eric Harrison and helped develop talents such as Wes Brown and David Healy.

After hanging up his boots, Joyce was the assistant academy director at Leeds United from 2000 to 2004, where he won three Premier League youth titles and the Premier League National Champions Cup alongside developing important players such as James Milner, Aaron Lennon and Scott Carson, before spending a year at Stockport County as an individual development coach. He later joined Tranmere Rovers, and continued his reputation for developing talents, and was responsible for overseeing the development of the likes of Aaron Cresswell, Steve Davies and Will Vaulks.

A two-year spell at Belgian side Royal Antwerp later saw him kick-start his managerial career, helping the club achieve back-to-back playoffs in the Challenger Pro League, before being appointed as the co-manager of Manchester United’s Reserves alongside Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Working closely with Sir Alex Ferguson, Joyce oversaw the development of talents such as Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Adnan Januzaj and established himself as the most successful reserves manager ever in the club’s history by winning six Premier League titles, two runners-up finishes and nine major international cups in eight years. The talents produced at the club by Joyce went on to become 60 internationals and 89 out of 91 were sold for over £1m.

A stint at Wigan Athletic then preceded a successful switch to A-League side Melbourne City, taking the club to a third place finish, semi-final position in the play-offs and quarter-finals of the Australia Cup in his first season, before reaching the play-offs and quarter-finals of the Australia Cup in his second, before returning to England as development coach at Salford City. He would win the EFL Trophy for the first time in the club’s history.

This was followed by a move to Nottingham Forest where he currently resides, reaching the FA Youth Cup final for the first time in the club’s history in 2022 before being promoted to the Under-21s coach role.

One to Watch

Jack Nadin

Young attacking midfielder Jack Nadin will be the danger man for the Reds on Tuesday night and is bound to cause some problems as the club’s joint-second highest scorer this season, especially after top scorer Joseph Gardner joined Lincoln City on loan.

The 20-year old joined the Forest academy in 2013 and has made 18 appearances in all competitions this season, including 12 in the Premier League 2 as well as featuring six times against senior opposition, with three starts in the EFL Cup against Carlisle United, Morecambe and Wigan Athletic as well as three starts in the National League Cup against Dagenham & Redbridge, Braintree Town and Ebbsfleet United.

In total, Nadin has appeared almost 100 time for the club at both Under-18 and Under-21 level, and has shown his versatility by featuring everywhere in midfield and attack.

His form for the Reds was rewarded midway through 2024, with the midfielder has putting pen to paper on a new one-year deal, with Forest holding a one-year extension option.

Played for Both

Tony Barton

Sutton-born footballer Tony Barton turned out for Nottingham Forest in the late 1950s and 1960s, having previously spent time with the U’s on loan.

After winning one England Schoolboy cap as well as five youth caps, Barton began his career with Fulham who he joined as a junior and later gained experience on loan at Sutton United, before professional with Fulham in May 1954. He went on to score eight goals in 49 games for the Whites, before departing Craven Cottage in 1959 after a five-year spell in their first team.

Barton would join Nottingham Forest at the end of 1959 and made 22 appearances for the Reds, spending two years at the City Ground between 1959 and 1961 before opting to join Portsmouth in December of the latter. A successful six-year stint saw him turn out 130 times for Pompey, scoring 34 goals as an outside-right, before calling time on his playing career in 1967 after brief a stint as player-coach. This allowed him to segway into a coaching career, remaining at Portsmouth on the club’s coaching staff.

After an extended spell at Fratton Park came to an end, Barton’s next move would see him experience perhaps his most distinguished accomplishment in football with a move to Aston Villa in 1980. Initially an assistant to Ron Saunders, Villa won their first league title in 71 years under Saunders’ guidance with the League Championship in 198, and Barton was later promoted to the manager’s seat in February 1982 after Saunders resigned.

He would go on to guide the Villains to victory over Bayern Munich in the 1982 European Cup Final just three months after taking charge, and followed this up with the 1982 European Super Cup the following season, defeating FC Barcelona before being dismissed two years later.

Barton later moved to Northampton Town which preceded a return to the South Coast, with stints at Southampton and later Portsmouth as assistant manager before briefly taking over the latter as caretaker manager in 1991 following the sacking of Frank Burrows.

The 56-year old worked as a talent scout for several clubs towards the end of his career as well as being offered the role of manager for Wessex League new boys Petersfield Town, before passing away of a heart attack in 1993.