Nottingham Forest F.C.
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| Full name | Nottingham Forest Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Forest, The Reds, The Tricky Trees[1] |
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| Founded | 1865 | ||
| Ground | City Ground Pavillion Road West Bridgford, Nottingham England (Capacity: 30,602[2]) |
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| Chairman |  Nigel Doughty |
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| Manager |  Billy Davies |
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| League | The Championship | ||
| 2008–09 | The Championship, 19th | ||
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 Current season |
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Nottingham Forest F.C. is an English professional football club based at the City Ground in West Bridgford, a suburb of Nottingham. It is currently playing in the second tier of English league football, The Championship. The club was founded in 1865 and has an illustrious history which encompasses winning two consecutive European Cups, along with the domestic title, two FA Cups and four League Cups. Nottingham Forest were founding members of the Football Alliance in 1889 and the Premier League in 1992.
Contrary to popular belief the name Forest does not come from Sherwood Forest, but from the Forest Recreation Ground just north of Nottingham City Centre which is where the club first played after its formation in 1865 and is now the site of the annual Nottingham Goose Fair (though the name of the Forest Recreation Ground does in turn derive from a time when that ground was part of Sherwood Forest). The club is often referred to simply as Forest (not to be confused with the entirely unrelated older amateur side, Forest F.C., which is better known as The Wanderers F.C.), the name the club carries on its badge. Its other common nickname is the Reds, which derives from the colour of their strip. Forest fans strongly dislike the club being referred to as Notts Forest. This is because Notts is the abbreviation of Nottinghamshire (hence Notts County), but not of Nottingham itself.
They are currently the only former European champions playing outside the top flight of their domestic league
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[edit] History
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Forest were founded in 1865 by a group of shinty players[3] shortly after their neighbours Notts County, (thought to be the world's oldest surviving professional football club), in 1862. They joined the Football Alliance in 1888, and won the competition in 1892. They were then allowed entry to the Football League. In 1890 Forest played in the first ever match to use goal nets. [4]
Forest claimed their first major honour when they won the 1898 FA Cup, beating Derby County 3-1 at Crystal Palace. 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[5] of pop icon Elton John, 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 were considered a small club 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. 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 F.A. Cup replay against Tottenham, a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal by Scottish centre-forward Neil Martin (at Forest Martin had already become the first player to score 100 league goals in both Scotland and England).[6]
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). 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 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 dishonest circumstances in which a Forest goal by Paul Hart was controversially disallowed as well as Anderlecht being awarded a penalty kick which clearly should never have been. 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. [7]
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, 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. 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 club notably reached the quarter-finals as the longest-lasting English club in European competition that season. The 1996-97 season became a relegation battle and Clark was sacked in December. 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. 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. 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.
Bassett was sacked in January 1999, with Ron Atkinson replacing him. However, he was unable to prevent them from once again slipping back into the Football League with a succession of poor results, most noticeably the 8-1 defeat by Manchester United.
David Platt succeeded Atkinson and spent approximately £12m on players, including the Italian veterans Moreno Mannini, Salvatore Matrecano and Gianluca Petrachi. Platt managed two mid-table finishes before departing for the England U-21s when Forest were in financial difficulties.
Paul Hart became the Reds' new boss just two hours after the departure of Platt and endured a difficult two and a half years as Forest manager. They finished 16th in his first season in charge with a very young team at the time of ITV Digital's collapse which left Forest with a substantial level of debt. However, in the 2002-03 season, Forest finished in 6th place and in the play-offs before losing 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.
Joe Kinnear was subsequently appointed and was able to bring out the best of his inherited side, leading the club to 14th place in the final league table. 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 in 23rd place, becoming the only 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 in February 2006 led to the departure of Megson by "mutual consent" leaving the club only four points above the relegation zone. Frank Barlow and Ian McParland successfully took temporary charge for the remainder of the 2005-06 season, engineering a 6-match winning run and remaining unbeaten in ten games, the most notable result a 7-1 win over Swindon Town. 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.[8] 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 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, Paul Anderson, Guy Moussi and Joe Garner to replace the likes of Grant Holt, Sammy Clingan, Junior Agogo, Matt Lockwood and Kris Commons. 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 [9].
Under the temporary stewardship of John Pemberton, Forest finally climbed out of the relegation zone, having beaten Norwich City 3-2.[10]. Billy Davies was confirmed as the new manager on 1 January 2009 and watched Pemberton's side beat Manchester City 3-0 away in the FA Cup, prior to taking official charge. Under Davies, Forest stetched 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 three players in two days in the shapes of strikers David McGoldrick and Dele Adebola and winger Paul Anderson for a combined fee of £1.25m. and then lee camp[11].
[edit] 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’ [12]. 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. Notably, Forest are the reason behind Arsenal's choice of red, having charitably donated a full set of red kits following Arsenal's foundation in 1886.
[edit] Stadium
Nottingham Forest originally played at the Forest Recreation Ground where they remained until 1879 when they relocated to the Meadows [13]. 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[13]. 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[13]. Since then the ground has undergone extensive redevelopment, resulting in the 30,602-seater Euro 96 venue which we know today.
The City Ground is the tenth largest football stadium outside the Premier League, behind Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United, Leicester City, Leeds United, Southampton, Coventry City, Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday.
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.[14][15] It is hoped by the club that this new stadium will be amongst the planned venues for England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
[edit] 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[16]. 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.
Leicester City are Forest's other major East Midlands rival but the last fixture between the two clubs, 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 showed great sportsmanship in the replay and allowed Forest keeper Paul Smith to score at the beginning of the match. 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.
[edit] Youth academy
The Nottingham Forest Youth Academy was launched in 1997 under the supervision of Paul Hart[17] and is located at a 24-acre site on Wilford Lane in Nottingham[18]. Since its inception, the Academy has nurtured the talents of many players who have gone on to play at international level, such as Jermaine Jenas, Michael Dawson and Shaun Wright-Phillips for England and Andy Reid for the Republic of Ireland.
[edit] Honours
[edit] Main English and European Honours
- European Cup
- Intercontinental Cup
- Runners up, 1980
- European Super Cup
- Premier League and predecessors (Level 1 of English Football League System)
- Champions 1978
- Runners up 1967, 1979
- Football League Championship and predecessors (Level 2 of English Football League System)
- Champions 1907, 1922, 1998
- Runners up 1957, 1994
- League One and predecessors (Level 3 of English Football League System)
- Champions 1951
- Runners up, 2008
- FA Cup
- Football League Cup
- FA Charity Shield
- Winners 1978
- Runners up 1959
- Full Members Cup
- Winners 1989, 1992
[edit] Minor Honours
- Football League Centenary Tournament
- Winners 1988
- Anglo-Scottish Cup
- Winners 1977
- Football Alliance
- Champions 1892
- Nuremberg Tournament
- Winners 1982
- Trofeo Colombino Cup
- Winners 1982, 1983
- Dallas Cup
- Winners 2002
[edit] Managers
| Name | Years |
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| Billy Davies |
2009-Present |
| John Pemberton (Caretaker) |
2008-2009 |
| Colin Calderwood |
2006-2008 |
| Ian McParland Frank Barlow (Caretakers) |
2006 |
| Gary Megson |
2005-2006 |
| Mick Harford (Caretaker) |
2004-2005 |
 Joe Kinnear |
2004 |
| Paul Hart |
2001-2004 |
| David Platt |
1999-2001 |
| Ron Atkinson |
1999 |
| Micky Adams (Caretaker) |
January 1999 |
| Dave Bassett |
1997-1999 |
| Stuart Pearce (Caretaker) |
1996-1997 |
| Frank Clark |
1993-1996 |
| Brian Clough |
1975-1993 |
| Allan Brown |
1973-1975 |
| Dave Mackay |
1972-1973 |
| Matt Gillies |
1969-1972 |
| Johnny Carey |
1963-1968 |
| Andy Beattie |
1960-1963 |
| Billy Walker |
1939-1960 |
| Harold Wightman |
1936-1939 |
| Noel Watson | 1931-1936 |
| Stan Hardy | 1930-1931 |
| John Baynes | 1925-1929 |
| Bob Masters | 1912-1925 |
| Fred Earp | 1909-1912 |
| Harry Haslam (Secreatary/Manager) | 1897-1909 |
| Harry Radford (Secretary/Manager) |
1889-1897 |
[edit] Records
Most appearances for the club (in all competitions):
- Bob McKinlay: 692
- Ian Bowyer: 564
- Steve Chettle: 526
- Stuart Pearce: 522
Most goals for the club (in all competitions):
- A. G. Morris: 217
- Nigel Clough: 131
- W. Ardron: 124
- J. G. 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: 2,013 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
Quickest goal: 23 seconds [8], 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, 1950-1951
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: £3,500,000 for Pierre van Hooijdonk from Celtic, March 1997.
Record transfer fee received: £8,500,000 for Stan Collymore to Liverpool, 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 .
[edit] Shirt sponsors
Before 1988 Forest didn't have a consistent sponsor, it was changed every year or less. Some of the sponsors before Shipstones included: Skol, Home Ales, Wrangler and Panasonic.
1988-1991: Shipstones
1992-1998: Labatt
1998-2003: Pinnacle
2004-2009: Capital One
2009-: Victor Chandler
[edit] Players
- As of 16 July 2009.[19]
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] Out on loan
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[edit] Club officials
Board of Directors
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Technical Staff
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[edit] Nottingham Forest songs
- 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 by Paul McCartney and Wings. Forest fans have adapted the verses, and the anthem features lyrics such as "Oh mist rolling in from the Trent" and "Far have I travelled, much have I seen, Goodison, Anfield are places I've been".
- The second anthem is 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling' by the Righteous Brothers, which Forest fans sing to taunt the opposing fans when the Reds have scored a goal.
- Another Trent End favourite is: "I never felt more like singing the blues, when Forest win, and Derby lose", sung to the tune of Guy Mitchell's Singing the Blues.
- 'The Forest March' ('We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands', Warner K17110) 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.
- For forty 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.
- The Nottingham punk band Resistance 77 recorded a song called 'You Reds' on a 1990 EP of the same name.[20] BBC Radio Nottingham used the song for a while as part of their coverage of Forest matches.
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/24/football-rumourmill
- ^ The City Ground | Nottingham Forest | Club | The City Ground
- ^ [1]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/top-football-clubs-played-host-to-scots-sport-of-shinty-415259.html
- ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/blue-plaque-for-man-who-invented-football-goal-net-707003.html
- ^ [2]
- ^ Neil Martin Football England
- ^ BBC News | Football | Forest sues Anderlecht over '84 bribery scandal
- ^ BBC SPORT | Football | League One | Nottm Forest 2-5 Yeovil
- ^ [3]
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7787640.stm
- ^ "Anderson Makes it 3". NottinghamForest.co.uk. 2009-06-30. http://www.nottinghamforest.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10308~1707715,00.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-30.
- ^ [4] The Official History of Nottingham Forest
- ^ a b c [5] Nottingham Forest's venues.
- ^ BBC NEWS | England | Nottinghamshire | Forest consider City Ground exit
- ^ http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/audio/Plans-Forest-super-stadium-Holme-Pierrepontarticle-308652-details/article.html
- ^ Positions 11 - 15 | Football Rivalries Report 2008 | The New Football Pools - Home of the original and best £2.5 Million Football Pools, Lotteries and Instant Win Games
- ^ [6] Nottingham Forest's Managers
- ^ [7] About The Academy
- ^ "Player Profiles". Nottingham Forest F.C.. http://www.nottinghamforest.premiumtv.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10308,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
- ^ http://gabesuk82.blogspot.com/2008/06/resistance-77-you-reds-ep-1990.html
[edit] External links
- Official site
- History of NFFC football kit
- Bridport Red Archive Forest statistics site
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Nottingham Forest Football Club
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