Nottingham Forest Football Club

Nottingham Forest History

2006-07 Season

4th in League One; lost 5-4 on aggreagte to Yeovil Town in the play off semi finals.
League Cup: 1st round; Accrington Stanley a. 0-1
FA Cup: 4th round; Chelsea a. 0-3
JP Trophy: 3rd round; Bristol City h. lost 4-2 on penalties.

Highlight:
2-0 win over Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup 3rd round, 6/1/07

Low Spot:
2-5 home defeat against Yeovil in the 2nd leg of the play off semi final, 18/5/07

Good:
Kris Commons
Commons has a wand for a left foot and contributed 13 goals from midfield. Gives the impression he could do more with his exceptional ability. If he did Forest might not be able to keep hold of him, however.
A quandry perhaps.
Ian Breckin
Highly reliable stopper who just loves defending. In Brief:
Forest enjoyed a great start to the season and after winning 12 of the first 19 games were top of the table by six clear points.
Although the club were still top by mid January three defeats in December ensured that things were much closer.
Forest maintained decent consistency for the rest of the campaign but having watched Scunthorpe Unoted disappear over the horizon they left just enough leeway for Bristol City to squeeze past them and had to make do with a play off spot.
Having won the 1st leg of their semi final with Yeovil 2-0 away from home it looked odds on a trip to the new Wembley. A remarkable return game saw Yeovil force extra time and, having had a man sent off, Forest eventually slump to a 5-2 defeat to lose 5-4 on aggregate.
With crowds still excellent it surely cannot be long before this club climbs back into the Championship and additions to the playing squad were not long in being made in the close season.

Nottingham Forest Football Club was formed in 1865 at a meeting in the Clinton Arms.

The club had to wait until 1892 before being elected into the first division even though it already boasted a fine FA Cup record. Forest had reached the semi finals of the competition in 1879, 1880, 1885 and 1892.

In 1898 the club actually won the famous competition. They knocked out Grimsby Town, Gainsborough Trinity, West Bromwich Albion and Southampton before beatingDerbyCounty 3-1 with Arthur Capes scoring twice.

Five days before the final their local rivals had beaten them 5-0 in a league game. Sweet revenge indeed.

Forest sufferd relegation in 1906 but instantly returned to the first division after winning the Division Two title in 1907.

In 1911 the club again slipped into Division Two and this time they had to wait until 1922 before again winning the Division Two title.

Forest could only manage three seasons in the top flight before relegation in 1925 and this time they would have a long wait before returning.

In 1949 the club actually slipped into Division Three South but managed to return to the second division in 1951. Forest then finally climbed back into the first division in 1957 as second division runners up behind Leicester City.

In 1959 Forest won the FA Cup for the second time. They needed a replay to beat Tooting in the 3rd round before knocking out Grimsby Town, Birmingham City, Bolton Wanderers and Aston Villa. In the final they defeated LutonTown 2-1. Early goals from Roy Dwight and Tommy Wilson put them in command but they then had to hang on for an hour after losing Dwight (Elton John's uncle) to a broken leg in the days before substitutes.

Forest had a fine, though ultimately disappointing season, in 1966-67. They were runners up in the league behind Manchester United and also made it through to the FA Cup semi finals. They put out Newcastle and the holders Everton with an Ian Storey-Moore hat trick before losing 2-1 to Tottenham in the last four.

After 15 seasons in the first division Forest were relegated in1972 but the appointment of Brian Clough as manager in 1975 set the club on the path to incredible success.

In 1977 Forest squeezed into the third promotion place to return to Division One. The following season the club took the football world by storm, romping to the league championship and also lifting the League Cup.

Forest slammed in a remarkable 23 goals in putting out West Ham (5-0), Notts County (4-0), Aston Villa (4-2), Bury (3-0) and Leeds United (7-3 on aggregate) before coming up against Liverpool in the final.

With Peter Shilton cup tied Chris Woods took centre stage as the first game at Wembley finished goalless before a controversial John Robertson penalty settled the replay at OldTrafford.

Other vital members of this fine side were Viv Anderson, Kenny Burns, Martin O'Neill, Archie Gemmill and Tony Woodcock.

In 1978-79 Forest retained their League Cup with a 3-2 victory over Southampton with two goals from the newcomer Garry Birtles. There was also a fantastic triumph in the European Cup. Forest knocked out Liverpool, AEK Athens, Grasshoppers Zurich and FC Cologne before edging out Malmo in the final with a headed goal from Trevor Francis.

In 1980 they finally surrendered the League Cup after a clumsy defeat to Wolves in the final but they distinguished themselves with another European Cup success. Clough's men put out Oester Vaxjo, Arges Pitesti, Dinamo Berlin and Ajax before seeing off Kevin Keegan's SV Hamburg in the final with a stunning strike by Robertson.

Although the rush of trophies now ceased Forest remained one of the countries leading sides and one of the best to watch as Clough made stars of players like Stuart Pearce, Des Walker, SteveHodge, Neil Webb, Peter Davenport, his son Nigel and latterly Roy Keane and Teddy Sheringham.

Forest lostout in successive FA Cup semi finals to Liverpool in 1988 and 89 but on the latter occasion had the consolation of lifting another League Cup after a 3-1 victory over Luton Town in the final. The same season saw them lift the Simod Cup as well after a thrilling 4-3 victory over Everton.

They retained the League Cup in 1990 after a 1-0 win over Oldham Athletic thanks to a Nigel Jemson goal.

Then in 1991 Clough had his biggest chance to win the FA Cup that had always eluded him throughout his astonishing career.

Forest faced Tottenham Hotspur in the final and found themselves a goal up early on through Pearce with Spurs having lost Paul Gascoigne to an insanity induced injury. Despite the fact that Mark Crossley would also go on to save a Gary Lineker penalty Spurs would still recover to win 2-1 with a Des Walker own goal providing the winner.

The clubs' Zenith Data Systems Cup success the following year was of scant consolation, especially as they went on to lose the League Cup final to Manchester United.

Clough then seemed to suffer a sudden deterioration and Forest followed suit, slipping to relegation in 1993. They did manage an immediate return under Frank Clark, however.

This pattern was repeated in 1997 and 1998 when Forest first slumped to relegation and then recovered to win the Division One championship.

This time Forest would go straight back down from the Premier League and have so far been unable to respond from that setback.

They reached the Division One play offs in 2003 only to lose to Sheffield United in the semi finals but then slipped to a shock relegation last season to drop into the third tier for the first time in over fifty years.

Why don't you fill in our Fan's Survey.