Who is the Nottingham Forest owner? A Detailed Timeline of the Nottingham Forest Ownership History

Nottingham Forest are one of the oldest and most prestigious clubs in English football. They have enjoyed a lot of success over their 160-year history, having won the UEFA Champions League (formerly known as the European Cup) two times.

Do you know who the Nottingham Forest owner is? They have enjoyed a pretty admirable 2024/25 season and have secured qualification for European football for the next season. They have come a long way under the ownership of Greek businessman Evangelos Marinakis, who took over the club in 2017. The question that pops up is, who owns Nottingham Forest?

Marinakis has since backed them on and off the pitch, helping them financially and allowing them to get back into the Premier League in 2022, ending a two-decade-plus absence from the top division. Since their existence from 1860, Nottingham Forest have won the English first division title once, the FA Cup twice, as well as the European Cup titles twice under legendary manager Brian Clough.

In their history, Nottingham Forest have operated under the ownership of the Al-Hasawi family from Kuwait as well as British investor Nigel Doughty. A relatively small but powerful list of investors and businessmen has helped Nottingham Forest enjoy quite a bit of success and keep their place as one of the prominent clubs in English football over the last century and a half. Here we look at the brilliant history of Nottingham Forest by going down memory lane.

Club History

It was in 1865 that a group of shinty (a team sport played with sticks and a ball) met at Nottingham’s Shakespeare Street, and J. S. Scrimshaw proposed there to be made a group to play association football. Hence, Nottingham Forest football club was created, with the red colour of their kits also being finalized.

Nottingham Forest played their first FA Cup in the 1879-80 season, and when their application to join the Football League in 1888 was rejected, they joined the Football Alliance instead in 1889. They won that competition in 1892 before entering the Football League. They won their first major trophy in 1898, winning the FA Cup by defeating Derby County in the final.

Nottingham Forest’s most successful period came under Brian Clough in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Under him, they won the first division title in the 1977-78 season, as well as two successive European Cups in 1978-79 and 1979-80. Clough left the club in 1993, and they started deteriorating, getting relegated in 1999 and spending multiple decades toiling in the lower division. They came back to the Premier League in 2022 and have stayed there ever since.

During the club’s memorable history, they have had several owners, and some of their ownership has also been criticized for their poor work. Now, let’s look at the history of the club’s ownership.

History of Nottingham Forest Owners

Over their 160-year history, Nottingham Forest have had a variety of different owners. During their first century as a club, they were mostly owned and managed by British businessmen as well as some former players of the club. At the beginning of their dominance under Brian Clough, it was Master Brian Appleby who brought the manager to the club. He served as Nottingham Forest’s chairman from 1975-78.

Appleby was succeeded by Stuart Dryden, who was the Chairman during Nottingham Forest’s dominance in Europe. Nottingham Forest saw a loyal owner hold the club together during their time after being relegation, as businessman Nigel Doughty served as chairman and owner from 2002-2011. In 2012, the club was bought by a Kuwaiti businessman family, Al-Hasawi, with Omar Al-Hasawi being their chairman for a short period before Fawaz Al-Hasawi took over from 2012-2017.

In 2017, Greek business tycoon Evangelis Marianakis took over 100% ownership control of the club from the Al-Hasawi family. It was claimed that he paid £50 million to control the entire 100% shares. Earlier in 2025, however, Marianakis diluted his control of the club by placing a portion of his shares in a blind trust. That is because Marinakis also owns the Greek club Olympiakos, and UEFA bars multi-club ownership from participating in the same UEFA competition.

Since he took over Nottingham Forest, Marinakis has injected a lot of cash into the club to get them back into the Premier League. Nottingham Forest have a net spend of over £200 million since they returned to the Premier League in 2022, with a lot of that being helped by their Greek owner.

Evangelos Marianakis Takeover And Consequent Success

Let’s dive deep into the owners of Nottingham Forest. Evangelos Marinakis was able to take over 100% ownership of the shares at Nottingham Forest from the Al Hasawi Family in 2017 under his football company, NF Football Investments. He was able to do so after the Al Hasawi family failed to sell the club to a consortium led by US businessman John Jay Moores in January 2017. Initially, the Al Hasawi family wanted to retain 20% of the ownership stake at Nottingham Forest, but Marinakis agreed for them to relinquish total control of the club.

Slowly, but surely, Marinakis strengthened his control of the ownership stake at Nottingham Forest by converting the loans that had to be paid into shares in the years of 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022. He also turned £41 million worth of loans into shares in March 2023 to help them out financially and allow them to retain their hold in the Premier League without any major problems.

Over the years, he has helped lower their debt by converting the loans into shares and allowed them to climb up the ranks in the football scene. He has allowed them to spend large amounts of money without falling into financial troubles since 2022, which has allowed Forest to start competing with the best Premier League teams as well, with Forest having spent over £200 million (net spent) since 2022.

What Is The Current Ownership Situation at Nottingham Forest?

With Nottingham Forest looking to get back to playing European Football, Marinakis has also been forced to make slight changes to his role as their owner. When he took over the club in 2017, he took over 100% of the ownership stake in the English giants. However, as of the current period, Marinakis is no longer someone with significant control of NF Football Investments, the body which currently owns Nottingham Forest.

He has claimed to have put his shares into a blind trust, but the reality is that the Greek businessman remains the club’s owner and is fully committed to their success. Nottingham Forest have enjoyed quite a lot of success under Marianakis’ reign. They won the 2022 Championship Playoffs to get promoted to the Premier League that year, ending a 20-year+ period away from the first division.

They have been able to avoid relegation in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns to stay afloat in the Premier League. Nottingham Forest reached the FA Cup semifinal under Marinakis’ reign in the 2024-25 season and are in 7th place in the Premier League table after 36 games played. They could still finish in the top 5 and qualify for the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League, which would be another crown under the Greek businessman’s reign.