This is from the Forest v Orient Programme 18/1/75 ahead of Brian Clough's 1st home game in Charge: From the great man himself:

 

When I was first asked to write this article my initial reaction was to say "No" because a football manager's job is not about writing notes for a match programme.

But it is the first opportunity I have had to introduce myself to you so here I am for the first - and last - time this season.

 

I know from the reaction there has already been to my arrival at the City Ground that something special is expected of me. But if you want wild promises of First Division football, big signings, and glamour in the near future ... forget it !

 

I'm not making predictions outside saying that I will be trying my utmost to put the big & beautiful city of Nottingham back on the football map.

 

The club has gone places in the past but so much has gone wrong, too many bad decisions have been made and not enough work put in.

 

One of the greatest tragedies to my mind is the way quality players have been allowed to leave over the last 5 or 6 years.

 

None of that would have happened had I been hereunless there was a clear indication of the player not having his heart in the club.

 

It does not need a ready reckoner to assess that close on £1,000,000 worth of talent has left Forest for one reason or another.

 

There is no purpose at all in reflecting what might have been however, but take it from me - the transfer door is now firmly bolted as far as class players are concerned.

 

Of course, I was responsible for taking the last pearl from Forest's oyster when i signed Duncan Mckenzie for Leeds. He is a very fine player and one that I would give a lot to have with me now. I would also have loved to have had the job of sorting out the problems he obviously had here.

 

Nobody knows why he made his stand against Forest better than me. He must have been frustrated with what was happening and I can imagine his feelings were similar to yours. You had run out of patience because of what had gone wrong in the past and run out of hope for the future.

 

I will be trying to give you something to look forward to but there is no cash at the Bank to buy players so hard work is the priority.

 

The first responsibility to improve things is mine but players must respond to me and show they are willing to work, listen, and learn.

 

There will be no pressure on them to win because results are not their worry. I want them to apply themselves to their profession and that happens to be football.

 

The players and I have had a successful start together at Tottenham and Fulham and not, in my wildest dreams, did I expect to kick off with 2 wins. It was great to meet up with Bobby Moore at Craven Cottage last week. I still have tremendous admiration for him and was sorry he was not able to join me at Derby.

 

Today we are attempting to make it three wins in a row against Orient -  a team who showed they are not short of ability in the cup ties with Derby. I understand they are the unluckiest team to be knocked out of the Cup for many a year.

 

So it will be far from easy for us because George Petchey has worked wonders at Orient. He has not bought any £100,000 players but they will be a tough side to beat.

 

You, the supporters can help by encouraging the side. But as I have said in the local paper, I have no time for football "yobs" who come along to cause bother.

 

After Manchester United, Forest's hot heads have one of the worst reputations in football and I aim to end that. My message to trouble makers is simply: "Get lost !"  

 

To the well behaved majority, I hope we have a successful time together and it is my intention to get to know you a lot better over the coming months.

 

I am not a manager who sits in his ivory tower all day long. I am a "half a beer and fish and chips man".

 

I know I have got the name as soccer's "big mouth" but, deep down, I am an ordinary bloke doing a job of work!t

 

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*Article by Brian Clough ... the Forest Review ... 18/1/75

  

The 1st of many fantastic things we heard from the great man for over 18 glorious years ... RIP 

 

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Article from the  Forest v Bristol Rovers Programme - 4/12/76 - following the previous home game against Chelsea which brought serious crowd disorder - (Article by Club Secretary Ken Smales)

 

I had a quick flick through a number of old programes from the early to mid seventies - incredible really just how many ongoing references there were to repeated instances of 'football hooliganism' ... but in this article Ken seems to be somewhat at the end of his tether!

 

For the record the programme cost 12p, trips to the next 2 aways at Orient & Millwall were being advertised under 'Travel with the Team'. Train tickets were £3 to Orient 2nd class, £7 1st class (cold buffet, seat ticket) & tickets to Milwall 2nd class £3.50, 1st class £14 (2 meals, seat ticket). By contrast seat tickets for the Notts County game at the CG were being advertised at £2 Main Stand, £1.20 East Stand. Standing tickets not advertised at all but from memory reckon in the 76/77 season were between 50p and £1 from memory.

 

Anyway the Article is detailed below:

 

One of the problems confronting the writer of a regular column such as this is that subjects are limited and therefore articles can tend to become repetitive. Despite this occupational hazard, and at the risk of boring you, I am again going to raise the subject that is causing a great deal of concern to everyone, and that is hooliganism.

With the recent happenings in the vicinity of the City Ground on match days this problem is no doubt uppermost in the thoughts of every decent football follower.

I do not in any way wish to infer that the thugs who wear Forest colours and attend our ground regularly are whiter than white, because they are an extremely nasty bunch who need no provoking. They come prepared for, and look to seek out, trouble.

But it is apparent and is surely more than coincidence that "aggro" is more prevalent when visiting supporters arrive in any considerable number. Fighting was evident inside the ground during both the Wolves & Sheff Utd matches, and the violence outside the ground for the Chelsea match reached a new peak.

Before we condemn the visiting hooligans, and we all know that every club has this element, we must remember, as one senior police official reminded me, that it takes two to make a fight. And how right he is.

The scum of the country has attached itself to football like a leech sucking the life blood out of the game, and it is therefore of some consolation to hear that stronger punishment can now be meted out by the courts.

Last season the visit of Blackpool attracted our lowest "gate" of the season of just 8,582. Not because of who they were but because they, unfortunately were the next visitors to the CG after the vilonet scenes on the Bridgford End terrace at the preceeding Chelsea match. people fear for their safety.

We have received numerous phone calls and letters since our last home game which revelead just how frightened genuine supporters have become. Obviously both the police and the club were aware of the possibility that last seasons viloence could be repeated and discussions took place in an effort to counteract it.

One unnecessary problem arose, and that was the early arrival of the Chelsea supporters trains. The first was scheduled to arrive at 1pm despite repeated appeals by the Minister for Sport that supporters should not be permitted to arrive at the town of their destination well before the kick off.

The police obviously did not want a 1,000 or so visitors roaming round the streets of Nottingham illing time as it were. So it was arranged for some turnstiles to be opened much earlier than usual. It was also agreed that the Chelsea fans of the trains would be escorted into the Trent End so as to avoid a repeat of last season's unsavoury episode.

So far so good, but an overflow of fans onto the running track was not contained and they were allowed to wander at leisure round the perimeter until they arrived at the scoreboard corner where they spread onto the pitch.

The referee, quite rightly, had no option but to suspend play until everyone was back over the wall. During his subsequent discussion with the Chairman and myself he revelaed that he was prepared to have the ground cleared and to continue the match in an empty stadium.

The most horrific part of the afternoons action was, however, to take place outside the ground with stabbings and general mayhem.

The awful consequences of this was brought very clearly into the focus when a Tuesday phone call from a very distraught father at Skegness revealed that his son, who is a close friend of our John Middleton, was one of the victims in the stabbing incidents.

Football is clearly beeing dragged down by animals. We cannot control their behaviour in the streets, so what can we do within the confines of the ground to ensure a degree of safety.

We have all given the problem considerable thought and one suggestion proposed by Brian Clough is that as we cannot guarantee the good behaviour of all those who attend the matches we might at least be able to provide an area of safety for those who wish to use it.

His idea is to section off an area in front of the Main Standand only permit entry to Ground season ticket holders and so preclude any visiting supporters from this sanctuary. This would not force season ticket holders into an area where they do not wish to stand, but merely offer them a reserved place in an area occupied only by Forest fans.

One of my ideas is for half of the Trent End to be sealed off for the use of visiting supporters. This would mean the installing of extra toilets and refreshment bars in that section at considerable cost, but this would be particularly useful if we gained promotion.

But neither of these ideas solves the problem of the "Forest mob".

Many of you have written, and several have suggested, that the erection of dividing fences has not helped solve the problem. I would like to remind them that it was not so long ago that the gangs were swarming from one end of the terrace to the other, knocking down anyone unfortunate enough to be standing in their path. So, if nothing else, we have eliminated this paticular problem.

Mr James, in a letter published in the Chelsea issue of the "Review", expressed irritation at the apparent cool attitudes of football administrators towards the suggestion of the identity card system.  I do not doubt his sincerity in believing that such a scheme is practicable but I do not share his views, and in any event cannot see how it can possibly be implemented. It would take an army of civil servants to administer and there is no more guarantee of good behaviour as a result of its introduction.

After all, the present threat of custodial sentences do not seem to deter the many ruffians from perpetrating acts of hooliganism in much the same way that hidden cameras in shops do nor prevent pilfering.

But I will examine his theory more closely, and use the examples that he cited in a Chelsea v Forest game being only watched by holders of cards issued by the two clubs.

Surely these supporters are the very two chemicals necessary for an explosion. it is not the presence of neutral supporters of other clubs or casual visitors who cause the trouble.

Our average home attendance prior to the Chelsea game was just over 14,000 but 27,000 plus turned up for this match. Would the 13,000 or so extra spectators have had to obtain a pass (or two passes according to Mr James) during the week preceding. If so, how many persons would have to be employed to cope with the work? Have you ever been to renew your car licence and seen the waiting queues and the time taken to serve them all. I am afraid that I must reject this idea as impractical.

Our old friend Harry Durose has written saying how afraid he has become to stand in his favourite position, and will be seriously considering supporting us from his armchair in the future. His is only one of the many cries from the heart that we have received. An answer must be found or football will die!

 

Article by Ken Smales

 

 

It is interesting to read these views from nearly 37 years ago. As a 15 year old at the time I can't say that I agree with all he writes but this type of article/comment about so called 'football hooliganism' was a regular feature/topic of discussion in the "Forest Review's" at this time. Prices interesting too! 

 

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http://www.trentsidetales.com/?zpbw_compId=TPWdgt0&zpbw_postKey=udf1EgEcRQM8ad89OIUyZQ   ... Click on the link for a bit of nostalgia from my 1st ever Forest match and a few details from the match day programme ... plus a bit more nostalgia!

 

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Reviewing, the mid 70's seasons, (73/74 to 76/77), there were '2 obsessions' highlighted on a very regular basis in the match day Programme ... Hooliganism & Television, specifically not wanting the TV camera's anywhere near the Grounds, the view being that even though you were really only talking limited highlights, the view was it stopped people going to games! ... No live domestic games apart from the FA Cup Final, just bried edited highlights ... how things have changed. Obviously for all of the above 4 seasons, we were in Division 2. (We spent 72/3 there also of course but despite regular outbreaks of hooligansim, it largely seemed to be ignored in the Programme).

 

I'll review just a few snapshots from some of the Programmes ... In the game v Swindon Town at the CG on 18/9/73,  our dear old club secretary Ken Smales made reference to our 1st away game of the season ... at Oxford on 1st September:

 

' I think most decent minded people are absolutely sickened by the antics of the hooligans who roam the vicinity of football grounds under the guise of supporters of fotball. Itmust have horrified most people to see the much publicised pictures of the wrecked compartments of the Oxford bound train.

 

After our 1st away match of the season I received a 'phone call' from the manager of the "Blue Boar" restaurant at the Watford Gap service area, who informed me that a Trent bus load of our followers, not supporters may I add, descended on the place on their way back from Oxford and caused such confusion that the police were called in to clear them out.

 

Ordinary decent people hurriedly lrft the place, no doubt thinking that Nottingham Forest must have the crudest set of supporters in the country, & who can blame them! The police shepherded the ruffians onto the coach and got them on their way'

 

He goes on to ask who is responsible for such occurrencies  ... the police, the Bus Company, the clubs etc ... & early references are made as to the possibility of a 'carding system' where one 'caution' would lead to essentially a 4 game ban and two would lead to the rest of the season! ... he refers to it in the context of having to have an 'access card' to gain entry to any ground in the 1st place ... and we are not talking credit cards here! All a bit bizare but that is the type of dialogue being used at the time.

 

In the next programme v Preston on 22/9/73, Manager Dave Mackay does a Q & A ... One question asks ... 'What do you see as the biggest evils that confront the game today?' ... His answer ... ' The major factors which are working against the wellbeing of the game are, hooliganism which is forcing support away from the grounds and into the arms of that other evil, television'

 

It is again hard to believe just how strongly many in the game felt about television, all be it however minimal coverage was, was such a threat to the game.

 

As we moved into the 1974/5 season, the 'Forest Review' (match programme) 14/9/74, Ken Smales  talks about identity cards for Juviniles and how many letters had been printed in the previous seasons programmes, something Cardiff City had apparently tried something similar, essentially along the lines of not allowing juviniles into the ground unless accompanied by an adult.   

 

He goes on to have another 'pop' at the BBC & ITV saying he is going to keep a list of how many times the cameras attend each club and print a list from time to time.

 

In the next 'review v Portsmouth on 17/9/74, he goes into great detail about the Man Utd v Forest game at Old Trafford on 7/9/74, and the carnage whether you had travelled by coach or train. Man Utd were spending a season in Division Two after their relegation. All their away games were 'all ticket' affairs, such was the size of their fan base and 'hooligans', but this was not the case for their home games. The stand out thing though was for that game at Old Trafford, there was no proper segregation of fans at all ... but neither was there much at any other grounds either. The difference with Man Utd of course was that they, even in Division 2 could attract much bigger crowds that anyone else, hence it was a bigger problem, as we found out that day.  

 

In the 'Forest Review' v Sheff Weds on 1/4/75, an apology is issued to the 'Trent End' as for the home game v Man Utd on 22/3/75, the Police had insisted that it had to be given up by home fans as it was the only 'safe' part of the ground that fans could be adequtely segregated & then it goes on to detail the cost of ground 'improvements', policing etc. Despite these contingencies & as the 74/75 season drew to a close, things off the pitch would continue to 'worsen' ... despite significant improvements on it ... 

 

The 'Forest Review' v Notts County on 30th August makes reference to the season opener v Plymouth on 16th August at the CG. Ken Smales this time includes in his 'focus' article ... 'The disgraceful scenes on our terraces at the Plymouth game have already been amply described in the press and the forthright comments of Brian Clough on the subject merely underline the thoughts of all of us at the City Ground. 

 

Whatever the idiotswho came onto the running track at the Trent End were thinking about I do not know. What were they trying to achieve? If they cannot behave themselves they should just stay away. We don't need their presence at the ground.

 

It's a brave man who will stand up to a crowd of hooligans but we all hope that the time will comewhen the message gets to the ruffians that they are not wanted and their antics do not help the team or club in any way. It was obvious from the applause that Brian Clough received from the crowd that everyone wants to see the end of this tiresome social phenomenon now prevalent at almost every ground throughout the country'.

 

Without being unfairly critical here, I don't think Ken really grasped even remotely, what was actually going on and displayed incredible naievity here.

 

There was little 'New Year' spirit in evidence in the 'Forest Review' for the NYD game v Peterborough in an FA Cup 3rd Round tie, this time the spleen being vented at the TV companies ... KS in 'Forest Focus' ... How long is football going to stand by and allow the T.V cameras access to our groundsand let them screen sports programmes in direct competition with us on Saturday afternoons? I know that they cannot transmit whatever programmes they wish, but we should say to them that they can only have football on the screen if they discontinue this practice of filtering away our bread and butter supporters by showing things like the Grand National, professional golf tournaments, Rugby league & Union internationals etc when nationwide matches are being played' ... the rant goes on but you get the gist. It would not have helped his mood when the Forest fans ran amok in the replay at London Road, following a 1-0 defeat.

 

You may be forgiven for daring to suggest that old KS didn't exactly have an open mind on some of the issues of the day, heaven forbid! I wonder if he ever thought that there was the possibility that his views may be misplaced or wrong?