Steve Baines might not have been a household name throughout his football career but once his playing career had ended and he made the decision to become a referee he gained more headlines.

 

Born in Newark he joined his local side Forest as a youth player and would make his league debut at the age of 18 at the end of the 1972/73 season when manager Dave Mackay experimented with a number of younger players once Second Division safety had been secured.

 

The two games he played in April 1973 would be the total of his Forest career and after two seasons where he failed to add to these appearances it was no surprise when he was released at the end of the 1974/75 season.

 

Baines signed for Fourth Division side Huddersfield Town who had had a number of lean years since being relegated from Division One along with Forest after the 1971/72 season. Finally he got the chance for regular first team football and further spells at Bradford City and then Walsall cemented his reputation as one of the toughest central defenders in the lower divisions.

 

He would have to wait unti 1983 before he received any sort of success in the game when he helped Scunthorpe United to promotion from the Fourth Division though by the time promotion had been achieved the manager that had built the team, John Duncan was controversially sacked in February.

 

Duncan quickly found employment with Chesterfield and it was no surprise that Baines was one of Duncan’s top transfer targets once the season had ended. Baines was appointed Player/Coach on his arrival and would have a successful time at his new club with the highlight being when he captained the side to the 1984/85 Fourth Division title.

 

An arthritic neck accelerated Baines retirement and after winding his career down in non-league he settled in the Chesterfield area selling insurance. But in an usual move for an ex-player he began to take up refereeing.

 

He made good progress in the refereeing ranks becoming a Football League assistant in 1994. 12 months later he made the Referees List. Only two other referees had got League appearance – Bob Matthewson and John Lloyd but they had only got five appearances between them.

 

He served as a Football League referee for eight seasons gaining a good reputation for his low rate of yellow and red cards and whilst most of his games were in the lower divisions he did officiate in some Championship games.

 

CAREER STATS

 

NOTTINGHAM FOREST        1972/73 to 1974/75      2  (0)

Huddersfield Town        1975/76 to 1977/78    114 (10)

Bradford City            1977/78 to 1979/80     99 (17)

Walsall                  1980/81 to 1981/82     48  (5)

Bury (Loan)              1981/82                 7  (0)

Scunthorpe United        1982/83                38  (1)

Chesterfield             1983/84 to 1987/88    133  (9)

TOTAL                                          441 (42)

 

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1972/73          League           2 (0)

It is always difficult to judge whether a new signing is going to succeed and throughout history players that looked a good signing on arrival turned out not to prove the success that was hoped for. One of these players was David Friio.

 

David was a French footballer who began his career as a defender with local French league side Épinal in 1994. He made 104 appearances for the club scoring 5 goals before moving to Ligue 2 side Nimes in 1997. In a two year spell at Nimes he made 50 appearances scoring 2 goals. In 1999 he then moved to another Ligue 2 side, Valence. He would only spend one year at his new club as they were relegated meaning cutbacks were required.

 

Friio was one of the players that was released and along with Valence team mate Romain Larrieu they crossed the Channel and signed for Plymouth Argyle in 2000 after impressing in a trial period. It was at Plymouth where manager Paul Sturrock converted Friio from a Defender to a Midfielder. Once he broke into the team in December 2000 there was no looking back for Friio who soon established himself as an important member of the team.

 

In his second season at the club he helped the Pilgrims to win the League Two Title with an impressive total of 102 points. Friio’s performances had impressed fellow players and he was rewarded with an inclusion in the Divisional Team of the Season.

 

Friio and his Plymouth team mates settled well into the higher division and only two seasons later were tasting further glory when they won the League One title. Friio again impressed and was named in the Divisional Team of the Season again.

 

When the new season began with things were different at Plymouth manager Paul Sturrock had moved on and had been replaced by Bobby Williamson, also Friio began the season in an unusual position as a substitute. He soon forced his way into the team but by the time January arrived there were a number of rumours linking Friio with a move to pastures new. Friio was out of contract at the end of the season and the club were unlikely to offer him the deal required so instead of losing him for nothing in the summer they accepted a £ 100,000 from relegation threatened Nottingham Forest on 14^th February.

 

It was not a happy start to the club for Friio as would only play 5 games in three months as he was troubled by a calf injury and unable to prevent his new club from relegation. Fully fit for the start of the new season Friio would feature regulary for Forest but injuries struck again and would not play again after a 1-1 draw at Rotherham on 21 January 2006.

 

This would be Friio’s last ever game as although he reported for pre-season training ready for the 2006/07 season he found he had lost his appitite for the game and announced his retirement.

 

Friio then returned to France to began a business within Football. He also acted as a French scout for his final club Nottingham Forest and recommended Guy Moussi to the club. It would a short spell with Forest before Manchester United came calling and he now fills a similar role with them.

 

Perhaps it was the case of the right player at the wrong time for Friio and Nottingham Forest as the club were in need of a box to box central midfielder but he joined the club just as it was in meltdown with numerous rumours of dressing room unrest. His record at Plymouth shows the player had talent so he will go down as one that got away.

 

CAREER STATS

 

Epinal (FRA)            1994/95 to 1996/97   104 (5)

Nimes (FRA)             1997/98 to 1998/99    50 (2)

Valence (FRA)           1999/2000             33 (3)

Plymouth Argyle         2000/01 to 2004/05   167 (39)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST       2004/05 to 2005/06    22 (1)

 

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

 

2004/05        League                  5 (0)

2005/06        League               11+6 (1)              

TOTAL          LEAGUE               16+6 (1)

Every period of success needs an element of luck and Nottingham Forest’s unparalelled success and the end of the 1970’s was no different. If events one week in February 1977 had turned out different the clubs history could have had quite a different look.

Forest began the week sat in 5^th place in the league table in the desperate search for points as they chased a hopeful promotion place but were on a worrying poor run of form that had seen a F.A.Cup defeat to Southampton followed by two more defeats against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Luton Town so far in the month of February. Southampton were the opponents again this time for a midweek league visit to the City Ground.

Forest were boosted for the game by the return of right winger Terry Curran after recovering from a severe knee injury sustained in October. His return did not bring the desired effect as a lacklustre first half saw Forest trail 1-0 with Peter Osgood prominent for Southampton giving Larry Lloyd a troubled game and the liklihood that the bad run would continue as Southampton looked more likely to score more rather than Forest to equalise.

Just when Forest’s promotion campaign was about to have a severe setback they received a major stroke of luck as fog descended on the ground. Firstly the referee was unable to see a bad challenge by Lloyd on Osgood for which Lloyd was threatened with a club ban and then after 47 minutes the referee had little choice but to abandon the match.

This call off could not have worked out better for Forest as when the game was replayed a month later form had changed for the better and they were able to record a 2-1 victory and with Forest only ending up gaining the desired promotion by a solitarty point the two points gained from the Southampton victory when none looked likely when the game was originally played proved to be a massive break for the club.

Whilst the fog had drifted over Nottingham clouds were hanging down the A52 at Derby County where manager Dave Mackay had resigned the previous December, initially he had been replaced by former Forest coach Colin Murphy in a caretaker capacity but a change at boardroom level had created the desire for a more prominent name. Feeling that he had got unfinished business at the club new Derby chairman George Hardy approached Forest hoping to bring Clough and Taylor back to the Baseball Ground.

With Clough feeling he had got unfinished business at Derby it seemed inevitable that he would return to Derby and when a press conference was called it expected that it was only to rubber stamp the return. However to Forest’s delight Clough and Taylor had decided to remain in Nottingham.

Had the fog not caused the referee to abandon the Southampton game, had Clough and Taylor returned to Derby it was these two big strokes of luck one week in February 1977 that had they gone the other way the clubs future would have had a completely different look.

Wednesday 16 February 1977

LEAGUE DIVISION TWO

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 0 v SOUTHAMPTON 1

Abandoned after 47 minutes due to Fog

NFFC

John Middleton, Viv Anderson, Frank Clark, John McGovern, Larry Lloyd, Ian Bowyer, Terry Curran, John O’Hare, Peter Withe, Tony Woodcock, John Robertson

Referee :           Roy Capey (Crewe)

Tuesday 22 March 1977

LEAGUE DIVISION TWO

NOTTINGHAM FOREST (1) 2 v SOUTHAMPTON (0) 1

Tony Woodcock, Martin O’Neill / Peter Rodrigues

NFFC

John Middleton, Viv Anderson, Frank Clark, Sammy Chapman, Larry Lloyd, Ian Bowyer, John McGovern, Martin O’Neill, Peter Withe, Tony Woodcock, John Robertson

SOUTHAMPTON

Peter Wells, Peter Rodrigues, David Peach, Nick Holmes, Mel Blyth, Jim Steele, Alan Ball, Mick Channon, Peter Osgood (Trevor Hebberd), Steve Williams, Ted MacDougall

Attendance :      12,393

Referee :           Roy Capey (Crewe)

Every successful team whilst having a number of star players also tends to contain some unsung heroes. The Nottingham Forest team that dominated European football at the end of the 1970’s was no different. One of these players was Ian Bowyer. Bowyer had started his career at Manchester City where he won a League Cup winners medal in 1970, he then moved to Orient until October 1973 when Forest manager Dave Mackay was looking for someone to share the goalscoring burden with striker Duncan McKenzie and decided that Bowyer was the man to fill that role for what would be a bargain £ 40,000.

Bowyer immediately was given a place in the starting line up but his introduction did not bring the desired effect as Forest were losing 2-1 at half time although Forest had been severely handicapped as they had lost goalkeeper Jim Barron through injury after only  26 minutes. With only one substitute named in those days it meant that forward John Galley had to play the remainder of the match in goal.

Throughout his Forest career Bowyer would gain a reputation for scoring vital goals for the club at important occasions none more so as the winner in Cologne in the 1979 European Cup Semi-Final. An early sign of this occurred during the second half when against the odds Bowyer scored an equaliser to gain Forest a battling point to build hopes of a potential promotion campaign. Bowyer would become the perfect professional for Forest playing in a variety of different positions including one game in 1987 where he played the last half hour of a game at Leicester in goal after Steve Sutton had gone off injured. He was rewarded with a well deserved testimonial at the end of 1986/87 season for his invaluable service to the club.

However down the A52 at Derby the Football world was in shock following the resignation of manager Brian Clough and his assistant Peter Taylor. In the week that followed the Blackpool draw Derby had decided to appoint Dave Mackay as their new manager. Even though there was calls for Forest to appoint Clough as his replacement, even though talks took place the Forest committee stalled and Clough and Taylor had decided to join Brighton. After an attempt to bring Lawrie McMenemy from Southampton they eventually decided to appoint Bury manager Allan Brown. This decision would prove a poor appointment as Brown would only last 13 months before resigning following numerous protests from a dwindling crowd which at the time was struggling to break 10,000.

Fortunately for the Forest committee Brian Clough was available again after his 44 day stint at Leeds and this time they didn’t delay and the quest for glory began.

Saturday 20 October 1973

LEAGUE DIVISION ONE

BLACKPOOL (2) 2 v NOTTINGHAM FOREST (1) 2

Glyn James, Wyn Davies / Duncan McKenzie, Ian Bowyer

NFFC

Jim Barron (John Galley), Liam O’Kane, John Winfield, Sammy Chapman, John Cottam, George Lyall, Duncan McKenzie, Martin O’Neill, Neil Martin, Tommy Jackson, Ian Bowyer

BLACKPOOL

George Wood, John Curtis, Bill Bentley, Terry Alcock, Glyn James, Peter Suddaby, Mick Burns, Alan Suddick, Wyn Davies, Billy Rafferty, Billy McEwan (Keith Dyson)

Referee :               J.D.Williams (Wrexham)

Attendance :       8,101

THE

CHAMPIONSHIP

NO MORE F.A.CUP 1st and 2nd Round and JOHNSTONE'S PAINT TROPHY

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER.