Nottingham’s leading football venue powers the best fan experiences with Global Payments stadia and event solutions.
At a glance
Capacity
30,445
Annual matches
41
Annual visitors
1.3m
Fixed POS
150
Mobile POS
36
The customer
Nottingham Forest at the City Ground
Nessled on the banks of the River Trent in West Bridgford, the City Ground is the historic home of Nottingham Forest Football Club. With deep roots in English football and a passionate fanbase spanning generations, Nottingham Forest match days create unforgettable fan experiences.
Hospitality plays a central role in the club’s offering, with premium lounges, executive boxes and a boardroom hosting fine dining experiences for guests on non-match days. This is where the City Ground serves as a venue for meetings and events with upgraded catering and facilities in place.
The challenge
Scaling service in a legacy stadium
The City Ground’s traditional construction, while built to serve thousands of supporters efficiently, presented significant challenges. Limited facilities made it difficult to provide speedy services, offer choice and cater to different dining styles — from casual, buffet-style to more refined box experiences — making it difficult to handle surges in demand... especially at halftime or post-match, when fans queue for food, drinks and merchandise.
Nottingham Forest recognised they had to implement significant change across the organisation to deliver some of these improvements. There was a need to upgrade service styles, reduce friction and improve order accuracy and speed. The club needed to leverage real-time insights across the stadium to identify improvements, like identifying when stock will run out, stadium hotspots and fan purchasing patterns.
The solution
Modern payments, seamless customer experience, data-led service
To meet these challenges, Nottingham Forest partnered with Global Payments to create an integrated payments system across the venue.
In hospitality, boxes have been upgraded to waiter-led service. The handheld ordering devices ensure fast, accurate delivery and improves the premium guest experience.
In spaces like the Trentside Lounge, staff now proactively roam, prompting orders rather than relying solely on fixed bars. This reduces the need for fans to walk far for refreshments whilst providing a personalised, high-end service and ultimately increasing spend per head.
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
Upon roll-out
- Added EPOS and contactless payment machines throughout concourse, lounges and boxes
- Increased average order size and lowered error rates via handheld systems at hospitality bars and in premium zones
- Improved speed and choice at the tills
- Gained access to real-time visibility into inventory, demand hotspots and fan behavior across the venue
- Drove earlier stadium arrivals with personalisation tools that tailor offers by fan segment
- Reduced queueing and created more even flow of purchases across payment channels
VOICE OF THE CLUB
"From the very start, the interaction with Global Payments was of the highest professional standard. Being here to hold our hand through those important first games of the season is often overlooked, and it's something that as a club, on match days, it's the club's reputation that is at stake, and to have the safety net of Global Payments and their support team on the ground at the stadium is hugely reassuring."
With Global Payments, Nottingham Forest aren’t just serving fans — they’re setting a new standard for match day experiences. Because it’s not just about football, it’s about creating world-class fan experiences — one goal at a time.