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The Reds set out again in the 1990/91 campaign to try and achieve what they had narrowly missed out on in 1980 & win the trophy 3 years on the trot. That effort would come to a rather dramatic end as we lost 5-4 to Coventry in Round 4. 4-0 down after 34 minutes. All seemed lost but a Nigel Clough hat trick before half time sent the teams in 4-3 at the interval. Gary Parker equalised on 53 minutes only for us to end up losing 5-4.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XEeY_QY8YU Coventry 5 v 4 Forest

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Another great cup run followed in 1991/92. Bolton were disposed of 9-2 on aggregate in Round 2, Bristol Rovers 2-0 in Round 3, then Southampton 1-0 away in a replay after we had been held at the C.G in the 1st game. We beat Crystal Palace 4-2 in a Quarter-Final replay 4-2 at the C.G courtesy of a Teddy Sherringham hat trick which set up another epic battle with Spurs in the semi-final.

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The 1st leg at the C.G ended 1-1 so they fancied themselves at home in the 2nd leg. As you may well have seen several other references on my website already, the 2nd leg remains my favourite ever Forest game. Horrendous weather, IRA bomb scare, revenge for the previous seasons  FACup Final & Roy Keane's headed winner in the mud at the away end after extra time to give Forest a 2-1 win. "Brian Clough's Red n White Army" & Psycho said "it's the best the fans have ever been" ... a great day.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmt4da5zfkM Spurs 1 v 2 Forest - League Cup Semi-Final 2nd leg - My favourite ever Forest game

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We would lose the Final 1-0 to Man Utd and we have not been back to Wembley since. That day is more perhaps remembered for the fighting between the fans which seemed to go on all day inside and outside the stadium.     

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBqvCj4ps-Y Man Utd 1-0 Forest .... Revenge would be gained however as we beat them home and away in March and April in the space of about 1 month in the league and they lost the title to Dirty Leeds by 4 points!

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Whilst the Reds would reach the Quarter-Final stages in the next 2 seasons bowing out to Arsenal in 92/3 & then Tranmere in 93/4, the only slightly memorable ties were the 2-0 victory over Spurs (again) in 92/3 & away at Man City in a replay at the same stage the following season. We have not got that far again since!

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As the 20th Century came to a close there were no other memorable ties to highlight, unless you want to rememeber defeats to the likes of Walsall & Bradford City.

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As we entered the new millenium it would only get worse. In 2005/6 we managed to lose at home to Macclesfield in Round 1, 2-3 in front of just 5,050 & I happened to be one of the unlucky few at Accrington when we crashed out in the 1st Round again, a year later in front of 2,146.

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After such a rich history in the League Cup, it is extremely disappointing that we have not even made the last 8 for 19 years.

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THE UEFA CUP ​

This competition was previously known as the Inter - Cities Fairs Cup & Forest's first foray saw 1st round elimination in 1961/62. I may be wrong but I think entry was via inviatation?

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We qualified for the 67/68 competition (my 1st season watching the Reds) courtesy of a 2nd place finish in 66/67. We reached the 2nd Round before losing on the away goals rule in a 2-2 draw with FC Zurich. The history books will indicate, not all the team in the game in Zurich knew or understood the away goals rule!

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Anyhow, courtesy of a  5th place finish in 1982/83, the Reds embarked on their 1st actual EUFA Cup campaign. Vorwarts Frankfurt  were disposed of comfortably in Round 1, 3-0 on aggregate before an interesting tie against PSV Eindhoven awaited  in Round 2. Peter Davenport gave the Reds a 1-0 lead before PSV levelled from an 85th minute penalty. The Reds came back strongly and Colin Walsh scored the winner also from the penalty spot in the last minute, to send the large Forest contingent behind the goal wild.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0DmXKPQVPY PSV 1-2 Forest ... EUFA Cup Round 2 1st leg ..apologies for the Dutch commentary!

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Davenport scored again in the 2nd leg at the C.G in a 1-0 win to take the Reds through to set up a massive tie with Celtic in Round 3.

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On 23/11 34,084 packed into the C.G for the visit of Celtic which included at least 10,000  travelling Celtic fans inside the ground! It is worth remembering that attendances were dropping all over the country for many domestic games with many of Forest's attendances only around the 15,000 mark.  The game ended 0-0 which put Celtic as favourites to go through. Forest had diffrent ideas and in front of 66,938, pulled off a wonderful 2-1 win at Celtic Park, goals from Steve Hodge and Colin Walsh.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=EICE8ui2UqE  Celtic 1-2 Forest

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The Reds were given a real test in the Quarter- Final against Sturm Graz. A narrow 1-0 win in the home leg was wiped out by half time in the return. At 90 minutes it ended 1-0 to Graz so extra time prevailed. 6 mins from the end of extra  time, and heading seeminly for penalties, Forest were awarded a spot kick, which Colin Walsh smashed home and we were in the semi-finals.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YyTeCETB1I Graz 1-1 Forest ...a bit of Austrian commentary!

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The semi-final at the C.G was largely a tense affair but then up popped Steve Hodge with 2 cracking goals in the last 6 minutes to give the Reds a good lead to take to Belgium. Little could anyone have known what was to follow.

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We did not play particularly well on the night but the 1st turning point came as the 'referee' awarded Anderlecht a 'penalty' on 59 minutes. it was never a penalty as the clip clearly shows. That levelled the tie on aggregate. It got worse, 88 minutes and 3-0. Forest were not finished, last minute up came Paul Hart to score a perfectly good goal ... 3-1 and we were through ... erm No,! The goal is unbelievably ruled out ... Nobody knows why & then he blows his whistle & Forest are out.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbDBWkeTO3I Anderlecht 3-0 Forest ... Cheated Out

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History went on to show that the referee had been bribed. It took some 13 years for the truth to come out but Aderlecht had paid the referee to enure their passage through to the final and ensure Forest went out. Serious crowd trouble followed, although it had been going on inside the ground during the game anyway. He had passed away long before the truth came out.

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Anderlecht were never properly punished for this & Forest never compensated, especially the fans and players & Manager either financially, or more importantly perhaps having had the chance of European success disgustingly stolen away. Like most things that go wrong in life, you can never turn the clock back, and for me this 'saga' was on a par with the Newcastle FACup debacle back in 1974. An all English final against Spurs was not to be but at least they lost the final.

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A 3rd place finish in 83/84 ensured Forest would compete in the same competition again the following season (84/85). Alas, this time we were eliminated in Round 1. A 0-0 draw at the C.G against another Belgian side, Brugge was followed with a 1-0 defeat in the 2nd leg, the goal coming in the 89th minute. More crowd trouble followed.

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At the end of the 84/85 season, 'Liverpool fans' rioted in the Heysel Stadium in the European Cup Final causing the deaths of 39 Juventus fans & a 5 year or so ban for English clubs playing in Europe. Forest would have qualified a number of times over the next few seasons but were denied as a result of the ban.

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Our only other EUFA cup campaign then was in 1995/96, courtesy of our 3rd place finish in the Premier League in 94/95. (These days of course this competition is now known as the Europa league, one which it seems some clubs don't even take seriously!)   We certainly gave it our all and were the last remaining English club in Europe that season.

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Round 1 pitched us with our old friends Malmo. We lost the 1st leg 2-1 away but a wonderful Brian Roy strike gave us a 1-0 win at the C.G and we were through on away goals.

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In the 2nd Round a Steve Sone goal gave us a battling 1-0 win in Auxerre before we held out in the return leg 0-0 at the C.G in front of 28,064. In all honesty we were battered but we still made it through. A similar story in Round 3 against Lyon, a 1-0 win at the C.G and then it was backs against the wall in France as we clung on for another 0-0.

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That set up, a mouth watering tie with Bayern Munich in the Quarter-Final. A narrow 2-1 defeat away in the 1st leg but our luck finally ran out in the 2nd leg at the C.G as we were thrashed 1-5 in front of an appreciative 28,844. We have not been back in Euope since.

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THE EUROPEAN CUP  (PLUS SUPER CUP & WCC)

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​Before I can really tell this story, I have to go back to our promotion season under Cloughie in 1976/77. On 8th March, we lost 1-2 at home to our neighbours Notts County in front of 31,004. That defeat left us in 7th place in Division 2, behind Notts & 5 points behind Wolves in 3rd (the last promotion spot). Project forward to 23rd April & following a 2-1 defeat to fellow promotion contenders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 16th April, we lost 0-1 at home to struggling Cardiff. That left us in 4th with 4 games to go. It certainly was touch and go as to if we would make promotion. We did but ...

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With that in mind, who on earth could have imagined that some 25 months later, we would be parading the European Cup around the Olympic Stadium, Munich ... 'Congratulations Nottingham Forest, the Champions of Europe' the scoreboard read.

Between 25 & 30,000 Forest fans in the stadium, plus thousands back home could barely believe what had been achieved. In just 2 years, we had won the league title for the one & only time in our history; back to back League Cups & now the European Cup, which we would go on to retain the following season of course.

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Yes, I am biased but I genuinely believe that for a modest sized club like Forest, nowhere in the football world has there ever been a more remarkable achievement. In the modern day, sure the likes of Sir Alex, Arsene Wenger & Mourinho are absolute legends but I don't think even they could have achieved what Brian Clough ( & Peter Taylor) did with Forest over those 3 unbelievable seasons.

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Since inception in 1955/56, only 22 clubs can call themselves 'Champions of Europe' (whether you call it the European Cup or 'Champions League' it really does not matter).

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I still have to pinch myself at times when we are considered in the 'same league' as the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Man Utd, Liverpool, Ajax, Juventus, Porto, Inter Milan etc, with regards to the tag of European Champions!  Need I say more? We have won the European Cup infinitely more than the likes of Man City, Spurs & Arsenal combined. Whatever happens in the future, nobody can ever take that away from us & I am so priviliged that I was able to witness  much of it first hand.

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Our European Cup story began on the 13th September 1978, and as you might expect, we had drawn European Champions Liverpool in the 1st Round (none of this seeding b******* in those days). They hated us for taking their crown of Champions of England the previous season, not to mention beating them in the League Cup Final & as they set out to win the European Cup 3 seasons on the trot, they wanted revenge.

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At that time there used to be 22 clubs in Div 1, 2 of which were Forest & Liverpool. The other 20 managers were asked who they thought would progress to Round 2. 18/20 said Liverpool.

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On one of the greatest nights ever at the CG, Forest deservedly won the tie 2-0, a decent lead to take to Anfield. Leading 1-0 through a Garry Birtles goal. With just a few mins left on the clock, Phil Thomson said to a young inexperienced Birtles,  "Ah 1-0 won't be enough when we get you lot back to Anfield"  Within a minute or so Colin Barrett smashed home the 2nd on 87 minutes & Birtles could not help but retort to concorde nose "Will 2 be enough?"

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At a slightly nervous night at Anfield 2 weeks later, we all know it was as Forest got a deserved 0-0 draw to progress to the 2nd Round. No goals  smashed in that night then, the only smashing saved for some of the Forest fans coach windows as trouble flared outside the ground. The fans of Liverpool could not take it and nor could some of their players! Did we care?

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Round 2 - 1st leg - AEK Athens 1-2 Forest. That result put us in a good place for the 2nd leg at the CG on 1st November. Any pundits that had been suggesting that knocking out Liverpool had ruined the chances of the European Cup staying in England were given a wake up call as Forest romped home 5-1 on the night & 7-2 on aggregate in front of another 38,000 plus crowd.

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In the Quarter-Final against Grasshopper Zurich, we led only 2-1 at the CG in the 1st leg but 2 goals in the last 3 minutes & a 4-1 win made the return leg pretty comfortable. It was!  We drew 1-1 to set up a semi-final wih German Champions Cologne.

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11/4/79 - Another one of the very best games ever played at the CG v Cologne. In the mud, in front of 40,804, Forest trailed 0-2 after 20 minutes. When Robertson scored on 63 mins, the Reds led 3-2, only for Okudera to level the tie 5 mins from time ... we all remember I am sure the newspaper headlines the next day ... 'Jap sub sinks Forest'

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The Germans were very confident they were already in the Final, indeed starting to sell hotel packages etc for the game in Munich. Forest had different ideas and thanks to an Ian Bowyer header on 65 mins, Forest were in the final although there were some nervous moments that night.

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There is not much I can say about the final, it wasn't a great game but that did not matter. A cross from our greatest ever player John Robertson  on the stroke of half time, landed perfectly on million pound man Trevor Francis' head and the one goal was enough. Simply unbelievable and an estimated 200,000 people welcomed the team home as the Cup was paraded around Nottingham.

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How could that ever be bettered? Well it was, 12 months later as the trophy was retained on a wonderful warm night in Madrid. Only 8 clubs have achieved the feat of retaining the trophy and that list does not include the likes of Barcelona or Man Utd!

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In 79/80, Forest comfortably disposed of Osters (3-1 on aggregate) in Round 1 & Arges Pitesti (4-1 o aggregate) in Round 2 to set up a tricky Quarter-Final with Dynamo Berlin. Having lost the 1st leg at the CG 0-1, it did not look good as the Reds made their way behind the  then Iron Curtain. An inspired performance from Trevor Francis with 2 goals and a Robertson penalty gave us a 3-1 win on the night (3-2 on aggregate). We were in the semi-final.

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The then still mighty Ajax were visitors to the CG  in the 1st leg & goals again from Francis & Robertson gave us a healthy lead to take to Amsterdam. This really was a 'backs to the wall night' which we lost 1-0 but we amazingly were through to another Final where we would play German giants SV Hamburg, Kevin Keegan & all.

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I took a week off work for this final (having only joined the Bank from school in Aug 79) & I needed it as our Wright's 50 seater meandered it's way to Madrid. We left Newark midnight on the Sunday before the game, arriving in the Spanish capital at about 11am Tuesday morning. After the cup had been won on the Wednesday night, a single goal from Robbo on 19 minutes being enough, we were back on the coach at 10am for a 37 hour journey home. Not quite sure why I chose this method of transport on reflection but it was certainly different to flying and without question a memorable one!

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Apart from the 2 nights in Madrid, we did not have an overnight stop & I reckon I slept for about a total of 6 hours across the entire week. It's probably in my best interest to stick with the football as opposed to other events of that week!

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It was though, along with the Liverpool games, my favourite of all our European Cup games and will for me always remain the greatest of all the great achievements.

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In 80/81, we lost in the 1st Round to CFKA Sofia, 1-0 in both legs. We have never returned and probably never will to compete in this competition again. That does not really matter because we did it: we did it twice and I was so lucky to be able to say I saw it. Nobody can take our fantastic achievments away & Forest fans of all generations still to this day join in on one of my favourite chants ...'We went to Europe, we won the cup twice'

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Winning the European Cups gained us entry to 2 Super Cup Finals. Basically, that was games played between the 'European Cup Winners' & the 'European Cup Winners Cup' winners.

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In 79/80 we beat Barcelona 2-1 on aggregate (1-0 at the CG & 1-1 in the Nou Camp) & in 80/81 we drew 2-2 with Valencia on aggregate, losing on the away goal rule.

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Finally in 80/81, we competed in the World Club Championship Final, in Toyko. (played between the champions of Europe & South American champions. I am not sure if this was the 1st WCCF or if not, why we only played in it once - possibly fixture congestion? but it was still prestigious to be involved in such a match.

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By 80/81, the great European Cup winning sides had been lagely broken up with a rebuilding programme  underway as we moved through the 80's.

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As a lasting memory, I have attached some memorable clips below:

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V0mi4_VIjw Forest 2v0 Liverpool European Cup 1st Round 1st leg & more Forest v Liverpool encounters

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNvL6Be9cx4 www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNvL6Be9cx4  AEK Athens 1 v 2 Forest

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=guQ4wgLA7YQ Forest 5 v 1 AEK Athens

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=896Bnc4efrM Forest 4 v 1 Grasshoppers Zurich

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=827W6j7_GCc Grasshoppers 1 v 1 Forest

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n5MYKkFC4s Forest 3 v 3 Cologne (part 1)

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmAZoLmXFxs Forest v Cologne (part 2)

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t8cgQcNRsU Forest v Cologne (part 3)

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_L2jpO67Fw Cologne 0 v 1 Forest

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rrx3JgGROE Forest 1 v 0 Malmo

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I1lbqa6Ojg Osters 1 v 1 Forest (agg 1-3)

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKDbD9XQvfc Forest 2 v 0 Arges Pitesti

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENUj5OLLmUM Arges 1 v 2 Forest (agg 1-4)

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=31sNYBg8Oe4 Forest 0 v 1 Dynamo Berlin

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAYWifLtI3Y Dynamo Berlin 1 v 3 Forest

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=x25CuxiNuhE Forest 2 v 0 Ajax

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CvKT3vhR-0 Ajax 1 v 0 Forest

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Wq8s8d-12c Forest 1 v 0 Hamburg

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I did not think anyone would wish to see any footage of our 1st Round elimination in 80/81 and the two 1-0 defeats to CSKA, but I did think some may like to revisit the UK number one singles on the 2 occasions we won the trophy!  

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30/5/79 - The Stunning Debbie Harry ... Blondie & Sunday Girl (I still love Blondie, fantastic band!)

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28/5/80 - The perhaps appropriately titled 'What's Another Year' by Johnny Logan

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=obwanhb6kww Blondie 1979

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b3XTj5G_SA Johnny Logan 1980

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THE F.A.CUP

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​Winners in 1898 & 1959, both before I was born & to this day Forest have not won the FACup in my lifetime. Growing up at school in the 1970's, everyone looked forward to Cup Final day and the FACup was the glamour trophy for sure, even though the best team in the country always would be the league champions. As I did not start going to games until the 1967/68 season, I also missed our magnificent Cup Run of 66/67, where defending cup holders Everton were beaten at the CG in the Quarter-Final 3-2 in front of 47,510. An Ian Storey-Moore hat trick had put us into the Semi-Finals where we would lose 2-1 to Spurs. Many 'middle aged & slightly older fans' still cite this as one of the greatest games ever played at the CG.

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After 66/67, Forest did not fair well in the competition for the next few seasons & up to and including 72/73 only got as far as the 5th round once where we lost 2-1 to Spurs at WHL. One funny memory I have was from Jan 1971, a 3rd round tie at home to Luton, where the goalpost collapsed!

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So then, to the 73/74 campaign. Forest were having a decent season & challenging for promotion back to Division One. In the 3rd Round we were drawn against Bristol Rovers & decided to experiment with playing the game on a SundayLeading 2-0, trailing 2-3 and we eventually won the game 4-3. The experiment had worked as an excellent 23,456 were in attendance. Compare that with the league crowds we had been getting, 10,793 for the 1st game & a league season average by the end of the season of 14,310. (and that was up on the 72/73 campaign!)

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Round 4 - 27/1/74 - My first really massive Forest memory and probably my 2nd favourite game of all time. Again, played on a Sunday, early kick off due to floodlight ban as a result of the ongoing miners and power workers strike. 41,472 packed into the CG as 2nd division Forest simply blew away 1st division Man City & their team full of superstars, 4-1. Locally it became known in legend as the 'Duncan Mckenzie' show, though in reality whilst he was magnificent, the whole team were brilliant.

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In the 5th Round a further 38,589 were present to see Forest win 1-0, courtesy of a Ducan Mckenzie penalty to set up a trip to Newcastle in the Quarter-Final.  I have made several references to this game already on my website and the way in which we were cheated out of the competition by Newcastle fans; the clown referee and the gutless spineless F.A. But, however successful we became under Cloughie in later years nothing ever took away entirely the pain of this experience. 

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By the following season BC was in charge and in his very 1st game we beat Spurs 1-0 at WHL in a replay having drawn 1-1 in the 1st game at the CG 4 days earlier. A mamoth 4th round tie against Fulham saw us eliminated in th3 3rd replay in a 1-2 at the CG. More misery followed the following season with a 1-0 defeat in a 3rd round replay at 3rd Division Peterborough, as Forest's fanswent on the rampage after the game.   

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In the 4th Round of the 76/77 campaign we entertained cup holders Southampton, who as a 2nd Division side had beaten Man Utd at Wembley. 38,284, way above the league average, turned up to see a 3-3 classic before we were eliminated 3 days later in the replay 2-1. I have bad memories of the game at the CG as the police had decided they would house 7,000 travelling Saints fans in the Trent End - something that did not go down well with Forest fans. They had done this earlier against Chelsea in a league game in an attempt to keep warring fans apart and they had felt that putting them in 'our main end'  was the only way they could adequately segregate the fans. It did not work for the Chelsea game but that is another story.

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By the time  we embarked on the 77/78 campaign, we were top of Division 1. Victories against Swindon, Man City & QPR were achieved before we went out in the Quarter-Final losing 2-0 at West Brom.    

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In 78/79, we reached the 5th Round and somehow lost 0-1 at home to Arsenal in a game we totally dominated in front of 35,906 at the CG. The following seasons 3rd Round win at Elland Road 4-1 earned me personally a bit of a thumping (don't you just hate Leeds fans)  before we were beaten by Liverpool in the 4th.

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By the time we met Bolton in the 3rd Round in 80/81, it was the only trophy we could win that season. A 3-3 draw at the CG led to a replay 3 days later. We arrived in Bolton that night, went up a one way street... the wrong way! We were subsequently  pulled over by the local constabulary who were not overly friendly about our accidental maneuver. My brother chose to give them some further lip and  we finally got into the ground with about 10 mins to go until half time. Within 5 mins of being there we were nearly out again, following our reaction to a crunching tackle made on Trevor Francis by some thug Bolton defender. They did not appreciate our choice of expletives. Anyhow, we won the game 1-0 to set up a mouthwatering 4th round tie against Man Utd at the CG.

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34,100 packed into the CG for the visit of Man Utd, the day before my 20th birthday and the ideal present as we ran out 1-0 winners. Bristol City were disposed of in Round 5 2-1 at the CG with more street battles after the game before Ipswich were in town for the Quarter-Final. 34,796 packed into the CG to witness a classic 3-3. The replay highlights the lengths some of us football fans go to in order to watch our teams play. I have done things like Plymouth away on a Monday night, Carlisle away on a Tuesday night, 35 hours to & 37 hours from Madrid on a 50 seater bus & Yeovil on a Friday night and the game at Ipswich that night was another example of insane behaviour really.

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At that time I was working for NatWest in the centre of Nottingham and used to catch the 7.00am ish train  from Newark which usually meant getting up at 6am to walk to station.  So, on the Tuesday morning I did this in the normal way and my good old Admin Manager had said I could leave at 4pm to get to Ipswich. Bear in mind I went to the game with a friend who worked in the same office. Anyhow, off we went but due to heavy traffic we arrived at the ground just as it was about to kick off. 30 mins later and still outside the ground (they had underestimated the number of travelling fans  and in those days you turned up and paid on the gate more often than not) Forest scored, only for the referee to disallow it! Eventually, we got in but the pen was so overcrowded that they had to sit some Forest fans on the pitch in front of the wall.

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We lost 1-0 but the nightmare did not end there... we had lost the car! Eventually, we were reunited with it and I got home at 4am, just in time for an hour's sleep before I was up to catch the train to work and another Cup campaign was over.

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The next 3 seasons saw us eliminated at the 1st hurdle each time (Round 3), the worst of these being in the 82/83 season with a 2-0 defeat at Derby. Peter Taylor had gone back there & the usual highly charged affair was ramped up even more as the game was billed Clough v Taylor. I remember this game more for the off-field activity as I witnessed some of the most violent scenes I have ever seen: before ,during and after the game. The train I was on was wrecked on the short journey back to Nottingham to cap of a very unpleasant day all round.

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We finally made the semi-finals in the 87/88 campaign. Wins at Halifax & Orient had set up a 5th Round trip to Birmingham and 12,000 Forest fans made the journey. Again I witnessed some of the worst scenes off the field I had ever seen as fighting broke out all day. We won the game 1-0 but again off the field activity, much to BC's disgust, had dominated the day.

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In the Quarter-Final  at Highbury, some 14,000 Forest fans made their way South for a game nobody expected us to win. We did 2-1 and Cloughie was in the FACup semi-final for the 1st time in his managerial career. It was my 1st one too! Sadly, we lost the semi-final 2-1 to Liverpool at Hillsborough. Little did we know then what horrors awaited for the next campaign.

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In 1988/89 wins against Ipswich, Leeds & Watford had set up a  Quarter-Final tie at Old Trafford. 12,000 travelling Forest fans (our full allocation) filled one end of the ground as against the odds, we secured a wonderful 1-0 victory thanks to a Gary Parker goal. That pitched us again with Liverpool, at Hillsborough again and the ill fated semi-final. I have dedicated an entire section to this game for obvious reasons but eventually it would be Liverpool who made it to the final, defeating us 3-1 in the re-arranged game following the disaster on 15th April 1989.

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Elimination in 89/90 in the 3rd Round, a 0-1 defeat at the CG and revenge for Man Utd, a game reputed to have saved Sir Alex's career as Man Utd went on to win the Cup & in the future  two decades never really looked back.

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We finally made it to Wembley for an FACup Final in 1991 after a fantastic campaign. A marathon against Crystal Palace in Round 3 (3 games and several postponements). Newcastle were sent packing in Round 4 after a replay and the same for Southampton in Round 5. Norwich away in the Quarter-Final meant the Reds had been drawn away in every round and a Roy Keane goal put us into semi-final where West Ham  were eventually blown away 4-0 at Villa Park. I had certainly driven a fair few miles that campaign including night games away at Newcastle and Southampton.

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FACup Final 18/5/91 - My Mum's birthday - surely a good omen?  Afraid not but I 'credit' the outcome of this game mainly down to a clueless clown referee,:Roger Milford. A couple of minutes into the game, Paul Gascoigne commits ABH on Gary Parker - a vile challenge. Milford laughs. 10 minutes or so later maniac Gascoigne tries to break Gary  Charles' leg in two but instead injures himself. Milford laughs. Stuart 'Psycho' Pearce smashes home the free kick to give us a 1-0 lead. Minutes later Gascoigne goes off injured. Not only should he have been sent off, he should have been arrested for assault. It was not to be and it changed the course of the Cup Final.

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Tottenham grew stronger from that point & despite Mark Crossley saving a 1st half penalty from Gary Lineker, they levelled on 54 mins, only to win it in extra time with a Des Walker own goal. Gutted!  If we had won it Cloughie may have retired there and then and

 picked up the only major trophy that eluded him. He deserved the Cup that season as did Forest & Forest's fans. Milford later admitted he had made a major blunder but by then it was all too late. 

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We did reach the Quarter-Finals again the following season where we lost 1-0 at Portsmouth & again in 95/96 where we lost 1-0 at home to Villa but that's the last time we got that far. We have been awful in the FACup ever since.

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A humiliating defeat in Round 5 in 96/97, 1-0 at Chesterfield,.A 3-0 defeat at Chester in Round 2 in 05/06 & defeat this season at home to Oldham 2-3 probably the worst of many bad memories.

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The trip down to Chelsea in 2006/7 when we were in League One saw a brilliant performance from the 6,000 travelling fans  and a dreadful one from the team as we tamely bowed out 3-0, but I loved the banners on display regards our European Cup successes, something Chelsea, despite their billions had not achieved at that time:

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  "Shevchenko 30 million, Drogba 20 million, 2 European Cups priceless"

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The 1 excellent FACup result this millenium came at Man City in Jan 2009 as goals from Tyson, Earnshaw & Garner saw the Reds pull off an amazing 3-0 victory sending our 6,500 travelling fans wild and proving the FACup is still magical... at times.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8ztwRotVwE Newcastle v Forest - FACup Q/F 9/3/74 - Robbed!

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyh2PS9Ca0E Disaster at Derby Jan 1983

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYjjcsG7TJE Arsenal 1 v 2 Forest FACup Q/F 1988

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIhaxhimMq4 Liverpool 2 v 1 Forest FACup semi-final 1988

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgNRSAyu1pk Watford 0 v 3 Forest 5th Round 1989

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a2XHBEwJ-U Man Utd 0-1 Forest Quarter-Final 1989. Motty pays tribute to 'best atmosphere he's witnessed at any game this season' ... and Forest's 12,000 traveling fans ... our maximum allocation ... I loved this day out!

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8Vqd35Z6Yg Newcastle 2 v 2 Forest 4th Round 1991

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnfXTs3dDqY Forest 3 v 0 Newcastle 4th Round replay 1991

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORgwn203a_4 Forest 4 v 0 West Ham FACup semi-final 1991

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0L1r14ZjLs 1991 FACup Final Forest 1 v 2 Spurs

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=JergYQyDPGI Man City 0 v 3 Forest 2009

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Just some clips from our history in the FACup

 

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5/1/14 - Forest 5-0 West Ham ... Probably the highlight of our season as we hammered Premier league West Ham, including an excellent hat trick from Jamie Patterson, certainly one of the bright lights of our season.

 

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