Joe Lolley has decided to join Sydney FC of the A-League, and Nottingham Forest has announced that he is leaving the organization.

The winger made his preseason debut for Steve Cooper's team, but was later deemed unnecessary and has since been training with the under-23s. Last month, he made his Garibaldi debut against Coventry City in southeast Spain, but was forced to leave the game shortly after the halfway point to receive medical attention.

Lolley hasn't played for the Reds in a competitive match since appearing in both legs of the Championship Play-off semifinal against Sheffield United. Lolley missed Forest's fourth and final penalty, but it didn't matter because Morgan Gibbs-White had Brice Samba stop his shot from 12 yards. The 29-year-old was an unused substitute at Wembley for the final.

That final outing at the City Ground was the 170th of his four-and-a-half-year spell with the Reds, during which time Lolley scored 26 goals and assisted another 27. The last of those strikes was the last-minute winner against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park in October 2020, with the final assist coming last season to tee up Philip Zinckernagel’s opener away at Reading in what ended up as a 1-1 last November.

In a short statement on their website, Forest wished Lolley well: “The club wishes Joe all the best for the future as he prepares to embark on a new chapter overseas, and we thank him for his service during his time at the club.”