Nottingham Forest fan dies hours after Europa League draw against Porto

Callum Vurley
Fri, 10 Apr 2026 15:53:03 +0000

A Nottingham Forest supporter aged 84 has tragically passed away following Thursday evening's Europa League quarter-final encounter with FC Porto in Portugal.

The Englishman was pronounced dead in Praca General Humberto Delgado, located in Porto's city centre, shortly after midnight.

Emergency services had been summoned to the scene and made efforts to revive the gentleman, but these attempts proved unsuccessful.

Portuguese authorities believe the supporter died from natural causes.

There is no indication of any suspicious circumstances surrounding the death, with officials ruling out criminal involvement.

The match itself had taken place earlier that evening at the Estadio do Dragao, where Vitor Pereira's side faced the Portuguese heavyweights.

Following the unsuccessful resuscitation efforts, Porto Volunteer Firefighters removed the deceased from the scene.

The body was subsequently transported to the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences in Porto, where medical examiners will conduct a post-mortem examination.

Appropriate authorities are in the process of notifying British consular services regarding the fatality.

The death cast a sombre shadow over what had otherwise been a positive evening for the travelling Forest contingent.

Thousands of supporters had made the journey to northern Portugal to witness their side compete in the European quarter-finals, a stage the club has reached as part of their remarkable continental campaign this season.

On the pitch, Forest secured a valuable 1-1 draw to take back to the City Ground for next week's second leg.

Both goals arrived during the opening period, with Porto conceding the equaliser.

Pereira, who rotated nine players ahead of Sunday's crucial Premier League clash with Aston Villa, expressed satisfaction with the outcome.

"A good result, in my opinion," the Forest manager said. "To face two competitions we need to play with everyone. The players that started today did good work.

"In the end, 1-1, the game is open to play at home and decide qualification. Porto playing at home are a strong team.

"I think we did well. The players tried everything; 1-1 is a good result and playing at home we will see what we can do."