Forest
History
by Alex Walker
Early Days
Forest were formed in 1865 in the
Clinton Arms Inn when Mr J.S. Scrimshaw suggested that the local
'shinney' (a version of hockey) team turned their attention
towards football. This was agreed and Nottingham Forest Football
Club was born. They played their first game against Notts County
(who had formed three years earlier) on March 22 at the Forest
Racecourse ground.
It is also important to note that during the same meeting the
club colours were decided. 12 red, tasseled caps were purchased
for the players, and because of their likeness to the uniform of
a group of Italian Freedom Fighters, the team inherited the name
of it's leader as a nickname - thus the "Garibaldi Red"
mantle would forever be associated with Forest.
Forest were rejected entry in the Football League when it started
in 1888, but qualified in 1892 following their championship
season in the Football Alliance League. The team grew gradually
over the years, swallowing up a few other clubs and their talent
on the way until 1898 when they won the FA Cup thanks to a 3-1
defeat of local rivals Derby County. 1898 was also significant
for the fact that Forest finally settled on a ground with a move
to the City Ground after six previous venues.
Middle Age
Forest stayed out of the limelight
for some time, mainly due to financial difficulties and the
occasional World War. Despite the lack of success and a few
relegations, the team attracted huge crowds of 30,000+ to league
games climaxing in the attendance of 44,166 in 1929 against
Sheffield Wednesday.
Having escaped the Third Division in 1952 (never to return to
this day) the Reds set about rebuilding themselves under the
guidance of Billy Walker. They shot back up to First Division and
then won the FA Cup against Luton Town in 1959. But Walker
resigned the following season, still the second most successful
manager in Forest's history.
100 years since that monumental meeting, Forest were still going
strong. The 66-67 season saw the highest attendances ever at
Forest and the team finished in the runners-up position with Ian
Storey-Moore scoring 21 goals that would help mark him down as a
Forest legend. But the glory wasn't to last and Forest were
eventually relegated back to the 2nd after a few years.
The Clough Era
Brian Clough, freshly sacked from
Leeds after just 44 days, was a desperate man needing to rebuild
the reputation he had built up at Derby. Forest, struggling in
Division Two, were a desperate club in need of a miracle to save
them. It was a combination that very few would have tipped for
success, but within a few years Clough was to make this the most
successful period in Forest's history.
His early influences were limited by budget, but he slowly built
up a team including names such as Robertson, O'Neill, O'Hare,
McGovern and Clark. But the name that was to really turn things
around was that of Peter Taylor in 1976 when he was appointed
assistant manager in what still lives on as the greatest
management team ever. More top names followed: Burns, Lloyd,
Shilton, Barret, Needham, Francis...
This team was to take the world by storm. One year after
promotion, Forest were crowned Football League Champions in 1978.
Along with this, came a League Cup and Charity Shield Victory in
the same year.
If this wasn't enough of an achievement, the Reds kept marching
on. But another League Cup victory, and runners-up place in the
league were nothing compared to the team performance in the
European Cup. They took the competition by storm and beat Malmo
in the final thanks to a goal from Trevor Francis.
The following season saw another European Cup come the way of the
Reds, this time John Robertson scored the goal against Humburg in
Madrid. Previous to that, they had won the European Super Cup 2-1
against Barcelona.
And so Forest's place in history was marked forever. An
achievement yet to be matched in terms of total change of
fortunes even by Man United or Liverpool. Forest's name is known
throughout the world, and memorabilia sits in European shops
alongside that of the other great European sides: Barcelona, Real
Madrid, Bayern Munich...
Taylor left the club at this point, but Clough continued to reign
supreme and proved himself time and time again. The 1980 team
were disappearing, but a new generation of players were coming
through. Just as people were starting to write the Reds off
again, they hit back in 1984 with another European Cup run, this
time in the UEFA Cup which only ended in Chaleroi when Anderlecht
won the semi-final to deny an all-English final with Spurs. But
the game was stooped in controversy with the opposition being
found guilty of bribing the referee. Forest have still not
received any compensation.
The late 1980s were to see Forest again have a period of success
with yet another generation coming through. This time names like
Walker, Pearce, and Clough all taking their places alongside
those of the 79/80 team as all-time greats. Although this team
didn't have the same level of success as that of before, many
still think they were of equal pedigree.
Brian's prodigal son was the driving force up front, Walker the
"unbeatable" centre back, and Pearce was one of the
greatest left-backs in English footballing history. Another
product of this final chapter in Clough's reign was Roy Keane,
who, like his team-mates at the time, is currently one of
football's greats. A great deal of his success since leaving the
Reds in '93 can be credited to Clough's faith in the youngster
from Cobh Ramblers.
This team experienced Forest's most successful period on the
domestic trophy front. Two more League Cups wins (89 and 90), the
Simod Cup in 89, the Zenith Data Systems Cup in 92, and two more
trips to Wembley that resulted in runners-up places for Forest in
the League Cup in 1992, and more memorably, missing out to
Tottenham in the FA Cup final in 1991. The FA Cup now stands as
the only major domestic honour Brian Clough never won.
But this period of success was to mark the end of an era for
Forest. Forest were relegated in 1993, and Clough announced his
retirement in the same year. He bowed out as his team that was
supposed to be "too good to go down" lost 2-1 away at
Ipswich with Brian's son Nigel scoring Forest's goal. Fans were
left in tears, as Clough waved goodbye to Forest and a great
period in football history was over.
Life After Brian
Brian's replacement was former
Forest player Frank Clark. Clark managed to somehow do enough to
re-establish Forest into the newly formed Premier League. His
first season saw the Reds promoted after a lot of changes:
Clough, Charles, Keane, Sheringham, Walker were all out, to be
replaced by Collymore, Cooper, Lyttle, Bull, Philips, Bohinen...
Clark also brought one of his the players he had known at Leyton
Orient, who is still one of the hottest properties at Forest,
Chris Bart-Williams, who signed from Sheffield Wednesday.
In their first season in the Premiership, Forest shocked
everybody by finishing third in the league. The Collymore/Roy
partnership caught the imagination with bagfuls of goals, but it
also caught the eye of Liverpool who were to buy Collymore for a
record £8.5 million in the summer of 95.
The 95/96 season may have seen less success in the league (Forest
finished 9th) but they reached the quarter-final of the UEFA cup,
only to go out to eventual winners Bayern Munich.
But despite this seemingly good progress on the pitch, behind the
scenes things were going badly. The club had amassed debts of
nearly £12 million. The only option was to put the club up for
sale. A group known as the 'Bridgford Consortium' took over to
begin a period where Forest would fall apart as a major
footballing force.
The 96/97 season saw Forest beat Coventry 3-0, then go 16 games
without a win. The result of which was Frank Clark's resignation.
His temporary replacement was Stuart Pearce who turned around
Forest's fortunes slightly, but still couldn't lift he Reds clear
of the relegation zone. The new board took over and in February
they appointed Dave Basset as general manager, but the
partnership with Pearce didn't work out and Basset took full
control at the end of the season as Forest were relegated in 20th
place.
But as soon as Basset arrived at the club, he started building a
team for the following year's campaign. He brought in Pierre Van
Hooijdonk, Alan Rogers, Andy Johnson, Geoff Thomas, Tierry
Bonalair and Dave Beasant, as Pearce, Roy, Haarland and Lee all
left.
Forest took the division by storm, holding a promotion spot for
the whole season and eventually beating Sunderland and
Middlesborough to the Championship. The goals from Van Hooijdonk
and Kevin Campbell were crucial and came week in, week out. Add
to that, the team were playing brilliant football, and the season
ended with optimism for the return to the top flight.
But it wasn't to be, as the signs of Forest collapse were
appearing all over the place. The sale of Kevin Campbell and
Colin Cooper that summer left Basset without two of his key
players and little money to show. Pierre Van Hooijdonk went on
strike, accusing the club of having no ambition. He was right.
Despite Basset's best efforts, Forest couldn't sign any worthy
replacements and found themselves behind the running within a few
months.
Basset found himself as the scapegoat and was sacked in January
of 1999. By this time it was clear that the board did not care
for the club, and that money was disappearing fast without a
trace. Ron Atkinson was given the impossible task of saving the
club in four months, but having sold Steve Stone and the rebel
Van Hooijdonk, arguably Forest's best two players, without
receiving any benefit, even Big Ron couldn't save Forest from
another relegation and a grim future.
A new era at Forest
The summer of '99 saw a new board
take over with Nigel Doughty pumping millions into the transfer
fund to try and rebuild the club. The new manager was England
legend David Platt who was given the huge task of turning the
Reds back into a Premiership side.
David didn't get off to the best start. His inexperience saw him
make a number of naive signings, including spending £2.5m on a
trio of Italians, none of whom made much impact during the
season.
He also had bad luck when his star striker, Stern John, was
injured for most of the season after his transfer from Columbus
Crew. Forest finished the season in 14th and David was feeling a
lot of pressure.
The following year Forest had made big improvements, despite the
manager's hands being tied in terms of transfers due to mounting
debts. Despite this, Forest were chasing a play-off place all
season and would have got it had they not suffered very badly
with injuries over the closing months, finishing in 11th.
In the summer, Platt ended his troubled stay with Forest for a
new position as manager of the England Under-21 side. With only a
month to go before the next season began, Forest were quick to
appoint Paul Hart as the new boss. Hart was a popular choice. As
well as his days as a Forest player, he was well known for his
work with Forest's youth academy from which a number of
first-team players had already graduated. He also led the U19s
team to the FA Premier Youth Championship the previous season.
Still, he began his reign at the City Ground with a side that had
previously struggled to compete for promotion and a huge debt
hanging over the club.
Hart's young Forest side received much praise for their slick passing style. The
2001/02 season was a tough year for the Reds with the club forced to sell a
number of star players to stay in business. However, the next year Hart led the
team to the brink of promotion, with an agonising defeat to Sheffield United in
the play-off semi-finals.
Just as things were finally looking up for the team, Hart seemingly lost control
of the club and the 2003/04 campaign saw them battling against relegation. A
four month winless streak saw Hart dramatically sacked and replaced by Joe
Kinnear. Kinnear's arrival was the boost the side needed and he salvaged some
respectability from a terrible season, bringing in some quality signings and
finishing in 14th place.