The academy is run by full and part-time staff including ex-professional footballers alongside Chris McGuane.

Since its inception the academy has nurtured the talents of many players that have made it into top flight football; these include Jermaine Jenas, Michael Dawson, his brother Andy, James Perch, Carlos Merino, Scott Loach, Andy Reid and Marlon Harewood.

Others were released by the academy and went on to develop their careers successfully elsewhere, including Shaun Wright-Phillips and Tom Huddlestone.

The Nottingham Forest youth team has been part of the Premier Academy League since 1997, playing in group D. Their best season was 2000–01 when they won the whole competition.

This would allow the club's U21 and U18 teams to enter the elite academy games programme, including Premier League 2 and cup competitions.