Lucky to have us
22/04/05 | by Alex Walker

The headline board outside the newsagent’s yesterday read “Reds fans won’t desert Forest”. As I passed this on the morning bus, my fuzzy mind subconsciously rewrote it to say “Forest don’t deserve Reds fans”, before I realized what it actually said. But that’s what the story should have been. Of course we won’t desert the team. To even suggest that we would is an insult; the kind of insult that we have had to endure time and time again from the club.

I’m not just talking about a certain advertising slogan (which I had vowed never to mention again, but it really has become such a perfectly-ironic summing-up of our plight that one cannot help it) – in recent years Forest fans have been treated very badly by their club. Of course, we’re by no means the only set of fans to suffer in this way and, compared to the likes of Wimbledon, Swansea, Darlington, etc – clubs who really have screwed their supporters – our mistreatment comes into context.

However, this does not excuse the shabby conduct we’ve been subjected to. While I’m sure there has been no malice in the destruction of our club, it has come about as the result of a dangerous combination of stupidity and cynicism. To spend the summer boasting about a supposedly-forthcoming promotion campaign is foolish enough, but to do so without putting up the money to fund such a campaign is just idiocy and shows that it was all a cheap trick to squeeze even more money out of the loyal fans.

And so, as you all know, we’ve had to endure a terrible season of sub-garbage football resulting in a catastrophic and potentially-fatal relegation while having no choice but to swallow the numerous lies the club has poured out. When some supporters did try and take an active role in the running of the club, they were labeled as “morons”. But at least they were actually doing something to save the club by removing an ineffective manager! What has anybody with any power at Nottingham Forest done to avoid relegation?

The final insult comes today with the news that 12 of our players were caught in a drunken rampage around Nottingham a few days before their (or rather, the club’s, as most of them will probably be off in the close-season anyway) fate is sealed at home to Burnley. A few week previously, as they capitulated at the feet of the mighty Plymouth Argyle, we sang: “You’re not fit to wear the shirt.” As Garry Birtles correctly points out, “now they've gone out and proved it”. So, as if Forest fans weren’t humiliated enough, we now have even more reason to be ashamed of our club.

Of course, there is not much the club’s management can do to stop young men getting drunk and rowdy when out in the town, but collectively the club’s management and playing staff have succeeded in doing almost everything possible to bring shame on the club that Brian Clough made famous and proud for its discipline and honour. And will they suffer for it? Doubtful. It will be us who have to live with the memories of this dreadful, dreadful season.

The club recently published financial records that prove supporters account for around half the income of the club through gate money. This makes us, collectively, the single biggest financial contributor to the club, ahead of sponsors and television money and even ahead of Nigel Doughty who – as reported on this site six months ago – has only been covering the interest on our debts (which the club has run up since he took control) and this is with another loan, meaning he has actually increased the amount the club owes.

Yet Nigel Doughty gets to be chairman for his “contribution” while we get diddly squat for shelling out our hard-earned cash. Considering that together we keep the club in business, it is shocking that supporters do not have any representation at board level and have had no part in the decision-making process of the club since Doughty killed off the PLC . Not only that, we are treated as if we were inconsequential, kept in the dark about what the club is doing or plans to do in the short- and long-term future. Even after all-but relegating us, nobody from the board has yet had the decency to come out speak to the fans about what they plan to do next.

There are practical problems with having representation of the fans' view at board level, as other clubs who have tried this have found. For a start, it is hard enough to get any two football fans in complete agreement over a controversial issues, let alone find a happy medium that will satisfy all of Forest's vast support.

But there is evidence to suggest that, in general terms, we supporters are usually spot on: most of us opposed the Bridgford Consortium's takeover bid in 1997, many were skeptical about the wisdom of appointing a rookie manager like David Platt and giving him millions to spend straight away, and, most recently, we were right to want Joe Kinnear to step down as manager before he made our situation even more hopeless with his incompetence.

In all of these instances, our views have been ignored until it was far too late. Even if we don't ever get a representative on the board, the club needs to start listening to and appreciating our views. What they don't seem to realise is that they are very lucky indeed to have a set of supporters like us. This isn't self-congratulation. I may not be the world's greatest supporter myself, but I do know that Forest have a great number of fans who give their all to their club, following them home and away, come rain or shine, good times or bad. Forest take these people for granted, whereas most clubs would do anything to have such a committed fanbase.

I hope that they haven't pushed us too far this time, but I'm fairly confident that the core support will remain loyal to the club next season as it tries to rebuild itself. But unfortunately, rather than taking note of our importance, I suspect that they will instead hike another unjustified ticket price-rise on us – just anther insult to add to the list. The headline today read "Fans deserve better". We certainly do.