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Nottingham Forest Head Coach Oliver Glasner and his coaching staff welcomed local grassroots coaches and schoolchildren to the Nigel Doughty Academy on Thursday for a special day to help further strengthen the connection between the Club and the local community.

The day began with 20 grassroots coaches joining Head of Football Development Andy Reid at the City Ground for breakfast and to discuss the activities planned, before then boarding the first team bus to head to the training ground in style.

Upon arriving at the Nigel Doughty Academy, the coaches were joined by 16 children from Kirkby Woodhouse School – a Premier League Primary Stars partner school of Nottingham Forest Foundation – to watch the first team train.

The children, aged 9-11, arrived wearing their new Nottingham Forest kits which the Club had donated in advance to help make their day extra special.

Once first team training finished – and after the children joined a rondo with Callum Hudson-Odoi, Arnaud Kalimuendo and Ryan Yates – Oliver Glasner put the youngsters through their paces in a tailored training session.

As well as helping the children learn something new, the 45-minute session was designed to support the grassroots coaches, who were observing to take learnings back to their own junior teams.

After training, the coaches then joined Oliver Glasner and Andy Reid in the first team analysis suite for a wider discussion about coaching and a Q&A.

Speaking on the day, Wayne Oakes, a coach at Woodborough Celtic Youth, said: “Becoming a grassroots coach helped renew my passion for football, and days like today are such a high motivation for me. I want to improve myself as a coach, and improve my own team as individuals, so they can go out into the wider world and have a positive impact in whatever they choose to do. I’m sure this will have a lasting impact – not just on me, but on my players as well.

“The first part of training reminded me that fun is a massive part of it. When our little ones are squabbling over a point, it’s the same here. They’re fighting to win every single point and for the opportunity to get one over on their teammates – it’s really good to see.

“It’s phenomenal for Oliver to allow this to happen. I’m sure he wants ultra-focus on the team, so it’s a rare opportunity to allow us to do this. I’m glad the Club can put on days like today, not just for the coaches but also for the kids. What an experience for them – they’ll be at home tonight telling their parents about it and going to sleep dreaming about it. The city has been reinvigorated since Forest got promoted back into the Premier League. The Club has such an impact in the local community and days like today are testament to that.”

James Libecans, PE and Sports Lead at Kirkby Woodhouse Primary School, added: “We’ve been counting down the days since we found out about this. It will hopefully inspire the children to play football, and it aligns with our school values of working hard and dreaming big. We’re seeing an increasing amount of Forest shirts in the school, which is great to see. The work that Forest does is fantastic, and the kids are buzzing to be here. This beats me doing their football session on a Friday afternoon, and hopefully it’s something they’ll look back on in years to come and remember as a great experience.”

The event was the first of many initiatives planned throughout the season in which the Club will champion local grassroots footballers and coaches.

Coaches from the following Nottinghamshire-based clubs were present on the day: Bingham Town; Bulwell Forest; Dunkirk Colts; East Leake Bantams; Ernehale Colts; Gedling Southbank; Inspire Nottingham; Kirkby Garibaldi Reds; Moorgreen Colts; Pegasus FC. Pelican Colts; Radcliffe Olympic; Sandiacre Town; Sherwood FC; Sneinton Town; Spirit Celtic; Toton Tornadoes; West Bridgford Colts; Wollaton Hall & Bramcote FC; Woodborough Celtic.