Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1865 and thus became a founder member of the Football Alliance in 1889.

Their most successful period came under the management of Brian Clough, between 1975 and 1993, during which time they won the English First Division, two consecutive European Cups and four League Cups. They played in the first season of the newly formed Premier League in 1992 and have subsequently suffered a number of promotions and relegations between the top three divisions of English football.

Forest have been based at the City Ground since 1898 and its current capacity is 30,602. The ground was used as a venue for games during Euro 96 and hosted the FA Women's Cup final in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

The club is often referred to simply as Forest the name the club carries on their crest. Forest fans have a deep dislike of their club being referred to as Notts Forest. This is because Notts is the abbreviation of Nottinghamshire, hence Notts County, and not of Nottingham itself. The team are also called the Reds, due to the colour of their strip.

History

Early years (1865-1975)

Forest was founded in 1865 by a group of Shinty players,^[4] as Nottingham Forest Football and Bandy Club^[5] shortly after their neighbours Notts County, (thought to be the world's oldest surviving professional association football club), in 1862. They joined the Football Alliance in 1888, and won the competition in 1892.^[6] They were then allowed entry to The Football League. In 1890, Forest played in the first ever match to use goal nets.^[7]

Forest claimed their first major honour when they won the 1898 FA Cup, beating Derby County 3–1 at Crystal Palace.^[8] However, for much of the first half of the 20th century the club spent life in the Second Division (and had to seek re-election in 1914 after finishing bottom). In 1949 the club were relegated to the Third Division, but bounced back two years later as champions of the Second. A brief period of glory followed at the end of the 1950s, as they regained First Division status in 1957 and won the FA Cup for a second time in 1959, despite losing Roy Dwight, uncle of pop icon Elton John, through a broken leg^[9] and becoming the first team to defeat the Wembley 'hoodoo'. By this time Forest had become the biggest team in Nottingham, overtaking Notts County. But after reaching the high of runners-up spot and cup semi-finalists in 1967, Forest were relegated from the First Division in 1972.

Brian Clough Era (1975-1993)

Forest were considered a moderate club by English league standards until the mid 1970s, when Brian Clough and his assistant Peter Taylor took the helm at the club, shortly after Clough's highly colourful, very controversial and ultimately disastrous 44 day tenure as manager of Leeds United. Clough became the most successful manager in the history of Nottingham Forest. He had won the league title with Forest's neighbours Derby County in 1972, and came to Nottingham Forest on 6 January 1975, after a 0–2 home defeat by Notts County, on Boxing Day, prompted the committee (Forest had no board of directors then) to sack the previous manager Allan Brown. Clough's first game in charge was the third round FA Cup replay against Tottenham Hotspur, a 1–0 victory thanks to a goal by Scottish centre-forward Neil Martin.

Nottingham Forest won promotion to the top division at the end of the 1976–77 season after finishing third in the Second Division, but no-one could have predicted how successful Clough's team would be over the next three seasons. Nottingham Forest became one of the few teams (and the most recent team to date) to win the English First Division Championship a year after winning promotion from the English Second Division (1977-78 season).^[10] In 1978–79, Forest went on to win the European Cup by beating Malmö 1–0 in Munich's Olympiastadion and retained the trophy in 1979–80, beating Hamburg 1–0 in Madrid, at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, thanks to an outstanding performance by goalkeeper Peter Shilton. They also won the European Super Cup and two League Cups. Beside Shilton, key players of that era included right-back Viv Anderson (the first black player to play for the England national team), midfielder Martin O'Neill, striker Trevor Francis and a trio of Scottish internationals: winger John Robertson, midfielder Archie Gemmill and defender Kenny Burns. The club reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1983–84 but were knocked out by Anderlecht in controversial circumstances. It later emerged that in the second leg, the Belgian club had bribed the referee but the referee in question had since died in a car accident and was hence not able to be held accountable.^[11]

Nottingham Forest's next significant trophy came in 1989 when they beat Luton Town 3–1 in the League Cup final. For most of the season they had been hopeful of completing a unique domestic treble, but were beaten into third place in the League by Arsenal and Liverpool and lost to Liverpool in the replay of the FA Cup semi-final, originally held at Hillsborough, where 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death on terracing, the match was abandoned after 6 minutes. When football resumed they captured the Full Members Cup with a 4–3 victory over Everton. Clough's side retained the League Cup in 1990 when they beat Oldham Athletic 1–0. There was chance for more success in 1991 when Forest reached their only FA Cup final under Brian Clough and went ahead after scoring an early goal (Stuart Pearce free kick) against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley, but ended up losing 2–1 in extra time after an own goal by Des Walker.

Forest beat Southampton 3–2 in the Full Members Cup final in 1992, but then lost to Manchester United in the League Cup in the same season, both finals being played by a Forest team much weakened by injuries.

Brian Clough's 18-year reign as manager ended in May 1993 when Forest were relegated from the inaugural Premier League after 16 illustrious years of top flight football which had seen a league title, two European Cups and four League Cups.

Frank Clark (1993-1996)

Frank Clark, who had been a left-back in Nottingham Forest's 1979 European Cup winning team, returned to the club in May 1993 to succeed Brian Clough as manager. His management career had previously been uneventful, although he had won the Fourth Division promotion playoffs with Leyton Orient in 1989. Having inherited most of the players from the Clough era, Clark was able to achieve a return to the Premier League when the club finished Division One runners-up at the end of the 1993–94 season. Forest finished third in 1994–95 and qualified for the UEFA Cup – their first entry to European competition in the post-Heysel era. The club reached the quarter-finals, the furthest an English team reached in UEFA competitions that season. The 1996–97 season became a relegation battle and Clark was sacked in December.

Dave Bassett (1997-1999)

34-year-old captain Stuart Pearce was installed as player-manager on a temporary basis and he inspired a brief upturn in the club's fortunes. In March 1997 he was replaced on a permanent basis by Dave Bassett. Forest were unable to avoid relegation and finished the season in bottom place. They won promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt, being crowned Division One champions in 1997–98. Bassett was sacked in January 1999, with Ron Atkinson replacing him.

Into the 21st century (1999-present)

Ron Atkinson was unable to prevent Forest from once again slipping back into the Football League with a succession of poor results, most noticeably an 8–1 defeat by Manchester United.

David Platt succeeded Atkinson and spent approximately £12 million on players, including the Italian veterans Moreno Mannini, Salvatore Matrecano and Gianluca Petrachi.^[12] Platt managed two mid-table finishes before departing to manage England U-21s.

Paul Hart became the Reds' new boss just two hours after the departure of Platt.^[13] They finished 16th in his first season in charge. At this time the collapse of ITV Digital left many Football League clubs in severe financial difficulties, Forest included. Despite the off-field difficulties, Forest finished 2002–03 in sixth place^[14] and qualified for the play-offs, where they lost to Sheffield United in the semi-finals. A poor league run the following season, following the release of key players, led to the sacking of Hart in February 2004 in order to prevent relegation.^[15] The decision was unpopular with certain quarters of the fanbase and Hart was described as a 'scapegoat'.^[16]

Joe Kinnear was subsequently appointed and led the club to 14th place in the final league table.^[17] The 2004–05 season saw Forest drop into the relegation zone once more, leading to Kinnear's resignation in December 2004. Following the brief caretaker stewardship of Mick Harford, Gary Megson took charge of Forest in January 2005 but failed to stave off relegation as the club ended the season second from bottom in 23rd place,^[18] becoming the first European Cup-winners ever to fall into their domestic third division.

In Forest's first season in the English third tier in 54 years, a 3–0 defeat at Oldham Athletic^[19] in February 2006 led to the departure of Megson by "mutual consent" leaving the club only four points above the relegation zone.^[20] Frank Barlow and Ian McParland took temporary charge for the remainder of the 2005–06 season, engineering a six-match winning run and remaining unbeaten in ten games, the most notable result a 7–1 win over Swindon Town.^[21] Forest took 28 points from a possible 39 under the two, narrowly missing out on a play-off place, as they finished in 7th place.

Colin Calderwood was appointed as the twelfth manager of Forest in thirteen years in May 2006 and became the longest-serving manager since Frank Clark. The Calderwood era was ultimately one of rebuilding. In his first season he led the club to the play-offs, having squandered a 7-point lead at the top of League One which had been amassed by November 2006. Forest eventually succumbed to a 5–4 aggregate defeat in the semi-finals against Yeovil Town.^[22] Calderwood achieved automatic promotion in his second year at the club, following an impressive run which saw Forest win six out of their last seven games of the season, culminating in a dramatic final 3–2 win against Yeovil at the City Ground. The Reds kept a league record of 24 clean sheets out of 46 games, proving to be the foundation for their return the second tier of English football. Calderwood's side struggled to adapt to life in the Championship in the 2008–09 campaign, following the signings of Robert Earnshaw,^[23] Paul Anderson,^[24] Guy Moussi^[25] and Joe Garner^[26] to replace the likes of Grant Holt,^[27] Sammy Clingan,^[28] Junior Agogo,^[29] Matt Lockwood^[30] and Kris Commons, who signed for Derby County having left Forest.^[31] Having been unable to steer Forest out of the relegation zone, Calderwood was sacked following a Boxing Day 4–2 defeat to the then-bottom of the table Doncaster Rovers.^[32]

Under the temporary stewardship of John Pemberton, Forest finally climbed out of the relegation zone, having beaten Norwich City 3–2.^[33] Billy Davies was confirmed as the new manager on 1 January 2009^[34] and watched Pemberton's side beat Manchester City 3–0 away in the FA Cup,^[35] prior to taking official charge. Under Davies, Forest stretched their unbeaten record in all competitions following Calderwood's sacking to six matches, including five wins. He also helped them avoid relegation as they finished 19th in the Championship, securing survival with one game to go.

In preparation for the 2009–10 campaign, Forest signed nine players, five of whom were on loan at the club in the previous season and returned on permanent deals. The returnees Lee Camp,^[36] Chris Gunter,^[37] Joel Lynch,^[38] Paul Anderson^[39] and Dexter Blackstock^[40] have been joined by Paul McKenna,^[37] David McGoldrick,^[41] Dele Adebola^[42] and loanee Radosław Majewski.^[43] The season was a successful one for Forest with the club holding a top-three position for the majority of the season, putting together an unbeaten run of 20 league games, winning 12 home league games in a row (a club record for successive home wins in a single season), going unbeaten away from home from the beginning of the season until 30 January 2010 (a run spanning 13 games) whilst also claiming memorable home victories over bitter local rivals Derby County and Leicester City. On 10 April 2010, despite it being confirmed that the club would miss out on automatic promotion to the Premier League after West Bromwich Albion defeated Doncaster Rovers 3–2, Forest secured a Play-off place in the Football League Championship after a 3–0 home victory against Ipswich Town.^[44] However, Forest were beaten by Blackpool at Bloomfield Road, 2–1, on 9 May 2010 and 4–3 in the home leg at the City Ground on 12 May 2010 (the club's first defeat at home since losing to the same opposition in September 2009), going out 6–4 on aggregate and missing out on promotion to the Premier League. The 2010–11 season saw Forest finish in sixth place in the Championship table with 75 points, putting them into a play-off campaign for the fourth time in the space of eight years. Promotion was yet again to elude Forest, as they were beaten over 2 legs by eventual play off final winners Swansea City. Having drawn the first leg 0–0 at the City Ground, they were eventually beaten 3–1 in the second leg in a hard fought contest against the Welsh outfit.

In June 2011 Billy Davies's contract was terminated,^[45][46] and he was replaced as manager by Steve McClaren, who signed a three year contract.^[47][48] Forest started the 2011–12 season with several poor results and after a 5–1 defeat away to Burnley, David Pleat and Bill Beswick left the club's coaching setup.^[49] Less than a week later, following a home defeat to Birmingham City McClaren resigned, and chairman Nigel Doughty annouce that he intended to resign at the end of the season.^[49]

In October 2011, Nottingham Forest underwent several changes. These changes included the appointment of Frank Clark as new chairman of the club and also that of Steve Cotterill, replacing the recently departed Steve McClaren.^[50]

Colours

Nottingham Forest have worn red since the club’s foundation in 1865. At the meeting in the Clinton Arms which established Nottingham Forest as a football club, the committee also passed a resolution that the team colours should be ‘Garibaldi red’.^[51] This decision was made in honour of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian patriot who was the leader of the redshirts party. At this time, clubs identified themselves more by their headgear than their shirts and a dozen red caps with tassels were duly purchased, making Forest the first club to ‘officially’ wear red, a colour that has since been adopted by a significant number of others. Forest is the reason behind Arsenal's choice of red, having donated a full set of red kits following Arsenal's foundation in 1886.

Stadium

Nottingham Forest originally played at the Forest Recreation Ground where they remained until 1879 when they relocated to the Meadows.^[52] Following this move, Forest began playing their more important matches at Trent Bridge due to its larger capacity. By 1880, all of Forest's matches were taking place at Trent Bridge but the club secured a site of its own in Lenton in 1882, naming it Parkside.^[52] The inadequate facilities necessitated the building of an improved ground in the next field in 1885 at a cost of £500. In 1890, Forest relocated once more, this time with the intention of drawing larger crowds in a location closer to the centre of Nottingham. The Town Ground, on the banks of the River Trent, was built in 1890 at a cost of £1,000 before growing success led to a final move across the Trent to the current City Ground site in 1898.^[52] Since then the ground has undergone extensive redevelopment, resulting in the 30,602-seater Euro 96 venue which we know today. Contrary to popular belief the name "Forest" does not originate from Sherwood Forest, but from the Forest Recreation Ground just north of Nottingham City Centre which is where the club first played upon its formation in 1865.

The City Ground is the 21st largest League football stadium in England List of football stadiums in England

On 20 June 2007, Forest announced plans to relocate to a 50,000-seater new stadium in either the Clifton area of the city or a site near to the current City Ground in Holme Pierrepont.^[53][54] The club has since decided upon Gamston as its preferred location for the planned stadium which is part of the FA's bid to host the 2018 World Cup. However, it was reported in August 2010 that the new stadium could now be built on the Eastside area which is located just outside the city centre. In December 2010, it was announced by FIFA that the 2018 World Cup will be staged in Russia, which has delayed any plans for a new stadium for the foreseeable future.

Local rivals and derbies

Whilst Notts County is the closest professional football club geographically, Forest have remained at least one division higher since the 1994–95 season and the club's fiercest rivalry is with Derby County.^[55] The two clubs contest the East Midlands derby, a fixture which has taken on even greater significance since the inception of the Brian Clough Trophy in 2007. As of January 2011 in the league Forest had achieved 33 wins to Derby's 26, with 19 draws.

Leicester City are Forest's other major East Midlands rival. Stemming from the close proximity of the two cities. Pre-Clough era, Leicester were largely considered Forest's main rivals. This may still be the case for the Forest fans of Melton Mowbray, Loughborough and yesteryear. A Football League Cup tie in September 2007 took on an extra dimension after Leicester defender Clive Clarke collapsed due to heart failure. After the match was abandoned, Leicester demonstrated sportsmanship in the replay and allowed Forest keeper Paul Smith to score at the beginning of the match.^[56] This was in acknowledgement that Forest were leading 1–0 when the original tie was abandoned. The act was met with applause from both sets of fans and praised by the worldwide press.^[57] Nottingham Forest went on to lose the game 3–2.

Honours

Domestic honours

First Division

• Winners: 1977–78
• Runners-up: 1966–67, 1978–79

Second Division

• Winners: 1906–07, 1921–22, 1997–98
• Runners-up: 1956–57, 1993–94

Third Division

• Winners: 1950–51
• Runners-up: 2007–08

Football Alliance

• Winners: 1891–92

FA Cup

• Winners: 1898, 1959
• Runners-up: 1991

League Cup

• Winners: 1978, 1979, 1989, 1990
• Runners-up: 1980, 1992

FA Charity Shield

• Winners: 1978
• Runners-up: 1959

Full Members Cup

• Winners: 1989, 1992

European and International honours

European Cup

• Winners: 1979, 1980

UEFA Super Cup

• Winners: 1979
• Runners-up: 1980

Intercontinental Cup

• Runners-up: 1980

Minor honours

Anglo-Scottish Cup

• Winners: 1977

Bass Charity Vase

• Winners: 1899, 2001, 2002

Brian Clough Trophy

• Winners: 2009 (29 August), 2010 (29 December), 2011 (22 January)

Dallas Cup

• Winners: 2002

Football League Centenary Tournament

• Winners: 1988

Nuremberg Tournament

• Winners: 1982

Trofeo Colombino Cup

• Winners: 1982

Managers

• Listed according to when they became managers of Nottingham Forest:

• (c) denotes caretaker managers

Records

'Most appearances for the club (in all competitions):

1. Bob McKinlay: 692
2. Ian Bowyer: 564
3. Steve Chettle: 526
4. Stuart Pearce: 522

Most goals for the club (in all competitions):

1. Grenville Morris: 217
2. Nigel Clough: 131
3. Wally Ardron: 124
4. Johnny Dent: 122

Current longest-serving player: Wes Morgan Debut 12 August 2003

Highest attendance: 49,946 Vs. Manchester United in Division 1, 28 October 1967

Lowest attendance: 9,986 Vs. Brentford in the Football League Trophy, 31 October 2006

Record receipts: £499,099 Vs. FC Bayern Munich in UEFA Cup quarter final 2nd leg, 19 March 1996

Longest sequence of league wins: 7, wins from 9 May 1922 to 1 September 1922

Longest sequence of league defeats: 14, losses from 21 March 1913 to 27 September 1913

Longest sequence of unbeaten league matches: 42, from 26 November 1977 to 25 November 1978

Longest sequence of league games without a win: 19, from 8 September 1998 to 16 January 1999

Longest sequence of league games without a goal: 7, 13 December 2003 to 7 February 2004 and 26 November 2011 to 31 December 2011

Quickest goal: League: 14 seconds,^[58] Jack Lester vs Norwich City, 8 March 2000

League Cup: 23 seconds,^[59] Paul Smith vs Leicester City, 18 September 2007 in the Carling Cup.¹

First Football League game: 3 September 1892 vs. Everton (away), 2–2

Record win (in all competitions): 14–0, Vs. Clapton (away), 1st round FA Cup, 17 January 1891

Record defeat (in all competitions): 1–9, Vs. Blackburn Rovers, Division 2, 10 April 1937

Most league points in one season: 94, Division 1, 1977 – 1978

Most league goals in one season: 101, Division 3, 1950 – 1951

Highest league scorer in one season: Wally Ardron, 36, Division 3 (South), 1950–51

Most internationally-capped player: Stuart Pearce, 76 for England (78 total)

Youngest league player: Craig Westcarr, 16 years , Vs. Burnley 13 October 2001

Record transfer fee paid: £4,500,000 for Pierre van Hooijdonk from Celtic,^[60] March 1997.

Record transfer fee received: £8,500,000 for Stan Collymore to Liverpool,^[61] June 1995

¹ By agreement with Leicester City. The game was a replay as the original match three weeks previous was abandoned at half time, due to the collapse of Leicester player Clive Clarke, with Forest leading 1–0 .^[62]

European records

Shirt sponsors

1981–83: Panasonic

1983–84: Wrangler

1984–1986: Skol

1986–1987: Home Ales (subsidiary of Scottish & Newcastle)

1987–1991: Shipstones

1992–1997: Labatts

1997–2003: Pinnacle

2003–2009: Capital One

2009 – present: Victor Chandler

Players

As of 15 August 2011.^[63]

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Reserves and Academy

For the reserves & academy squad, see Nottingham Forest F.C. Youth Academy.

Under 18's

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Under 17's

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Schoolboys (u16's & u15's)

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Notable former players

International players

• See List of Nottingham Forest F.C. international footballers

Club officials

Board of Directors

Technical staff

Nottingham Forest songs

• With 5 minutes to go before kick off... – Dance of the Knights (Prokofiev) – followed by Born Slippy (Underworld) (from the film Trainspotting) and then Pjanoo – Eric Prydz – followed by – as the teams appear from the tunnel with the public announcer saying "this is the city ground....nottingham – robin hood bbc tv theme – followed by insomnia – (Faithless)

• Nottingham Forest supporters have two main anthems, snippets of both of which are played on the tannoy before each half of a match begins at the City Ground. One of them is "City Ground", sung to the tune of Mull of Kintyre (Paul McCartney & Wings). Forest fans have adapted the verses, and the anthem features lyrics such as "Oh mist rolling in from the Trent" and "My desire, is always to be, oh City Ground".

• The second anthem is 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling' (the Righteous Brothers), which Forest fans sing to taunt the opposing fans when the Reds have scored a goal.

• Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis is played whenever Forest score

• Another Trent End favourite is: "I never felt more like singing the blues, when Forest win, and Derby lose", sung to the tune of Singing the Blues (Guy Mitchell).

• To the tune of The Animals Went In Two By Two – Hurrah is the chant "When Derby go down again and again, we'll sing, we'll sing". This opening line is repeated before "When Ian Moore scores a goal you can shove your Hector up your hole and we'll all go mad when Derby go down again" This line refers to Ian Storey-Moore a Forest goalscoring favourite of the 1960s, and a similarly prolific Kevin Hector of fierce rivals Derby County.

• 'The Forest March'('We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands') was released in February 1978 on 7-inch vinyl. This was a joint collaboration between the group Paper Lace and Nottingham Forest Football Club and features the fans singing as well as the team of the time. Changes to the lyrics included "We're the best team, in the land / We're the best damn team, in the land" amongst others.

• An older anthem from the City Ground terraces is the fans' adaptation of Lee Marvin's 1970 number one hit Wand'rin' Star, with such lyrics as: "I was bo-rn, under a Trent End goal" and also slight changes in the verses where Marvin describes what wheels and mules were made for, to how certain implements were made for inflicting injuries on fans of fierce rivals Derby County.

• For 40 years the team used to appear from the tunnel to the theme tune from Associated TeleVision's television series The Adventures of Robin Hood. Since the 2006/7 season the theme tune for the BBC's new Robin Hood TV series has been used.

Notes

External links

• Official website