History of Nottingham Forest F.C.
The History of Nottingham Forest Football Club covers the history of the club since its formation in 1865. For general information about the club, see Nottingham Forest F.C..
History
Early history
Forest were founded in 1865 (by a group of shinty players)[1] shortly after their famous neighbours Notts County, (the world's oldest surviving professional football club), in 1862. They joined the Football Alliance in 1888, and won the competition in 1892, which allowed them entry to the Football League.
Forest's charitable approach to the sport helped teams like Liverpool, Arsenal F.C. and Brighton & Hove Albion to come into existence. In 1886, Forest donated a set of football kits to help Arsenal establish themselves - the North London team still wears red to this day. Forest also donated shirts to Liverpool and helped secure a site to play on for Brighton.
Forest claimed their first major honour when they won the 1898 FA Cup (beating bitter rivals Derby County). 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 champ 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 { who was the uncle of pop icon Elton John- real name Reg Dwight } through a broken leg 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. Forest's biggest rivals are Derby County, there is a rather more one-sided rivalry with Leicester City, who have a hatred for Forest that isn't really reciprocated.
Brian Clough: the glory years (1975-1993)
Forest were considered a small team by English league standards until the mid 1970s, when Brian Clough and his assistant Peter Taylor took the helm at the club. Clough was the most successful manager in the history of Nottingham Forest football club. He had won the league title with Forest's deadly rivals Derby County in 1972, and came to Nottingham Forest on January 6th 1975, after a 0-2 home defeat by local rivals Notts County, on Boxing day, prompted the committee (Forest had no board of directors then) to sack the previous manager Allan Brown. They 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 last team to date) to win the English First Division Championship 1977-78 season, a year after winning promotion from the English Second Division. In 1978-79, Forest went on to win the European Cup by beating Malmö FF [1-0] in Munich's Olympic Stadium and retained the trophy in 1979-80, beating Hamburger SV [1-0] in Madrid 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 wear the England jersey), midfielder Martin O'Neill,striker Trevor Francis and a trio of Scottish International stars: winger John Robertson, midfielder Archie Gemmill and defender Kenny Burns.
Nottingham Forest's next significant trophy came in 1989 when they beat Luton Town 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 champions Arsenal and runners-up 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. Clough's side retained the League Cup in 1990 when they beat Oldham Athletic. 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 reached their third League Cup final in four seasons in 1992, but lost to Manchester United, and in this successful period also won the Full Members Cup twice (1989 and 1992).
Brian Clough's 18-year reign as manager ended in May 1993 when Forest were relegated from the Premier League after 16 illustrious years of top flight football which had seen one league title, two European Cups and four League Cups. Since Brian Clough's departure, Nottingham Forest have had eight managers and spent just four out of 12 seasons in the Premiership. Brian Clough is considered one of the greatest managers in English football history by fans of all clubs.[citation needed]
There is said to be a consensus amongst many English football fans[who?] that the biggest mistake the FA ever made was not appointing Brian Clough as England manager, often the term 'the best manager England never had' is used. He died in 2004 after a long battle with stomach cancer.
Clough won 15 Cups and Competitions with Forest and his managerial record with them was:
Played: 908,
Won: 418,
Drawn: 256,
Lost: 234
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 an instant return to the Premiership when the club finished Division One runners-up at the end of the 1993-94 season. Clark looked to be well on the way to re-establishing Forest as a top team.
Forest's return to the Premiership was impressive as they finished third in 1994-95 and qualified for the UEFA Cup - their first entry to European competition in the post-Heysel era. The 1994-95 season was a glorious one as far as Forest were concerned as just about every team promoted into the Premier League are almost certain favourites to be relegated the following season. One of the many highlights of the 1994-95 season was a memorable victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford, with Steve Stone and Stuart Pearce scoring the goals, a game fondly remembered by Forest fans of that era. The likes of Stan Collymore, Stuart Pearce and the Dutch international Bryan Roy were among the most feared players in the Premiership. But Collymore was sold to Liverpool in June 1995 for a then English record fee of £8.4 million, and his £2 million Italian successor Andrea Silenzi was considered to be a disappointing signing. With Collymore gone, Forest's goals dried up in the Premiership during 1995-96 and they finished ninth - although they did reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, making them the only English team to reach the last eight of any European competition that season.
Clark added Welsh striker Dean Saunders and Croatian defender Nikola Jerkan to Forest's squad for the 1996-97 season, but they started badly and it became a battle to avoid relegation. With no signs of that battle being won, Clark was sacked in December and 34-year-old captain Stuart Pearce was installed as player-manager on a temporary basis.
Clark's managerial record with Forest was:
Played: 178,
Won: 73,
Drawn: 58,
Lost: 47
Dave Bassett: fall, rise and fall again (1997-98)
Pearce inspired a brief revival in Forest's fortunes, and he was voted Premiership manager for the month for January 1997 after a turn around in form lifted the club off the bottom of the division. He was tipped to become manager on a permanent basis, but the Forest directors wanted someone more experienced so in March 1997 they turned to Crystal Palace manager Dave Bassett. Despite the addition of Celtic's Dutch striker Pierre van Hooijdonk, Forest were unable to avoid relegation and finished the season in bottom place. They won promotion back to the Premiership at the first attempt, being crowned Division One champions in 1997-98. But the prolific strike-partnership of Kevin Campbell and Pierre van Hooijdonk was soon broken up: Campbell was sold to Turkish side Trabzonspor and van Hooijdonk refused to play (he was, basically, on strike), because his strike partner was sold. Van Hooijdonk later returned to the club but it was too late to save Bassett, who was sacked in January 1999 after a terrible start to the Premiership campaign and elimination from the FA Cup at the hands of Division One side Portsmouth.
Bassett's managerial record with Forest was:
Played: 77,
Won: 33,
Drawn: 20,
Lost: 24
Ron Atkinson: filling the gap (1999)
Ron Atkinson made his last appearance in football as Nottingham Forest's interim manager, taking charge in January 1999. Bought in on the promise of an alleged million pound bonus if he kept Forest up, 'Big Ron' did little to endear himself to the Forest faithful by climbing into the wrong dugout at the start of his first game in charge - against Arsenal. In true Big Ron style he was later heard joking that he'd thought Forest had Dennis Bergkamp on their bench. But he was unable to succeed in keeping Forest clear of relegation, and for the third time in seven seasons they were relegated as the Premiership's bottom club. Atkinson's reign was short, but not too sweet, as shown by his record in-charge. He managerial record was:
Played: 16,
Won: 4,
Drawn: 2,
Lost: 10
David Platt: expensive signings fail to succeed (1999-2001)
When the board decided not to renew Atkinson's contract, several high profile names were mentioned for the vacant manager's job, including Glenn Hoddle (ex-Swindon, Chelsea and England), Roy Evans (ex-Liverpool) and Brian Little (ex-Leicester and Aston Villa).[citation needed] The club's eventual choice was 33-year-old former England captain David Platt, whose brief spell as head coach of Italian Serie A side Sampdoria had just ended in relegation.
Former England captain Platt was named as Nottingham Forest's player-manager in July 1999. He made several expensive signings during his two-year reign at the helm, but these acquisitions were unproductive[citation needed] and Forest never really looked like gaining promotion back to the Premiership, finishing only in mid-table. Their fortunes were not helped by financial problems and a constant need to sell top players in order to pay off the debts that were caused by certain signings that Platt made,[citation needed] including the Trio Of Italians who only made a handful of appearances between them but cost over £5 million (Gianluca 'Bepe' Petrachi and Salvatore Matrecano from Perugia plus free transfer Moreno Mannini from Sampdoria). Platt left to become England U-21 coach in July 2001 and he handed over the reins to youth team manager Paul Hart. By now, Forest's days as a top club were now very much a distant memory and no players remained from their successful days in the top flight.
David Platt is one of the most disliked figures in Nottingham Forest's history.[citation needed] He was responsible for making some poor signings that cost millions of pounds. This plunged the club further into debt. Under his guidance the team generally underperformed and the quality of the football was often poor.[citation needed] Platt's reign was nothing short of disastrous and arguably Forest still haven't recovered from the damage he did.
His managerial record with The Reds was:
Played: 103,
Won: 34,
Drawn: 25,
Lost: 44
Paul Hart: making a living on limited resources (2001-2004)
Paul Hart had a difficult time as manager of Nottingham Forest; his appointment was initially met with some surprise (he was best known for his involvement with the successful academy at Leeds and as academy director at Forest before his internal appointment). The club's financial problems escalated at the end of the 2001-02 season when the ITV Digital collapse almost bankrupted them.[citation needed] Hart's first season at the helm had been unremarkable as a squad made up mostly of young players achieved a 16th place finish in Division One. There were fears that Nottingham Forest could go into liquidation during the summer of 2002,[citation needed] but with the sale of players like Jermaine Jenas the financial situation was quickly brought under control and Forest did better in 2002-03. They finished sixth in Division One and qualified for the playoffs, their best chance yet of returning to the Premiership. However, they lost to Sheffield United in the semi finals. After a 1-1 draw at the City Ground, they eventually lost out at Bramall Lane 4-3 after extra time, and 5-4 on aggregate, even though they were leading the second leg 2-0.
By now, the likes of Michael Dawson and Marlon Harewood were some of the most talented young players in the English league and players from the club's invested-in youth academy were starting to filter through to the first team. But Forest's failure to gain promotion led to many of their finest assets being sold, and the departures took their toll on the club's fortunes in 2003-04. Hart was sacked in February as Forest hovered near the foot of Division One.
Hart's managerial record was:
Played: 134,
Won: 45,
Draw: 44,
Lost: 45
Joe Kinnear (2004)
Joe Kinnear was the next manager to take charge of Nottingham Forest. The club's directors looked to have made a good decision when Kinnear revitalised Forest, bringing out the best in key players like Michael Dawson and Andy Reid, and they climbed to a secure 14th place in the final table. Kinnear was hoping to push for promotion from the newly-named Coca-Cola Championship in 2004-05. But the start to the season was poor. Despite a promising draw on opening day (1-1 vs Wigan Athletic) the team's form went downhill, as did the league position. With fans getting restless, and the threat of demonstrations against the team management, Kinnear walked away from the club in December, after a 3-0 defeat by arch-rivals Derby County at Pride Park, with Forest struggling at the foot of the Championship. His assistant Mick Harford had only been recruited a few weeks before, but was put in charge of first-team duties on a temporary basis, until a permanent successor could be found.
A popular chant at pride park was " he's fat. he's round. he's taking forest down joe kinnear, jo kinnear " many forest fans enjoyed singing this with the derby fans.
Kinnears managerial record was:
Played: 44,
Won: 15,
Drawn: 15,
Lost: 14
Gary Megson: down to League One (2005-2006)
In January 2005, Gary Megson was named as Nottingham Forest's new manager. He had previously won promotion to the Premiership twice with West Bromwich Albion, having taken over at a time when they were on the verge of relegation to Division Two. It was hoped that he could achieve the same success with Forest. But that target was made all the more difficult to achieve at the end of 2004-05, when Forest finished second from bottom in the Coca-Cola Championship and were relegated to League One. This made them the first former winners of the European Cup to suffer relegation to the third tier of their domestic league.
After relegation, Megson took action against the players at the club who he felt were not performing to the standards he demanded, both on and off the pitch. David Johnson, Marlon King, Kevin James, Alan Rogers and Adam Nowland were all transfer listed. King joined Watford FC on a long term loan deal, before moving permanently where he has since become a very big hit with the Watford fans. Nowland went on a free transfer to Preston North End F.C.. James was loaned to Walsall F.C.. However, Johnson managed a return to the first team. Many players at the club were also made surplus to requirements and released.
In the summer of 2005, Megson became one of most active managers in the transfer market. Mattieu Louis-Jean signed for Norwich, whilst Eoin Jess and Chris Doig both joined Northampton Town on free transfers. The new recruits included Gary Holt from Norwich (in exchange for Louis-Jean), Nicky Eaden and Ian Breckin from Wigan and Gino Padula from Queens Park Rangers. John Curtis was signed on a free transfer, whilst Danny Cullip became Gary Megson's eighth summer signing, arriving from Sheffield United for an undisclosed fee. Megson's transfer market activity continued with the arrival of Nathan Tyson, a prolific striker in League Two with Wycombe Wanderers, on loan until January 2006. The signing later became permanent. Megson then signed striker Grant Holt from League Two side Rochdale, midfielder Sammy Clingan from Wolverhampton Wanderers and defender Julian Bennett from League One rivals Walsall F.C. who recently got his first goal for the club with a 90th minute equaliser away at Blackpool.
Initially in League under Gary Megson, progress had been steady but many Forest fans[who?] might have hoped for a better run of form. At The City Ground at the start of 2006, home form was the best in the League, however away performances saw them struggling to get a win. The quality of the football on display was generally regarded (by Forest fans and experts alike)[citation needed] as the worst from Forest in living memory and the abject performances and results away from home started to appear at the City Ground, for example a 2-0 loss to Barnsley, a 2-1 defeat to Swansea City and a 1-0 losS against Scunthorpe.
Megson departed 'by mutual consent' on 16 February, 2006 with Forest in 13th place, just four points above the relegation zone, having won just once in the last ten games. Megson's departure apparently cost himself one million pounds.[citation needed]
His managerial record with Forest was:
Played: 59,
Won: 17,
Drawn: 18,
Lost: 24
Barlow and McParland: the perfect match (Feb 2006-May 2006)
Frank Barlow (Gary Megson's assistant) and Ian McParland (Forest's Reserve team coach) took over on a caretaker basis after Gary Megson's resignation. Barlow and McParland won their first game in charge with a 2-0 away victory at Port Vale. It was Forest's first away win since August 27 2005 (which was 3-1 at Gillingham), their first double over another team in the season, and their first away clean sheet. Their second game ended with an outstanding 7-1 home win against Swindon Town F.C, the first time Forest scored more than 6 goals in a League game for over a decade.
The unbeaten run under Frank Barlow and Ian McParland extended to 10, with 6 straight wins, a feat that was last achieved in the 60's and something that even the great Brian Clough could not achieve,[citation needed] when Forest beat relegation battling Yeovil Town 2-1 in front of a near sell-out crowd at the City Ground.[citation needed] It is the first time Forest have won more than 2 games in a row since 2004, when Joe Kinnear was in charge and the first time they have won more than 4 in a row for 11 years. The winning run eventually ended in a thrilling 3-2 defeat at the hands of struggling Hartlepool United.
Barlow and McParland were named joint Managers Of The Month for March 2006 as they were the only team in the football league to go unbeaten in that month.
Forest had taken 28 points out of a possible 39 under Barlow and McParland in the final 13 games of the season and just missed out on the play-offs by merely scraping a draw at Bradford City on the final day of the season.
Many Forest fans[who?] were surprised to find that Paul Gerrard, Paul Evans and Eugen Bopp where released from the club at the end of the 05-06 season. The three where fan favourites at the City Ground and Gerrard was Forest's player of the year for the 04-05 season. Gareth Taylor and Eugene Dadi were also released.
The two were not made permanent managers, largely because they themselves didn't want it[citation needed] and instead, former Forest, Mansfield Town and Scotland international player and manager of Northampton Town, Colin Calderwood was put in place. Although both 'Charlie' McParland and Frank Barlow were promised their positions at the club would be safe under a new manager, Frank Barlow left the club to take up the role of caretaker manager with Hull City on 28 June, 2006.
Ian McParland and Frank Barlow's record with Forest was:
Played: 13
Won: 8
Drawn: 4
Lost: 1
The future
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Colin Calderwood: (May 2006-present)
In May 2006, Colin Calderwood was made the 12th manager of Nottingham Forest in the last 13 years. The former Scotland international had previously been on Forest's books as a player in 2000, but his time there was hampered by injury. Having only recently taken the step into management with Northampton Town, some fans were concerned with his appointment. However, in his time with the club, he guided them to two play-off finishes before securing promotion in his final season in charge.
Calderwood's first game in charge was a 5-0 friendly win at local side Ilkeston Town.
Calderwood made only two additions to his inherited Forest squad, adding goalkeeper Paul Smith and Ghanaian International striker Junior Agogo. Calderwood also relesed a few of the younger members of the team on loan to gain experience. David Johnson was forced to retire due to a back problem. He also brought in his former teammate David Kerslake as first team coach.
Calderwood's first season as Forest manager started successfully, as Forest won their first four matches, including their opening match against Bradford City. Forest's first defeat came in the Carling Cup with defeat at Football League newcomers Accrington Stanley. However, many feel that this defeat was insignificant when compared to the league and FA Cup campaigns. Calderwood was named League One's Manager Of The Month for August after 7 matches unbeaten, including a 4-0 home win against Chesterfield FC. Calderwood's first league defeat came in a home match against Oldham Athletic. After 4 games without a win, Forest defeated Swansea City FC 3-1, but were themselves defeated 4-0 at home to Scunthorpe United. After an away victory at Cheltenham Town FC, the FA Cup first round draw revealed Forest would play Conference South team Yeading F.C. Forest won the match 5-0, with goals from Junior Agogo and a first half hat-trick from Kris Commons.
Forest drew Salisbury City F.C. in the second round of the FA Cup, a game shown live on BBC 1 on December 3. Despite being favourites to win the match, the result was a 1-1 draw. Forest subsequently won the home replay 2-0 to progress to the 3rd round.
Forest then went nine games unbeaten, including a seven game winning run, before losing to Bournemouth. However, this led to a run of one win in five, including a 1-1 draw against Tranmere Rovers knocking Forest off the top of League One for the first time since August. A further 5-0 defeat away at Oldham, a game in which both Sammy Clingan and Danny Cullip received red cards, saw Forest fall out off the automatic promotion places.
Forest next played Premiership side Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup third round at the City Ground. Goals from Junior Agogo and Grant Holt earned Forest a notable win, beating Charlton 2-0. The win marked their first victory over a team two divisions above them and their first victory over a team in any division above them in the FA Cup.
On 8th January Forest drew Chelsea FC away at Stamford Bridge in the 4th round of the FA Cup. However, Forest lost the match 3-0. Despite the loss, 6,000 Forest fans travelled to the match in support.
On January 30 2007, Forest signed both former player David Prutton from Southampton FC and Northampton Town defender Luke Chambers, who played under Calderwood at Northampton. Prutton re-joined Forest after four years away from the club on a season-long loan but has hinted he may sign permanently in the summer when his contract is up with Southampton providing Forest win promotion to the Championship.
Nicky Southall, Danny Cullip, Nicky Eaden and John Thompson all left the club on the deadline day of the January transfer window.
After this Forest proceeded to draw against Bradford, lost to Brighton with Tyson being sent off, and drew against Blackpool. This was followed by wins against Chesterfield (2-1) and Huddersfield (5-1) moving Forest back up in to the automatic promtion places, before a loss to Doncaster saw them slip again. Following a 1-1 draw against Scunthorpe, and a win against Gillingham, Forest are now third in the league, one point behind Bristol City, who are in turn four points behind leaders Scunthorpe.
Calderwood's record in League One for the seaon as at 18 March, 2007 is:
Played: 42
Won: 20
Drawn: 12
Lost: 10