Lincoln City to Face Nottingham Forest B Team In Friendly Fixture

Lincoln City will complete their pre-season preparations with a friendly against Nottingham Forest’s B Team.

While the Imps have not announced the clash, it has been mentioned on Forest’s site. The fixture will take place on Tuesday, 4 August, four days before our competitive campaign is due to begin. Forest have confirmed that the game will kick off at 1 pm, although no venue has been publicly specified.

It is widely expected, given the timing of the encounter in terms of the afternoon, and in the week after we kick off the season against Derby County in the cup, that this will take place behind closed doors. Given that the announcement isn’t from the club, but instead on Forest’s media, it also reinforces the suggestion that this isn’t a game you’ll be able to watch.

Forest’s B Team is effectively their Under-21 side and is primarily made up of younger players from the club’s academy. Senior players can also feature, particularly when returning from injury or building up match fitness. However, the announcement specifically states that Forest will face Lincoln City’s first team, suggesting the fixture will provide our senior squad with one final opportunity to gain minutes before the new Championship gets underway.

The game forms part of an extensive pre-season programme for Forest’s younger players, who returned to training earlier this week.

Their opening fixture will be played against Walsall at the Nigel Doughty Academy before the squad travels to the Algarve on Monday 20 July. While in Portugal, Forest will take on the first team of Portuguese side Rio Ave on Thursday, 23 July. They are then scheduled to return to England on Sunday, 26 July. A fixture against Japanese club Gamba Osaka will follow in Nottingham on Friday, 31 July, before the meeting with the Imps four days later.

Forest’s Under 21 side has provided us with a number of players, loaned and permanent, over the years. Hamza Bencherif, Joe Heath, David Morgan and Spencer Weir-Daley joined in the 2000s, while in later years, Tyler Walker, Adam Crookes, Joe Gardner and Brennan Johnson had Imps’ spells while on Forest’s books. Some players have come through their Under 21s and appeared for the Imps later in their career, such as Alan Power, Jordan Wright and Tony Diagne.

While it is expected the fixture will not be open to supporters, it is likely to be used primarily as a fitness exercise and an opportunity for both coaching teams to assess their squads away from public view. It adds another match to the summer schedule, which does look light when compared to previous seasons, and provides a useful final test against talented young opposition before attention turns towards our first Championship campaign.

Lincoln City Pre-Season Fixtures 2026/27