Forest v Millwall
Comments.....
A is for alternative. Forest were founded mainly as an alternative club for the craftsmen and artisans of Nottingham to play for, rather than the ‘snobbish’ Notts County – who drew their membership from the professional classes of Nottingham society.
B is for ‘Big ‘Ed’. When Brian Clough showed up at the City Ground in January 1975, Forest had just been beaten 2-0 by Notts County and were staring relegation to the Third Division in the face. Three and a half years later they were Champions of England and then the following season European Champions, a title they retained the following year. No other manager has ever transformed a club so massively and so quickly.
C is for City Ground. An ironic name for Forest’s stadium, because due to a boundary change in the 1950s it is no longer in the city of Nottingham, but is instead in the town of West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire. Especially as it was given its name to celebrate Nottingham becoming a city the year before it was built!
D is for derby. Forest and County are the closest clubs in England, only separated by some 300 yards and the River Trent. Forest’s first ever game was against Notts County on 22nd March 1866. No-one knows for sure what the score was, as the fixture created lots of controversy. Forest claim a 1-0 victory, County a 0-0 draw. County also say that Forest fielded 17 players to County’s 11! Not the fiercest of rivals, they have at least squabbled ever since.
E is for equaliser. One of my most vivid memories of the Old Den is when the Lions came back from 2-0 in the last 10 minutes to draw with Clough’s Forest side, extending our unbeaten start to our debut top flight season to 8 games. The noise for the late Neil Ruddock equaliser was deafening. And so to was the noise for Richard Sadlier’s last minute equaliser in 2002, to make it 3-3; Millwall having drawn level at 2-2 in the 87th minute, only for Forest to go straight up the other end to make it 2-3. The young Lions were not to be denied though.
F is for Forest. One of the most unusual names in English football, I often see it spelt incorrectly as ‘Forrest’. It derives from their original home, the Forest Recreation Ground, which itself was named for Sherwood Forest.
G is for Garibaldi Red. The official colour of the club and named after the Italian patriot whose party was known as the ‘Redshirts’. Apparently a barb aimed at the ‘snobbish’ Notts County for dropping Forest from their fixture list.
H is for hockey. Nottingham Forest emerged from a group of "shinny" players (a form of field hockey) who resolved at a meeting in the Clinton Arms to adopt association football in 1865.
I is for innovation. Forest are credited with a number of innovations: they were the first team to adopt shin guards (1874) and to provide the referee with a whistle (1878). The club are also believed to have invented the classic 2-3-5 formation that persisted into the 1960s. Plus, they were the first club to use crossbars and nets, and also changed posts from a square to oval shape.
J is for just. Despite their proud history, Nottingham Forest has played just 4 seasons of top flight football since the creation of the Premier League. Perhaps the best demonstration of how power has shifted to the big city clubs in the era of Sky.
K is for Kudos. Demonstrating that they still have pulling power, despite being outside of the Premier League for two decades, Forest appointed Sabri Lamouchi this summer. He managed Ivory Coast in the last World Cup and got the relatively unfashionable French side Rennes into Europe. Was a very decent midfielder back in the 1990s and 2000s.
L is for League Cup. I remember a time when I thought Nottingham Forest were simply given a bye to the final; having played in six finals and winning four of them in the Clough era between 1978 and 1992. The 1-0 win over Oldham Athletic in 1990 was their last major honour.
M is for mediocre. Forest is a club that enjoyed one golden period, surrounded by lots and lots of mediocrity. In one spell in the First Division between 1958 and 1972, just before said golden era, they only finished in the top half on three occasions, before relegation to the Second Division. Before that run, they had spent 25 seasons outside the top flight, the only excitement being a brief flirt with Division Three (South).
N is for Nottingham. Famous for making bicycles, Boots the chemists, gun crime, supposedly having more women than men and a Hooters. It is also the smallest city to ever produce a European Cup winning team (according to Rough Guide).
O is for other sports. Forest started out as a multi-sports club, bit like German clubs. Not only did they play football and hockey, but a bit of baseball too. The baseball team became British champions by beating fierce rivals Derby County in the 1900 final.
P is for Pearce. Stuart Pearce is one of Forest’s greatest legends, he played 522 times for them and managed the club twice. He also captained them in an era when they were one of the best sides in the country. He is also Forest’s most capped player with 78 caps for England.
Q is for quids. One million of them for Trevor Francis, apparently. However, whilst recognised as the first British million-pound player, the actual transfer fee for the player was £1,150,000, including 15% commission to the Football League. He scored the winning goal in the 1979 European Cup Final, paying back a big chunk of that fee, but Clough is accused of wasting a lot of his talent by playing him on the wing a lot! Can you imagine!
R is for rivals. Despite having city rivals in Notts County, Forest save their real bitterness for Derby County. They share a love of Brian Clough, a road named after him and now a fixture self-labelled as the ‘Brian Clough
’ – a bit, how do the kids say it, ‘cringe’.
S is for super and Sheringham. Millwall’s leading and second leading top goal scorers of all-time both ended up at Nottingham Forest. ‘Super’ Neil Harris was sold to Forest in 2004 by Dennis Wise, who probably didn’t want anyone else hogging the limelight at The Den. It never really worked out for Harris at Forest and he was eventually sold back to us. Teddy Sheringham had a slightly more successful stint in Nottingham, impressing enough in one season to earn a move to Tottenham Hotspur.
T is for top night in Trent. In the 1994/95 season Millwall were suffering a bit of a post Play-Off hangover and travelled to high flying Premier League Nottingham Forest (they would finish 3rd that season) for a 3rd Round League Cup tie. Backed by a large and passionate away support, the Lions tore into their hosts and ran out surprising 2-0 victors. This was the start of a great cup season for the Lions, as we went on to knock Arsenal and Chelsea in the FA Cup too.
U is for unique. Forest is one of the very few clubs, perhaps only club, to have only ever had one colour scheme from day one. Their red and white colours have inspired many clubs, including Arsenal, over the years. I can say inspired, as they are the first club to officially denote their home colour as red.
V is for vain. I often think Forest care more about what they look like than winning. They always turn out in beautiful kits, making sure that they have their stars above their iconic and stylishly modern, but classic badge. They stroke the ball around with care and never muddy their glistening white shorts. Before often getting bullied by the Lions.
W is for win. Since the 1980s Millwall have faced Forest 18 times at The Den, only losing 3 times. Surprisingly, the Lions have handed out some proper spankings to Forest over the years... 4-1 at the City Ground for our first ever League meeting, 5-1 at The Den in 1930, 5-0 at The Den in 1938, 4-0 in 1947 at The Den and 4-1 at the City Ground in 2012.
X is for x factor. Some famous Forest fans are Manic Street Preachers singer James Dean Bradfield, England international cricketers Stuart Broad and Samit Patel, boxer Carl Froch and fashion designer Paul Smith.
Y is for you soppy c**t. Current Forest striker, Lewis Grabban, will always be a Millwall hate figure for the way he sulked around Bermondsey for his entire Millwall career. Depicted as overly sensitive and moody in Mike Calvin’s famous book ‘Family’. Fiver says he scores a late winner!
Z is for zany. Nottingham Forest proudly won that zaniest of zany 1970s cup ideas – the Anglo-Scottish Cup in 1977. What Scottish giants did they beat in the Final? Rangers? Celtic? Hearts? Erm, Aberdeen? What about St Mirren? Nope. Leyton Orient. Forest fans say this was the pinnacle of the club’s golden era – maybe.
