Review - Nottingham Forest Memorabilia Pack

As a breed, Forest fans are often accused of living in the past by outsiders and particularly our local rivals. They have a point. But while it certainly is important for us to move out from under the shadow of the glory days, our history is worth remembering and celebrating every now and then. It is for this purpose WH Smiths have released this pack.

It is interesting to note that they have also published a similar set aimed at Leeds United fans – they obviously feel these sets of down-trodden supporters will be keen to relive better days. But surely fans that were around at the time will have their own, genuine memorabilia to get nostalgic over, so perhaps this pack has more to offer the younger supporter hoping to get a better understanding of what following Forest was like in those days.

The contents of the pack are reproductions of a wide variety of actual material published during Brian Clough’s reign as manager. The general theme is that these items are things a supporter would have collected as they followed the Reds across Europe and the UK in the seventies and eighties. There are ticket stubs from various famous games, airline tickets and postcards from the Atlantis Hotel, Zurich.

There are also a great selection of programmes and magazines published at the time, containing some interesting articles (one describes how Forest and Notts County were the only two teams to make a profit over the previous year – how times have changed, eh?), but one of the highlights has got to be an early addition of the Brian fanzine. The production values are rock bottom, but the humour and irreverence of the ‘80s fanzine heyday are all present.

Also interesting are the Evening Post supplements, which include two massive broadsheet-size posters. It is hard to imagine the enormity of Forest’s European Cup victories at the time, and seeing how the successes were covered by the local press offers some insight.

Some of the contents are slightly more unusual and show some imagination in their selection. Included are copies of the players’ itinerary for their trip to Zurich in 1979 and a list of recommended restaurants in the city. Also great fun is a reproduction of John McGovern’s playing contract that is actually more interesting than it sounds.

The price seems expensive, but there is a lot included here. Forest history nuts would have a great time pouring over all the old publications for snippets of interesting information, but the problem remains that anyone who was there to experience it for themselves probably already has a decent set of unique material. Still, this pack makes a great gift for those who were born too late to live Forest’s glory but still crave for a taste of those legendary days.

Reviewed by Alex Walker.

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Price: £15.99

LTLF Rating:

Available from: WH Smiths

Website: www.mempackcompany.com