This is probably the most difficult section to do as there are so many league games that I have been to in over 45 years since it all began for me way back in the 1967/68 season.

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Not quite sure the best way to tackle it therefore -  but I'll give it my best shot.

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I am going to bracket together my first 5 seasons which ended in relegation at the end of 1971/72 & which coincided with me finishing my junior school.  Bac then, a lot of the kids 'supported' the big clubs but I was lucky enough to be introduced and taken to Forest at a very early age, along with some other kids and their Dad's off our estate in Balderton. We were best friends with the Lee family & it is probably fair to say that whilst others went to the games, our two families were the real diehards from very early on. All of us remian good friends to this day. My Dad would take myself and my brother Antony & his friend Tom Lee would take Steve & Andrew ...and at times his two daughters, Jeanette & Alison.   

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Andrew & I were the same age, Steve 3 years older and Antony 4 years younger than myself, and I know they took us to some away games early on but I cannot remember all of them.

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It's difficult to rememebr totally vividly those early years & I know we went to most home games, but there was a gradual decline in Forest's fortunes throughout this period having had a magnificent season in 1966/67. The final league position is detailed below:

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67/68  11th in Div 1

68/69  18th in Div 1

69/70  15th in Div 1

70/71  16th in Div 1

71/72  21st in Div 1 (relegated) 

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So then, my most memorable games from this period as best I can:

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Although my 1st game was v Burnley (24/2/68), I would be lying if I said I could remember much about it. But, I do remember going to the last home game of the season, a night game v Everton which we won 1-0, although probably more for the pop & crisps at the pub on the wy home than the match!

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The following season saw the Main Stand burn down against Leeds early in the season resulting in us playing our home games at Meadow Lane whilst it was rebuilt. I remember very vividly going to those games thinking even then Meadow lane was not as good as the CG. I also clearly remember our 1st match of the season, a 2-2 draw against Burnley on a boiling hot day in August and I'm pretty sure we blew a 2 goal lead but I have not checked this.

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All season we were battling relegation & eventually saved ourselves with 2 games remaining. I can rememeber there being 6 consecutive home games between the 4th & 31st March, 4 of which were won and 2 lost. We did not win until the 6th match of the season in 69/70 but went on a run between 22nd Nov & 7th March where we lost just 1 in 14 and that ensured we were comfortably clear of relegation. Unfortunately we won just 1 of the last 8 and dropped to 15th.

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I can remember losing 1-2 at home to Man Utd and they had the likes of Best, Law & Charlton playing & I specifically remember losing 1-3 at home to Derby, having earlier beaten them away. 70/71 saw a decent start based on what I had been used to, winning 2 and drawing 4 of the 1st 6, including a 4-1 hammering of Wolves at the CG. Whilst we languished in the bottom half of the table, there were never really any relegation worries.  My 1st Forest legend was Ian Storey Moore, who basically scored most of our goals, but we had signed Peter Cormack right at the end of the previous season from Hibs and he was another very good player. I particularly remember a MOTD game against Everton which we won 3-2, with 2 goals from Cormack & 1 from Ian Storey Moore.  In all honesty it was Storey-Moore's goals really that kept us up over those last  3 seasons.

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And so to that fateful 1971/2 season where we would be relegated. I do rememebr an early season win over West Ham 1-0 at the CG, an Ian Storey-Moore penalty but there would only be 1 more win in the next 14 games. A 4-1 win against West Brom at the CG on 13th November where we looked really good but that would be followed by 3 more defeats. A brilliant Ian Storey Moore goal on 27th December v Arsenal in a 1-1 draw in front of 42,750 at the CG sugested there might still be hope, especially when followed up by a 2-2 at Maine Road on New Years Day which left us just 1 point away from safety.

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However then came 7 consecutive defeats culminating in a 2-0 defeat against Ipswich in front of the lowest CG crowd of the season, just 9,872. Cries of "Gillies Out" echoed around a near empty stadium. The result left us 5 points adrift at the bottom of the league and 7 from safety plus we had played a game more. There would be at least some fight after that winning 4,drawing 2 and losing 4 of the last 10 to end the season in 21st and 4 points from safety. The sale of Ian Storey Moore to Man Utd after a 4-0 humiliation at the BBG was probably the final straw but at leas the board reused to sell him to Derby! I remember a couple of good wins against Coventry 4-0 & then Newcastle 1-0 as the fans sang "we'll support you evermore" & optimistically "we're moving up the league" but it was not to be. It would leave a very tearful 11 year old when relegation was confirmed in the penultimate match, a 1-3 defeat at home to Wolves in front of just 16,889.

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I saw though some really good Forest players during these early years - Ian Storey-Moore, Joe Baker, Henry Newton, Peter Grummitt, Peter Hindley, Bob Mckinlay, Terry Hennessey, John Winfield, Barry Lyons, Sammy Chapman, Frank Wignall, Alan Hinton, John Barnwell, Paul Richardson, Jim Baxter, Ronnie Rees, Peter Cormack, Liam O'Kane to list a few, and one Duncan Mckenzie who's time was still to come.    

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I have attached a random selection of clips below from this period:

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRjAU1uHG7w Derby 0-2 Forest 29/11/69

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCjKrjoP6DQ Spurs 6-1 Forest 23/10/71

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=5--EgLVAD0A Forest 0-2 Derby 30/10/71

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua6UiwZXYiM Man Utd 3-2 Forest  4/12/71

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=77iKYWyKZJc Forest 1-3 Derby 14/3/70

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDVYMClPv14 Forest 1-4 Leeds 16/8/69

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0dMyEkyZKk Leeds 2-0 Forest 1/5/71

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Not much to get excited about above then as we were about to begin life in the 2nd Division in the 1972/73 season:

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72/73 - 14th in Division 2

73/74 - 7th in Division 2

74/75 - 16th in Division 2 (Brian Clough arrivedin Jan 75)

75/76 - 8th in Division 2

76/77 - 3rd in Division 2 (Promoted)

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So then, my most memorable games from this 5 year stay in Division 2:

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