PLAYED FOR US AND THEM

Scunthorpe United - Stephen Baines

2010-04-24T21:43:00Z

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)

Plymouth Argyle - David Friio

2010-04-17T12:07:00Z

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)

Blackpool - Allan Brown

2010-04-10T21:29:30Z

Many Forest fans affinity with the club began during the reign of Brian Clough as manager and can easily name all of his successors however the history of Nottingham Forest B.C (Before Clough) is not as well known.

Clough’s predecessor as manager was Allan Brown and this period is not the most memorable one in the clubs history after the successful side built by Johnny Carey in the mid-sixties had been broken up and Carey was replaced for a disasterous spell in charge by Matt Gillies which saw the side slip from the First Division to the lower reaches of the Second.

Brown began his career at East Fife in 1944 after joining from local side Kennoway. During his time at East Fife he played 62 games and scored 20 goals and also in April 1950 won his first Scotland cap.

In December 1950 the Inside Forward moved south and joined Blackpool for what was then a record fee received by a Scottish club of £ 26,500. It would be mainly a successful time at Blackpool as they reached two F.A.Cup finals but Brown was always jinxed to miss both through injury. In 1951 he injured his knee 10 days before the final and in 1953 he broke his leg scoring the 88^th minute winner in the Quarter Final victory over Arsenal and therefore missed out on playing in the famous “Matthews Final”.

During his time at Bloomfield Road he continued to represent his country and would play for his country in the 1954 World Cup Finals held in Sweden and so highly was he thought of Blackpool that he was inducted into their Hall of Fame.

In February 1957 Brown left Blackpool and joined Luton Town for a fee of £ 8,000 where he would have another successful period of his career. The highlight being the 1959 F.A.Cup run where Brown scored five goals during the campaign including the winner in the sixth round victory over former club Blackpool. These goals helped his side to the Final and at last Brown was able to play in a Wembley final although Luton lost on the day 2-1 to Nottingham Forest.

After leaving Luton in March 1961 Brown finished his league career at Portsmouth before deciding to embark on a managerial career with his first port of call being the then non-league side Wigan Athletic whom he joined as player/manager in August 1963. He remained at Wigan until July 1966 and a few months later in November he returned to one of his former clubs Luton Town who had fallen on hard times and were now languishing in the Fourth Division. Brown began to turn the clubs fortunes round and won the Fourth Division title in 1968. The good form continued into the next season but in December 1968 Brown was sacked after it was discovered he had applied for the vacant job at Leicester City after Matt Gillies had left for Nottingham Forest.

Even though he was unsuccessful in his application for Leicester Brown was not out of work for long as in January 1969 he was appointed manager of Torquay United. Torquay would finish in a respectable 6^th, 13^th and 10^th during his spell at the club but a bad start to the 1971/72 season saw Brown sacked in October.

His next club was Bury whom he joined in June 1972. In his first season in charge the club finished mid-table in 12^th place in the Fourth Division but the following season a good start saw the club chasing promotion.

Meanwhile in the East Midlands the managerial merry-go-round was about to take another twist. Brian Clough and Peter Taylor had walked out of Derby County after a dispute with chairman Sam Longson and with players threatening to go on strike in support of the management team. Longson desperate to appease the players appointed the popular former captain Dave Mackay as their new manager. Mackay had been manager of neighbours Nottingham Forest so a vacancy had arisen at the City Ground.

Clough and Taylor were considered as a replacement by Forest for Mackay but with the committee unable to come to a decision the pair moved to Brighton and with other potential candidates including Lawrie McMenemy rejecting the role Forest would be managerless for a month until a decision was finally made and Allan Brown was appointed the new manager.

Brown’s appointment disappointed a number of Forest fans who had been hoping for a big name appointment. Upon Brown’s arrival he found a team that was beginning to show signs of improvement after a number of barren years that had seen the club relegated from the First Division. Forest were threatening to launch a promotion bid upon Brown’s arrival and even though the eventual finish of 6^th place was a disappointment it was hoped that Forest were heading in the right direction. The major highlight of the season was the F.A.Cup run where Forest eventually lost a controversial match to Newcastle United.

Forest star player during the season had been forward Duncan McKenzie who had scored 28 goals during the season but in the summer of 1973/74 McKenzie was out of contract and although a contract renewal was expected to take place talks dragged on during the summer. After numerous negociations with Brown and Forest chairman Jim Willmer McKenzie grew increasingly frustrated and eventually refused to play for the club and demanded to leave.

On the brink of the start of the season the saga was eventually sorted with McKenzie sold to Leeds in a £ 240,000 deal. Fans now hoped that the funds would be used to strengthen the team as they tried to replace McKenzie’s goals. But for some reason Brown was not able to spend the McKenzie money barring the low key signings of David Jones and Barry Butlin and with Forest getting off to a poor start to the new season fans soon began to stay away from the City Ground. A game shortly before Christmas saw only 8,480 watch a 0-0 draw with Blackpool and with a home defeat 7 days later against neighbours Notts County the writing was on the wall for Brown. With Clough available again after his short stay at Leeds Brown was sacked.

Brown would be out of work for 12 months before joing Southport in 1976 leading them from the bottom of Division Four before getting a call with a job offer he could not refuse. His former club Blackpool came calling and he became their manager in May 1976. He came close to getting the club promoted in his first full season in charge narrowly missing out on promotion by finishing 1 point behind the third place team which was ironically Forest. The following season Blackpool again challenged for promotion but an argument with chairman Billy Cartmell saw Brown sacked. After Brown’s departure Blackpool won only one more game and instead of challenging for promotion they found themselves relegated after not having been in the bottom three all season until the final games had been played.

After leaving Blackpool, Brown had a short spell in charge of Kuwaiti side Quadsia before coming home to Southport and then returning for another spell at Blackpool in March 1981. He would last until May 1982 in what would be his final managerial role.

Sadly in recent years he has been suffering from alzheimers and currently resides in a nursing home in Lancashire.

Brown whilst held in high regard with Blackpool for his playing feats but always seemed to find bad luck at the worst possible time and his managerial career threatened to be better than what he actually achieved and his spell in charge of Forest has been virtually wiped from fans memories due to what success almost immediately followed his departure.

CAREER STATS

LEAGUE CAREER

East Fife 1946/47 to 1950/51 62 (20)

Blackpool 1950/51 to 1956/57 157 (68)

Luton Town 1956/57 to 1960/61 151 (51)

Portsmouth 1960/61 to 1961/62 69 (8)

Wigan Athletic (Non League) 1964/65 to 1966/67 67 (22)

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Scotland (Full) 1950 to 1954 13 (5)

MANAGERIAL CAREER

Wigan Athletic (Player/Manager) 01/08/1963 to 31/07/1966

Luton Town 01/11/1966 to 01/12/1968

Torquay United 01/01/1969 to 01/10/1971

Bury 01/04/1972 to 01/11/1972

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 19/11/1973 to 03/01/1975

Southport 02/01/1976 to 05/05/1976

Blackpool 05/05/1976 to 06/02/1978

Quadsia (Kuwait) 1979/80

Southport 1980/81

Blackpool 01/03/1981 to 31/05/1982

Ipswich Town - Tony Loughlan

2010-04-05T22:17:00Z

When Roy Keane was appointed manager of Sunderland in 2006 the announcement of his number two as Tony Loughlan was greeted with cries of “Tony who ?” but for Forest fans that can remember the Easter weekend of 1991 could recall Loughlan as a Forest player that made a remarkable start to his Forest career.

Loughlan had played his youth football at Leicester City but after not getting a professional deal dropped into non-league and played for Leicester United. It was at Leicester United that he was spotted by Nottingham Forest who not only signed Loughlan and his team mate Neil Lyne in August 1989 but also the then United manager John Perkins, who became a valuable member of Brian Clough’s backroom staff at youth level. Perkins is still today serving the Clough family as he is now at Derby after a successful spell in charge of Wolverhampton Wanderers academy.

The transfer of Loughlan/Lyne & Perkins hit the headlines for the wrong reasons in 1997 when it was highlighted in the crackdown of “Bung” transfers and saw Clough and Forest’s assistant manager at the time Ron Fenton charged with misconduct.

Loughlan worked his way through the ranks at Forest during which time he forged a friendship with a young Irish midfielder called Roy Keane who had just arrived in England from Cobh Ramblers.

Due to an injury crisis on Easter Saturday 1991 that ruled out Gary Crosby, Tommy Gaynor, Nigel Jemson and Phil Starbuck Loughlan made his debut at Wimbledon alongside his friend Keane who by now was a regular after an impressive debut season at the club. Whilst Wimbledon’s old Plough Lane ground was not the most impressive surroundings for a debut it would provide Loughlan a memorable start to his Forest career as he scored the opening goal after only 36 seconds. However this would prove to the only Forest highlight of the day as Wimbledon’s jinx over the club continued as they ran out 3-1 winners.

Loughlan retained his place for the Easter Monday fixture at home to another of Forest’s bogie clubs Sheffield United but Forest would record a rare win over the Blade with the returning Tommy Gaynor scoring both the goals in a 2-0 victory. These two games in three days would be the total Forest career for Loughlan as he would lose his place for the next game to Lee Glover.

After that bright start his career would peter out after a number of injuries saw him drop down the pecking order and he would eventually be released at the end of the 1992/93 season. Upon his release from Forest he dropped back into non-league where he joined Kettering Town, a club his father had previously played for in the 1970’s. But it would be only a quick return to non-league as Lincoln City gave him another crack at League football in October. Injury would restrict him to only 12 appearances at Lincoln before leaving the club at the end of the season.

He then had a spell at League of Ireland club Dundalk in 1994/95 where he helped them to win the league title before having a season at Hinckley and then moving to Corby in December 1996. Further injuries whilst at Corby forced Loughlan into an early retirement in 1998.

In 2001 he joined Leicester City as a part time coach at their academy and eventually his role was upgraded to full time in the summer of 2003. He was still at Leicester in the summer of 2006 when he was approached by his old Forest friend and team mate Roy Keane to join him at Sunderland where he had just been appointed to his first managerial role. Keane responded to why Loughlan was appointed with the comment “He is someone I trust and I have great faith in him. He’s the one person I’ve kept in touch with over 20 years.”

Loughlan would remain at Sunderland until Keane left in December 2008 and would then join his friend again to take up a similar role at current club Ipswich Town in April 2009.

CAREER STATS

PLAYING CAREER

Leicester City (Youth) 1986/87 to 1988/89

Leicester United 1988/89

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1989/90 to 1992/93 2 (1)

Kettering Town 1993/94 5 (1)

Lincoln City 1993/94 12 (2)

Dundalk 1994/95 11 (0)

Hinckley Town 1995/96

Corby Town 1996/97 to 1997/98

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1990/91 League 2 (1)

COACHING CAREER

Leicester City (Academy Coach) 2001/02 to 2005/06

Sunderland (Assistant Manager) 2006/07 to 2008/09

Ipswich Town (Assistant Manager) 2008/09 to Current

Cardiff City - Stephen McPhail

2010-04-03T12:07:00Z

Stephen McPhail could possibly be in the Cardiff City line up for the upcoming game against Forest but so easily could have been wearing a Red shirt in the Easter Monday fixture.

McPhail was born in Westminster, London but spent most of his childhood years in Dublin playing his youth football at Irish side Home Farm before joining the Leeds United academy in 1995. The Leeds academy contained a number of promising youngsters such as Harry Kewell, Jonathan Woodgate and Paul Robinson under the supervision of Paul Hart and McPhail was another that great things were expected.

He made his debut for the first team in February 1998 against Leicester City and the following season would be a regular member of the Leeds squad with 20 appearances including appearances in all competitions. The 1999/2000 season would see McPhail again be a prominent fixture in the Leeds team as they progressed to the semi-final of the UEFA Cup.

However after this season McPhail became a bit part player at the club as a combination of injuries and big money signings restricted his appearances at the club. Then in August 2003 his old Leeds academy boss Paul Hart came calling and he joined Hart at Nottingham Forest on a three month loan deal.

Forest had reached the play-offs the previous season and were looking to mount another promotion campaign but they had a disappointing summer in the transfer market and had begun the season with a weaker team than the season before so McPhail was a welcome addition to the squad as another loan signing Michael Stewart had proved a major disappointment after signing from Manchester United.

He would play in fourteen league games for the club during the loan spell and while his skill and talent were obvious he was alongside Gareth Williams in the centre of the midfield and the two players were of a similar style so we never really saw the full potential of McPhail at the City Ground. When the loan deal expired it was hoped to make the deal permanent but the clubs could not agree terms and McPhail returned to Elland Road where he regained his place back in the side as the club were beginning their decline after hitting serious financial trouble.

With McPhail out of contract in the summer of 2004 he left Elland Road for Barnsley on a two year deal who were now managed (briefly) by Paul Hart. At Oakwell he was finally able to show off his full potential as he became a key member of their side as they tried to gain promotion to the Championship. This they did in 2006 after winning the play offs.

McPhail now at the end of his contract was attracting the attention of a number of clubs and even though he had the opportunity to stay at Barnsley decided to move to Cardiff on a Bosman transfer. He would again impress in his new surroundings as he became a regular in the Bluebirds team. His form was further rewarded when he was offered a new four year contract at the end of the season.

Cardiff manager Dave Jones faith in the player was further shown as he asked McPhail to stand in as captain at the start of the 2007/08 season due to the absence of Darren Purse and Riccardo Scimeca. After a slow start to the season form improved with McPhail’s partnership in midfield alongside Gavin Rae a key factor. Form improved so much that Cardiff reached the F.A.Cup Final before losing out to Premier League Portsmouth.

Since that point McPhail has remained a regular in the Cardiff side although he has faced competition for his place from a number of promising youngsters including Aaron Ramsey, Joe Ledley and Darcy Blake. But even though he started the season in top form this campaign has not be the greatest so far for McPhail as he tore his thigh bone in the 1-1 draw against Forest in November. But this got worse only a few weeks later when he was diagnosed with stage one Malt Lymphona which required radiotherapy treatment.

Thankfully he has made a full recovery and has now returned to the side and is likely to be a key factor in the forthcoming fixture. With the benefit of hindsight and seeing McPhail be one of the most consistent midfielders at Championship level for a number of years, Forest should have made a better effort to keep McPhail especially as Gareth Williams left not long after McPhail left.

CAREER STATS

League Career

Leeds United 1996/97 to 2003/04 52+26 (3)

Millwall (Loan) 2001/02 3 (0)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST (Loan) 2003/04 13+1 (0)

Barnsley 2004/05 to 2005/06 66+4 (4)

Cardiff City 2006/07 to Current 129+6 (3)

NFFC Season by Season

2003/04 League 13+1 (0)

League Cup 2 (0)

TOTAL 15+1 (0)

International Career

Republic of Ireland (Full) 2001 to 2004 10 (1)

Republic of Ireland (B) 2006 1 (0)

Republic of Ireland (U21)

Bristol City - Jim Brennan

2010-03-29T18:50:00Z

In a season where Nottingham Forest has struggled to fill the left back position Jim Brennan was one of the best in the position for the club since legendary former skipper Stuart Pearce.

Brennan was born in Ontario, Canada and initially played his youth football for local side Sora Lazio before joining the Bristol City youth set up as a 16 year old in 1994. He gradually progressed through the ranks into the reserves before making his first team debut in October 1996 in a 2-0 win at Bournemouth. Over the next two seasons Brennan would make a total of 14 league appearances as he became a more regular member of the first team squad as the battled to gain promotion to the Championship

With promotion achieved and the club now in the Championship the 1998/99 season would prove to be the big breakthrough season as he finally established himself as a first team regular. Although it would only be a short stay in the division as the club were relegated after only one season in the second tier Brennan made 29 league appearances and also scored his first professional goal in a 2-2 draw at Stockport. Towards the end of the season Brennan’s good form was rewarded with a call up to the Canada squad for the first time and he won his first cap in a friendly against Northern Ireland.

With Brennan now a regular at Ashton Gate he began the 1999/2000 season hoping to help Bristol City regain their Championship status but his performances were beginning to get noticed elsewhere and after impressing in two League Cup ties against them Nottingham Forest made a £ 1.5million bid for the player.

Nottingham Forest had been relegated from the Premiership the previous season and the club was going through a massive period of change as the previous board of Wray/Scholar/Soar had been replaced by a new one led by Eric Barnes along with the financial clout of Nigel Doughty and they had brought in former England captain David Platt as manager. Keen to show their intention a number of big money transfers were made to try and improve the squad with Italians Moreno Mannini, Gianluca Petrachi and Salvatore Matrecano joined by Riccardo Scimeca in signing for the club. Brennan though not as well known as the other signings became the latest new addition to the ranks.

He immediately became a regular at left back allowing Alan Rogers to play further forward in a left midfield role to which he was more suited. He would play 28 league appearances for his new club in what was a disappointing season for the club as the hoped promotion attempt failed to materialise. Initial reaction from Forest fans was that perhaps the fee was a bit high but he looked a decent signing.

Brennan’s second season at the club would not progress as expected as the combination on the left hand side between Brennan and Rogers not working as expected with Rogers attitude of blaming everyone else for his mistakes beginning to affect Brennan’s form and he would not feature as often as expected making only 12 league appearances during the season and ending the season on loan at Huddersfield Town.

Forest had a change of manager in summer of 2001 when Paul Hart replaced Platt at the helm and the club changed their policy of big spending to one of developing the youth potential. Things looked bleak for Brennan at the start of the campaign when youngster Keith Foy was preferred in the left back position but it was obvious early on that Foy had not got the fitness and attitude required for a professional footballer and Brennan was back in the team.

With Forest now playing a more pleasing on the eye style of football with suited Brennan’s strengths and with Rogers now moved on to Leicester the Canadian began to flourish in the Forest team and would play in 41 league games during the season.

Brennan would be a key performer for the club the following season as the club mounted an unexpected promotion campaign. The only game he would miss during the season would be the final league game where he was rested for the forthcoming play off games where Forest narrowly missed out on a trip to Cardiff after an agonising defeat at Sheffield United. In March of the season Brennan scored what would be his only Forest goal in a 4-0 victory over Norwich City and the Canaries would feature in Brennan’s career a lot sooner.

Brennan was out of contract after the 2002/03 season and it was expected that this would be sorted fairly quickly but time went by and nothing was agreed and then in the summer of 2003 Brennan disappointed at the level of contract offered as well as seeing the club make the permanent signing of Davy Oyen decided to join Norwich City on a Bosman free transfer.

His first year at Carrow Road would initially be a frustrating one as Brennan suffered aan abductor muscle injury which forced him to delay his debut until the end of November but in the end the decision to join Norwich was rewarded as at the end of the season they would win promotion to the Premiership. Brennan would not be a regular in the Premier League and only played in 10 games during the 2004/05 season as Norwich suffered last day heartbreak as they made an immediate return to the Championship as West Bromwich Albion staged their version of the “Great Escape”.

On the clubs return to the Championship Brennan would be a more regular feature in the match day squad though not a regular in the side as he struggled to dislodge Adam Drury at left back. With his contract due to expire at the end of the season and it being unlikely to be renewed Brennan joined fellow Championship side Southampton in January where he would play 14 games on the south coast before being released in the summer.

With options now limited in England Brennan got the call to return home in September 2006 when his home town of Toronto launched a Major League Soccer (MLS) team and Brennan had the honour of being the first player to be signed by the club. Brennan has remained a regular at Toronto and is now the club captain gaining a reputation as Toronto’s “Iron-Man” after playing a number of games with a rib injury. He also made an appearance for the MLS All Star team in 2008 which beat West Ham United 3-2.

Even though the manner of Brennan’s departure from Forest soured some of the fans image of the player he has never been adequately replaced since his leaving and he still looks back on his time at the City Ground with great affection as on his own personal web site states that “Along with Toronto FC, Forest is Brennan’s team. He is a lifelong Red”.

CAREER STATS

LEAGUE CAREER

Bristol City 1996/97 to 1999/2000 51+4 (3)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1999/2000 to 2002/03 117+6 (1)

Huddersfield Town (Loan) 2000/01 0+2 (0)

Norwich City 2003/04 to 2005/06 25+18 (1)

Southampton 2005/06 13+1 (0)

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1999/2000 League 25 (0)

F.A.Cup 3 (0)

TOTAL 28 (0)

2000/01 League 12 (0)

F.A.Cup 1 (0)

League Cup 2 (0)

TOTAL 15 (0)

2001/02 League 41 (0)

F.A.Cup 1 (0)

League Cup 3 (0)

TOTAL 45 (0)

2002/03 League 45 (1)

Play Offs 2 (0)

F.A.Cup 1 (0)

League Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 49 (1)

TOTAL League 123 (1)

Play Offs 2 (0)

F.A.Cup 6 (0)

League Cup 6 (0)

TOTAL 136 (1)

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Canada 1999 to 2008 49 (6)

Newcastle United - Tommy Wright

2010-03-24T18:52:00Z

Tommy Wright was one of the most unlucky players I can ever remember playing for Nottingham Forest but indirectly he played an important part for the team during the 1990’s.

As he attended a non-footballing school in his home town of Ballyclare Tommy was late arrival into football with him excelling at Athletics and Cross Country at school with the highlight of becoming “All-Ireland” Cross-Country Champion in 1978. He began his footballing career as a teenager initially as a forward for local amateur league team Grange Rovers but when he switched to goalkeeper he began to make people notice his potential.

Firstly he moved to “B” Division team Brantwood before joining top League of Ireland side Linfield. Although not a regular at Linfield Wright gained his first international honours whilst at the club when he won an Under-23 cap. This call up brought him to the attention of a number of English League sides and in March 1988 Newcastle United who were then managed by Willie McFaul who himself made the journey from Linfield to Newcastle in the mid-60’s signed Wright for a fee of £ 30,000.

Wright would make his debut in January 1989 by which time Jim Smith had become manager of a Newcastle side destined for relegation and would make nine appearances during the 1988/89 season. Towards the end of the season the disappointment of the imminent relegation was tapered when he won his first Northern Ireland cap in a World Cup qualifier in Malta.

The following season Wright would feature more for Newcastle but eventually veteran John Burridge gained preference and with Newcastle heading for the play offs Wright struggled to regain his place. Even though Newcastle lost in the play offs Wright struggled to oust Burridge who remained first choice the following season and would not play for the club during the 1990/91 season though a period on loan at Hull City would give him more first team opportunities.

Things looked bleak for Wright when new manager Osvaldo Ardiles brought in Pawel Srnicek but the 1991/92 season would see Wright as first choice at St.James Park, playing in 33 league games and when Kevin Keegan arrived in February things were beginning to look a lot brighter at the club.

Wright began the 1992/93 season as first choice but an injury against Birmingham saw him lose his place to Srnicek and with Newcastle heading for promotion he failed to get the goalkeepers jersey back. An early season injury to Srnicek the following season saw Wright make three Premiership appearances for the club but the signing of Mike Hooper brought an end to his Newcastle career (for now).

Nottingham Forest had been relegated the previous season in Brian Clough’s final season as a manager and new manager Frank Clark was building a new team hoping for immediate return to the Premiership. The club had been struggling for a quality goalkeeper for a few years since Clough had fallen out with Steve Sutton over contract negotiations. Recent seasons had seen the erratic Mark Crossley and Andy Marriott tried in goal but neither had proved a successful replacement for Sutton.

In search of a replacement Clark returned to the club where he played most of his career and signed Wright for £ 450,000 in September 1993. Wright went straight into the Forest team and finally it seemed he was first choice at a club. However in November Wright got injured in a game at Sunderland and Crossley was back in the team.

The two months out of the team had changed Crossley, he had learned from his past mistakes both playing and personal and was determined to hang on to the jersey this time. He came back a different keeper and Wright would embark on a frustrating period at club as a number of injuries would blight his career. Firstly he suffered a back problem then he needed an operation on the cartlidge on his knee during which time Crossley had become a permanent fixture in goal as well as becoming a crowd favourite. Then when he finally had become fit his son became serious ill and Wright was allowed time off on compassionate grounds.

After that first injury occurrence at Sunderland Wright would make only two further appearances for the club with a County Cup appearance in the 1994/95 season followed by a Premiership appearance at Tottenham when Crossley was suspended. Even though Wright was man of the match in the Tottenham game his career at Forest was almost over as Frank Clark who was now Manchester City manager was about to complete a permanent transfer for Wright after he had spent a month on loan before being recalled for that Tottenham appearance.

Wright would be first choice at Manchester City until Clark lost his job and was replaced by Joe Royle who preferred youngster Nicky Weaver meaning Wright was back as reserve keeper again. The remainder of his career would see Wright on a number of loan deals including a return to NewcastleBolton in 2001. before ending his league career at

He then rejected the chance to stay on at Bolton and moved back to Northern Ireland to play for Ballymena before his injury curse struck again and he decided to concentrate on a coaching career. He first became goalkeeping coach at Linfield and then manager at Limavady United between 2003 and 2005 followed by Ballymena from 2005 to 2008. In May 2008 he returned to England to become goalkeeping coach at Norwich City but left in February 2009 when Glenn Roeder left as manager.

Wright then returned to Ireland initially as goalkeeping coach at Shamrock Rovers before taking over as manager at Lisburn Distillery where he remains today.

Wright will never be mentioned as a Forest great but his arrival got Mark Crossley to reassess how his career was progressing and turned him from terrace boo boy to become a terrace cult hero but in his own right was a quality keeper that seemed to suffer injuries at key times that lost him his place in sides.

CAREER STATS

PLAYING CAREER

LEAGUE CAREER

Linfield 1983/84 to 1987/88 7 (0)

Newcastle United 1987/88 to 1993/94 72+1 (0)

Hull City (Loan) 1990/91 6 (0)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1993/94 to 1996/97 11 (0)

Reading (Loan) 1996/97 17 (0)

Manchester City 1996/97 to 2000/01 24 (0)

Wrexham (Loan) 1998/99 16 (0)

Newcastle United (Loan) 1999/2000 3 (0)

Bolton Wanderers 2000/01 3+1 (0)

Ballymena United 2001/02 6 (0)

Linfield 2002/03 0 (0)

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1993/94 League 10 (0)

League Cup 2 (0)

TOTAL 12 (0)

1994/95 County Cup 1 (0)

1995/96 Did Not Play

1996/97 League 1 (0)

TOTAL League 11 (0)

League Cup 2 (0)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 14 (0)

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Northern Ireland 1988/89 to 1999/2000 31 (0)

(including 10 appearances whilst a Forest player)

COACHING CAREER

Linfield (GK Coach) 2002/03

Limavady United (Manager) November 2003 to May 2006

Ballymena United (Manager) May 2005 to April 2008

Norwich City (GK Coach) May 2008 to February 2009

Shamrock Rovers (GK Coach) February 2009

Lisburn Distillery (Manager) September 2009 to date

Crystal Palace - Dougie Freedman

2010-03-20T08:46:00Z

Over the years a number of players have split opinion amongst Forest fans but none more so than striker Dougie Freedman (pronounced ‘Duggie’ not ‘Doogie’).

Born in Glasgow he played his youth team Football at Rangers (Queens Park not Glasgow) without making their first team and moved to Barnet on a free transfer in July 1994. He made an instant impression after making his debut in August 1994 scoring 24 goals in his debut season.

A good start to the following season (1995/96) when he scored 3 goals in the opening 5 games persuaded Division One (now Championship) Crystal Palace to pay £ 800,000 for his services. He had no problem adjusting to his new surroundings and scored 20 goals for his new club including an eleven minute hat-trick against Grimsby in March.

He was less prolific in front of goal the following season with only 11 goals but helped Palace reach the Promotion Play-Offs where he scored two late goals in the semi-final against Wolverhampton Wanderers to help his side get to Wembley. Palace would beat Sheffield United 1-0 in the final meaning the club and Dougie had reached the Premiership.

However Freedman’s first experience of the Premiership was a brief one after only eight appearances in the top division he moved back down a division to join the team he had helped beat in the play offs Wolverhampton Wanderers initially on loan but then the move was made permanent for a £ 800,000 fee plus right back Jamie Smith going in the opposite direction.

Freedman would be Wolves top scorer during the 1997/98 season in what was a disappointing season for the club as a predicted promotion challenge did not materialise and when Robbie Keane emerged from their youth team Freedman found himself on the move again.

This time he finally got the chance of a full season in the top division as newly promoted Nottingham Forest paid £ 950,000 for his services. However he found his new club badly equipped for the new higher level with the sales of Colin Cooper and Kevin Campbell leading to the infamous strike of Pierre Van Hooijdonk. Even though Forest made an promising start to the season with an encouraging display in an opening weekend 2-1 defeat to reigning champions Arsenal followed by two back to back wins against Coventry and Southampton. Freedman would score his first Forest goals in a Worthington Cup game against Leyton Orient in September with his League first coming a month later at Anfield in a 5-1 defeat where Michael Owen scored four by which time Freedman had been joined up front by his former Palace team mate Neil Shipperley.

Even though Forest were outclassed during the season Freedman was one of the few Forest player who emerged with some credit as he managed to be the clubs top scorer with 9 goals.

Freedman was expected to be a key Forest player the following season but new manager David Platt did not seem to rate him and with rumours of dressing room unrest behind the scenes with Freedman along with Mark Crossley and Nigel Quashie the most vocal dissenters (allegedly) Freedman found himself in and out of the side with Marlon Harewood and new signings Jack Lester and Stern John gaining preference.

Freedman remained at the club the following season but would be only on the fringes of the team and when Robbie Blake was signed on a long term loan Freedman was on the move again. This time instead of moving to pastures new he found himself in familiar surroundings as he rejoined former club Crystal Palace.

His first season back at Selhurst Park saw Crystal Palace in a relegation battle with a distinct possibility of demotion to the third tier of English football and in all probability would have done so without Freedman’s contribution. He managed 11 goals for the club during the season with the 11^th goal one of the most important in his career as it came 3 minutes from the end of the final game of the season which kept Palace in the division and relegated Huddersfield instead.

Freedman was amongst the goals again the following season with another 20 in the league and also winning an international call up to the Scotland squad where he scored on his debut against Latvia. It would be a brief International career as Craig Brown left shortly after that game and his replacement Berti Vogts only gave Freedman 1 more cap.

A quiet 2002/03 season followed as new Palace manager Trevor Francis preferred Ade Akinbiyi, Dele Adebola and Andrew Johnson as his strikeforce but when Iain Dowie replaced Francis the following season Freedman was back in favour again and back amongst the goals as he helped Palace to play off success and a return to the Premiership.

With Palace opting to play only one striker at the top level (Andrew Johnson) Freedman became a bit part player again but would finally score a Premiership goal for Palace when he scored in the final day draw at Charlton which was not good enough for Palace to survive and they were relegated back to the Championship.

Freedman remained a regular member of the Palace team upon relegation but was forced to make more and more appearances from the substitutes bench. After initially rejected the chance of a move to Leeds in 2004/05 Freedman finally moved on loan to the club for the last part of the 2007/08 season and his goals helped Leeds reach the League One play off final only to lose to Blackpool.

Upon his return to Palace he was rewarded with a testimonial game as a thank you for his services before making his final playing move to Southend United.

Towards the end of his Crystal Palace playing career he took the role of Reserve Team Manager and earlier this month he returned to Selhurst Park as Assistant Manager to new boss Paul Hart.

My opinion of Freedman is that he never got the credit from Forest fans that he deserved with moments of magic such as his Ricky Villa-esque goal at Walsall mixed in with him missing a sitter at Norwich. But he was unfortunate to play in a poor Forest side and his goal record is pretty decent considering the circumstances.

CAREER STATS

LEAGUE CAREER

Barnet 1994/95 to 1995/96 47 (27)

Crystal Palace 1995/96 to 1997/98 93 (31)

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1997/98 29 (10)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1998/99 to 2000/01 70 (18)

Crystal Palace 2000/01 to 2007/08 237 (64)

Leeds United (Loan) 2007/08 11 (5)

Southend United 2008/09 to 2009/10 36 (6)

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1998/99 League 20+11 (9)

F.A.Cup 1 (0)

League Cup 4 (3)

TOTAL 25+11 (12)

1999/2000 League 28+6 (9)

F.A.Cup 2+1 (1)

League Cup 4 (1)

TOTAL 34+7 (11)

2000/01 League 2+3 (0)

League Cup 0+1 (0)

TOTAL 2+4 (0)

TOTAL League 50+20 (18)

F.A.Cup 3+1 (1)

League Cup 8+1 (4)

TOTAL 61+22 (23)

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Scotland Full 2001 to 2002 2 (1)

Scotland U21 8 (2)

Peterborough United - David Pleat

2010-03-16T18:18:00Z

David Pleat might not be the most popular person amongst Nottingham Forest fans due to his membership on the “Acquisitions Committee” but what is not as well known is that he played for the club in the past as well.

As a player he was more than a promising winger and as a schoolboy and youth represented England. Born in Nottingham he joined his local team Nottingham Forest signing professional forms in 1962. He made a memorable debut as a 17 year old in February 1962 scoring the winner against Cardiff.but his only other appearances that season were at the end of the season in the County Cup.

Pleat would not play again for Forest in the league until 1963 when he had a run of 5 games in the side but that would be the total of his Forest as by the end of the season the club had decided he was not going to reach the heights of his youth career and Pleat left the City Ground for Luton Town.

Pleat would finally get the opportunity to play regular first team football but this would be brought to a halt when he broke his leg during his first season. With hindsight he came back too quickly from his injury causing him back problems. This caused him to lose some of his natural speed which was important in his role of winger. He would however play 70 games for the Hatters in three seasons before moving to Shrewsbury. He would only have one season at the club before going on the move again this time to Exeter City. He would become a regular at Exeter in his two seasons at the club before moving to Peterborough United.

He would play one season at Peterborough and it would be his final season as a league player when at the age of 26 he took his first coaching role as player/manager at non-league Nuneaton Borough. He would have a year at Nuneaton before rejoining his former club Luton Town as part of their coaching team.

By December 1978 Pleat had been promoted to chief coach and when manager Harry Haslam moved to Sheffield United Pleat became manager. After surviving a relegation scrap in his first season he began improving the clubs fortunes and in 1981/82 he led the club to the Second Division title and promotion to the First Division.

It would be a hard first season with the club heading into the final game of the season deep in relegation trouble as they sat in one of the relegation places. But their destiny was in their own hands as they had a winner takes all game at Manchester City where the loser would be relegated. With a draw good enough for Manchester City things looked in their favour when it was still 0-0 late in the game when a late Raddy Antic goal saw Luton survive. The end of the game saw Pleat famously run across the Maine Road pitch in celebration.

After this he established Luton as a First Division club with a number of players going on to gain international honours such as Ricky Hill, Brian Stein, Paul Walsh and Mick Harford. During this time he came close to leading the club to cup success but they lost in the F,A,Cup semi-final to Everton in 1985 and to Everton again in the 1985/86 League Cup Quarter Finals.

At the end of the 1985/86 season Pleat was offered the managers job at Tottenham and he moved to White Hart Lane. Blessed with the talents of Glenn Hoddle, Chris Waddle, Osvaldo Ardiles, Richard Gough, Ray Clemence and Clive Allen he led Tottenham to the F.A.Cup Final in 1987 but they lost for the first time in a F.A.Cup Final in their history in an exciting game against Coventry City.

In spite of losing Hoddle and Gough in the summer Tottenham were now expected to be challengers in the forthcoming season and this potential helped Plear to persuade Johnny Metgod and Chris Fairclough to leave Nottingham Forest to replace the departed stars. However in October 1987 Pleat was forced to resign as manager after disclosures about his personal life appeared in the newspapers.

After a couple of months out of work he joined Second Division Leicester City. After a slow start an encouraging end to the season gave the club hope of better times ahead for the following season but these hopes turned to nothing and when the club found itself in relegation trouble in January 1991 he was sacked.

In the Summer of 1991 Pleat returned to familiar surroundings as he rejoined Luton Town in the hope to capture former glories. But he found a club a shadow of its former self who were now struggling financially to survive in the First Division. He soon lost Lars Elstrup, Tim Breacker, Iain Dowie and also young star Kingsley Black (to Forest) and in spite of former heroes Mick Harford and Brian Stein returning the club were relegated.

Luton would remain a selling club and would continue to struggle in the league though a F.A.Cup run in the 1993/94 F.A.Cup where they reached the Semi-Finals at Wembley gave hope that brighter times lay ahead. Then in the following season the club at one point sat in 5^th position before the decision to sell star striker John Hartson put paid to any promotion hopes and the season tailed away and they ended up in 16^th place.

At the end of the season Pleat returned to the top division after being named to replace Trevor Francis at Sheffield Wednesday. He would have a mixed spell at Wednesday with good periods such as August 1996 where he won Manager of the Month with other less successful periods. When in November 1997 the club found itself struggling Pleat was sacked.

In 1998 he returned to Tottenham Hotspur as Director of Football and would fill the role of caretaker manager in three different spells following the sackings of Christian Gross, George Graham and Glenn Hoddle. The latter spell saw him in charge for most of the season after Hoddle departed in September 2003.

He left the club at the end of the 2003/04 season and concentrated on his media work where he had become one of ITV’s main summarizers as well as a number of newspaper articles.

In 2006, being a close friend of Nottingham Forest chairman Nigel Doughty his career had gone full circle as he rejoined his home town club where his career had began all those years ago. After advising the chairman on a number of football issues he took the role of Foorball Consultant which included membership on the “Acquisitions Panel” to advise on potential transfers.

ITV dropped Pleat in the summer of 2009 and he his encyclopaedic knowledge of the game can now be heard on 5Live commentaries.

Perhaps he will be more remembered for the lows in his career such as his personal problems at Tottenham and being on the Acquistions Committee at Forest but many have forgotten the success he created at Luton and the exciting team he began to create in his first spell at Tottenham.

CAREER STATS

PLAYING CAREER

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1961/62 to 1963/64 6 (1)

Luton Town 1964/65 to 1966/67 70 (9)

Shrewsbury Town 1967/68 12 (1)

Exeter City 1968/69 to 1969/70 68 (14)

Peterborough United 1970/71 28 (2)

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1961/62 League 1 (1)

County Cup 2 (0)

TOTAL 3 (1)

1963/64 League 5 (0)

TOTAL League 6 (1)

County Cup 2 (0)

TOTAL 8 (1)

MANAGERIAL CAREER

Nuneaton Borough 1971/72

Luton Town 25/01/1978 to 16/05/1986

Tottenham Hotspur 16/05/1986 to 23/10/1987

Leicester City 24/12/1987 to 29/01/1991

Luton Town 06/06/1991 to 14/06/1995

Sheffield Wednesday 14/06/1995 to 03/11/1997

Tottenham Hotspur 07/09/1998 to 01/10/1998 (Caretaker)

Tottenham Hotspur 16/03/2001 to 02/04/2001 (Caretaker)

Tottenham Hotspur 21/09/2003 to 03/06/2004 (Caretaker)

Barnsley - Danny Wilson

2010-03-13T12:52:00Z

At one time Danny Wilson seemed to be destined to be one of the games future top managers but for one reason or another it has never seemed to work out for him at the top level even though he forged himself a career as a successful career in charge of clubs in the lower leagues.

This struggle to establish himself will be nothing new for Wilson as his playing career took a similar route. After joing Sunderland as an associate schoolboy he eventually joined home town club Wigan Athletic (then still a non-league club) as a 15 year old before turning professional with Bury in 1977.

He soon became a regular fixture in the Bury team that included current PFA chief Gordon Taylor but it was not a good Bury team and they were relegated to the Fourth Division at the end of the 1979/80 season. At the end of the season Wilson moved to Chesterfield who had noticed Wilson towards the end of the season.

Chesterfield had missed out on promotion to the Second Division by 1 point and came close again in Wilson’s first season at his new club where they missed out by 3 points. However Chesterfield found themselves in financial difficulty as they struggled to afford the fee paid for Wilson and with interest payments building they eventually had to cash in on their prize asset.

Wilson made the short journey to Nottingham Forest as Brian Clough began rebuilding his side after losing a number of the side that had won the European Cup twice a few seasons before. He made his debut in February 1983 and scored on his debut although Forest lost 2-1 to Aston Villa. Wilson would feature in the next 9 games but it was not a good period to be introduced to the team as the club were in the middle of a run of ten games without a win. Eventually Wilson would lose his place in the team to Colin Walsh and baring one County Cup game at the end of the season and one substitute appearance in the UEFA Cup the following season that was all Wilson’s career at Nottingham Forest amounted to.

For some unknown reason he was frozen out after those initial 10 games and although a later interview with Wilson indicated he had a bit of an attitude at that stage of his career no-one knows for certain what happened.

With no improvement in his Forest situation he move to Brighton in November 1983 where he got the chance to play regular football again. Like his pre-Forest career he impressed again and was rewarded with a call up to the Northern Ireland squad.

Then in the summer of 1987 he got given another crack at the First Division when he joined Luton Town. This time Wilson did not waste his chance at the big time as he helped the club to the 1988 League Cup Final where he scored an equaliser with only 8 minutes to go before Brian Stein scored a last minute winner.

He helped his club return to Wembley the following season but was unable to repeat the success as they lost 3-1 to his old club Nottingham Forest. After three successful seasons at Luton Town he was persuaded by Sheffield Wednesday manager Ron Atkinson to join the Owls as they were bidding for a return to the top division following relegation the previous season.

It would be a remarkable first season at the club as not only did Wednesday achieve their goal of winning promotion they also reached the Rumbelows (League) Cup Final where as huge underdogs they managed to beat Manchester United in the Final.

He stayed at Sheffield Wednesday until the summer of 1993 when he joined neighbours Barnsley as Player/Assistant Manager to work alongside former Forest team mate Viv Anderson. When Anderson decided to join Bryan Robson at Middlesbrough a year later Wilson became Manager.

It would be an impressive start as a manager for Wilson as in 1996/97 he guided Barnsley to the top division for the first time in their 110 year history. It would be a one year stay in the Premiership but would success in the F.A.Cup reaching the Quarter Finals by beating Manchester United in the Fifth Round.

In the summer of 1998 Wilson became manager at his former club Sheffield Wednesday but even though there were occassional moments of success his period in charge of the Owls were not the most successful of his career. It came to a point in January 2000 when two Sheffield MP’s tried to get Wilson sacked by tabling a motion in the House of Commons. Ironically he would end up winning Manager of the Month for that period but the writing was on the wall and he was sacked a couple of months later in March.

He was back in work in the summer when he became Bristol City manager with the aim of getting the club into the second tier of English football and in a four year spell came close on a couple of occasions missing out twice in the play offs after finishing in third place in the table.

After failing to gain promotion by the end of his four year contract in 2004 his contract was not renewed and he left Ashton Gate. After a fairly unsuccessful spell at Milton Keynes Dons he joined Hartlepool in 2006 where the Wilson magic returned and the club won promotion from League Two in his first season in charge. Then even though the club were not in relegation trouble he was sacked in December 2008.

He was not out of work for long as he was appointed Swindon manager in December 2008 where he beginning to work his magic as they are in play off contention in League One.

CAREER STATS

PLAYING CAREER

LEAGUE CAREER

Bury 1977/78 to 1979/80 90 (8)

Chesterfield 1980/81 to 1982/83 100 (13)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1982/83 to 1983/84 10 (1)

Scunthorpe United (Loan) 1983/84 6 (3)

Brighton & Hove Albion 1983/84 to 1986/87 135 (33)

Luton Town 1987/88 to 1989/90 110 (24)

Sheffield Wednesday 1990/94 to 1992/93 98 (11)

Barnsley 1993/94 to 1994/95 77 (2)

TOTAL 626 (95)

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1982/83 League 9+1 (1)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 10+1 (1)

1983/84 UEFA Cup 0+1 (0)

TOTAL League 9+1 (1)

UEFA Cup 0+1 (0)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 10+2 (1)

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Northern Ireland 1987 to 1992 24 (1)

MANAGERIAL CAREER

Barnsley 02/06/1994 to 07/07/1998

Sheffield Wednesday 07/07/1998 to 21/03/2000

Bristol City 27/06/2000 to 05/06/2004

MK Dons 07/12/2004 to 21/06/2006

Hartlepool United 31/06/2006 to 15/12/2008

Swindon Town 26/12/2008 to date

Preston North End - George Lyall

2010-03-06T20:15:00Z

George Lyall had initially began his career as a junior with Kingskettle Amateurs before joining Raith Rovers. He made an immediate impact by scoring 32 goals in his first season in Raith’s team. This team alerted other clubs to his ability and in March 1966 he headed south of the border to join Preston North End.

He would not make the same impact in England as he struggled to gain a regular starting place. He would have to wait until November 1970 to gain a regular starting place by which time Preston were playing Third Division football for the first time in their history. He would remain a regular in the side the following season after Preston gained an immediate return to Division Two.

At the end of the 1971/72 he left Preston for Nottingham Forest where he would be a key member of the Forest squad for the first half of the decade either in a central or wide midfield role. It was not a memorable period for the club as the decline that saw them relegated to Division Two after the 1971/72 continued as they struggled in the bottom half of their new surrounding instead of the hoped for early return.

This lack of form saw a revolving door of managers as the unpopular Matt Gillies soon departed to be replaced by Dave Mackay who then replaced Brian Clough at Derby to be replaced by another unpopular appointment Allan Brown. These changes did little to improve the clubs fortunes and many players from this era have been erased from people’s memory meaning better players such as Lyall have been forgotten.

One of the few highlights for the club during this period was the F.A.Cup run during the 1973/74 season which Lyall played an important role including a penalty in the memorable 4-1 victory over Manchester City and also another successful spot kick in the first Newcastle game in the Quarter Finals before it was abandoned due to crowd trouble by the Geordie fans.

Forest had another change of manager in January 1975 when Brian Clough arrived at the club. Lyall remained a regular in the side for the remainder of the 1975/76 season. But the following season as Clough began his revolution at the club Lyall was no longer a regular in the team as Terry Curran had arrived from Doncaster and John Robertson was converted to a winger and Lyall moved to Hull City in December 1975.

After a couple of seasons at Hull City he would finish his career playing non-league football for Scarborough, Goole Town, Grantham, Bridlington Town and North Ferriby United.

He now lives in Derbyshire with most of his time spent on the local Golf course at Horsley Lodge where his son Graham is a club professional.

George Lyall was unfortunate to play in an era that preceded one of unprecedented success so his ability has been largely forgotten and perhaps he never fulfilled the potential that his early days at Raith had suggested. But during a recent visit to Preston’s National Football Museum Raith Rovers most famous fan, Prime Minister Gordon Brown recalled the moment Lyall left Raith all those years ago back in March 1966.

CAREER STATS

LEAGUE CAREER

Raith Rovers 1964/65 to 1965/66 27 (21)

Preston North End 1965/66 to 1971/72 105 (16)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1972/73 to 1975/76 116 (24)

Hull City 1975/76 to 1976/77 42 (5)

TOTAL 290 (66)

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1972/73 League 26+5 (4)

F.A.Cup 0+2 (0)

League Cup 1 (0)

County Cup 2 (0)

TOTAL 29+7 (4)

1973/74 League 41 (11)

F.A.Cup 4 (2)

League Cup 2 (0)

County Cup 1 (2)

TOTAL 48 (15)

1974/75 League 36+1 (7)

F.A.Cup 6 (0)

League Cup 2 (0)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 44+1 (7)

1975/76 League 5+2 (2)

League Cup 2 (2)

TOTAL 7+2 (4)

TOTAL League 108+8 (24)

F.A.Cup 10+2 (2)

League Cup 7 (2)

County Cup 4 (2)

TOTAL 128+10 (30)

Swansea City - Ronnie Rees

2010-02-27T12:21:00Z

When the successful side from the mid sixties began to break up the replacements on the whole were of inferior quality. However one of the new players of this era who gained a favourable reputation was Welsh international winger Ronnie Rees.

Rees came through the youth system at Coventry City and would be given his debut in May 1962 as an 18 year old by the then Coventry manager Jimmy Hill. He soon became a regular at Highfield Road with his ability to play on either wing an important asset as Coventry stormed from Division Three into Division One. His impressive speed on the wing coupled with his crossing ability won him a call up to the Welsh squad in 1965.

He would spend six seasons at Coventry before joining neighbours West Bromwich Albion for £ 65,000 in March 1968. He would be a regular at the Hawthorns but missed out on their 1968 F.A.Cup Final success due to being cup-tied in an earlier round for Coventry.

It would be only a short stay at West Bromwich Albion as he would move to the City Ground in February 1969 for £ 60,000. Upon arrival he found a Nottingham Forest side that was beginning a decline in fortunes with the successful side under Johnny Carey only a couple of years before fast becoming a distant memory as Forest were in deep relegation trouble sitting in 20^th place with only 18 points from 26 games played and with key player Ian Storey-Moore injured Rees was bought to feel the void that Storey-Moore’s absence had created.

Rees’ first game for the club was at title chasing Liverpool and he helped underdogs Forest to record a surprise 2-0 victory with both goals from Barry Lyons. This victory is also the last time Forest have beaten Liverpool at Anfield and would signal an upturn in results during the latter half of the 1969/70 season meaning Forest survived by finishing in 18^th position.

The next couple of seasons would see Forest struggle in the bottom half of the division but Rees would still contribute a number of important goals including the winner in the 1971 4-3 fourth round F.A.Cup victory over Luton Town, a game where future England striker Malcolm Macdonald scored a hat-trick but still ended up on the losing team.

By the end of the 1970/71 season Rees found himself in and out the side with Barry Lyons and Ian Storey-Moore preferred on the wings and at the start of the 1971/72 season his appearances in the team became rarer. Then in January 1972 he got the opportunity to play regular football again as Swansea City paid what was at the time a club record of £ 26,000 for Rees.

Rees would spend three and a half seasons at Swansea scoring 5 goals and playing in 89 games before finishing his playing career at League of Wales side Haverfordwest.

Upon his retirement from football he worked at the Ford motorworks at Bridgend and Swansea until 1995 at the age of 51 when he suffered a major stroke which limited his ability to walk and talk.

CAREER STATS

LEAGUE CAREER

Coventry City 1961/62 to 1967/68 230 (42)

West Bromwich Albion 1967/68 to 1968/69 35 (9)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1968/69 to 1971/72 85 (12)

Swansea City 1971/72 to 1974/75 89 (5)

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1968/69 League 11 (1)

1969/70 League 32 (8)

F.A.Cup 2 (0)

League Cup 3 (0)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 38 (8)

1970/71 League 26+9 (3)

F.A.Cup 2+3 (1)

League Cup 3 (0)

Texaco Cup 2 (0)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 34+14 (4)

1971/72 League 7 (0)

League Cup 0+1 (0)

TOTAL 7+1 (0)

TOTAL League 76+9 (12)

F.A.Cup 4+3 (1)

League Cup 6+1 (0)

Texaco Cup 2 (0)

County Cup 2 (0)

TOTAL 90+13 (13)

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

WALES (Full) 1965 to 1972 39 (3)

(19 Appearances and 1 Goal whilst a NFFC player)

WALES (Under 23) 7 (0)

Leicester City - Alan Rogers

2010-02-20T19:48:00Z

The phrase “Never go Back” is often used in football as a number of players have not been as successful in the second spell at a club than they did during their first. At Nottingham Forest a number of players throughout the years have fallen into this category with David Prutton and Neil Webb two names that immediately spring to mind. Another player that fits into this category is Alan Rogers.

It was always going to be a difficult job to replace Forest legend Stuart Pearce at left back when he left the club in the summer of 1997 and in spite of strong claims from the reserves from Craig Armstrong and Andy Dawson new manager Dave Bassett decided to bring in a new face and signed highly rated 20 year old left back Alan Rogers from Tranmere Rovers to be his successor.

Born in Liverpool he had impressed since breaking into the Tranmere team in 1995 and by the time he had signed for Forest he had become a member of the England Under 21 squad.

He became an immediate regular as he settled well into his new surroundings and helped Forest achieve promotion in his first season as the finished as Champions of Football League Division One (now Championship). It had seemed that Forest had unearthed a “Little Gem” and hope was high that he would improve even further the following season in the Premiership.

Things did not go the way Forest had hoped the following season as the lack of investment saw Forest out of their depth in the higher league with the sales of Kevin Campbell and Colin Cooper which caused Pierre Van Hooijdonk to go on strike meaning Forest fielding a weaker team in the Premiership than had won played the previous season in Division One. A very poor performance in the Third Round of the F.A.Cup where the club lost 1-0 to Portsmouth saw Forest manager Dave Bassett sacked to be replaced by Ron Atkinson.

One of Atkinson’s first moves was to move Rogers further forward to play as a left midfielder instead of left back and he would be a revelation in his new role and would feature a few time on the scoresheet including a brief equaliser against Manchester United before they scored 7 more to record an 8-1 victory. Even though Forest would be relegated Rogers latter season performances had been one of the few highlights of the campaign.

Rogers would remain in his new forward role for the majority of the following season as Forest had signed Jim Brennan to fill the left back role. However the combination of Brennan and Rogers down the left hand side did not work well as Rogers attitude began to have a negative effect on Brennan with Rogers beginning to believe the hype printed in press had made him a better player than he actually was.

With Brennan’s confidence gone he would barely feature the following season allowing Rogers to move to left back or left wing back role for the 2000/01 season but an injury in a 3-1 win at Gillingham effectively ended Rogers season with only one late substitute appearance in April being his only reappearance in a Forest shirt that season.

During the summer of 2001 things were changing at Forest, manager David Platt had become England Under 21 boss meaning Youth Academy director Paul Hart had been promoted to the top job at Forest. Also Forest no longer were receiving parachute payments from their relegation from the Premiership forcing the club into serious financial difficulties with many of the higher wage earners needed to be moved on. With Rogers also not fitting into the style of play Hart wanted to adopt he was an ideal candidate to move.

Rogers last game for the club came on 11 November 2001 in a 2-0 defeat at Walsall, 6 days later he was making his debut for new club Leicester City at Old Trafford against Manchester United. Forest who had originally paid £ 2million for the player now accepted £ 300,000 to remove Rogers from the wage bill.

Rogers would have to face relegation again as Leicester were relegated from the Premiership but would be a regular member of the team that won immediate promotion as Leicester themselves in money trouble declared administration but kept their big name players a decision that brought a change in rules to the now adopted 10 point penalty. During Leicester’s promotion season Rogers would make an infamous return to the City Ground with his new club only to be showered with Boost bars that were being handed out free outside the ground.

Back in the top division Rogers would no longer be a regular in the Leicester side and when a 4-3 defeat at Wolves after being 3-0 up bringing the end to a Foxes career. Meanwhile back in Nottingham his former club were in desperate relegation trouble with Paul Hart replaced as manager by Joe Kinnear. When Kinnear arrived at the club he found that there was no decent left back at the club (sounds familiar) with Wes Morgan having played there for the majority of the season Rogers initially rejoined on loan and when Forest’s form improving he made his return permanent at the end of the season.

However the following season Rogers failed to rediscover his form as Forest struggled again and by the end of the season had fallen out with new manager Gary Megson and his second spell at the City Ground was over. The feud would carry on throughout the 2005/06 season with Rogers no longer allowed anywhere near the first team. Eventually he would gain a loan move to Hull with limited success and would finally be released by Forest in the summer where he would have a short spell at Bradford City before finishing the season at Accrington Stanley.

With him being released by Accrington at the end of the 2006/07 season and no club expressing any interest in Rogers his playing career was now at an end. Upon retirement he co-owned the Cube Night Club & Azure Bar in Liverpool but sold both in 2009.

Sadly Alan Rogers is not remembered fondly by Forest fans but with a better attitude he should have and also achieveved a lot more in the game.

CAREER STATS

LEAGUE CAREER

Tranmere Rovers 1995/96 to 1996/97 57 (2)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1997/98 to 2001/02 137 (17)

Leicester City 2001/02 to 2003/04 62 (0)

Wigan Athletic (LOAN) 2003/04 5 (0)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 2003/04 to 2005/06 45 (0)

Hull City (LOAN) 2005/06 9 (0)

Bradford City 2006/07 8 (0)

Accrington Stanley 2006/07 6 (0)

TOTAL 329 (18)

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1997/98 League 46 (1)

F.A.Cup 1 (0)

League Cup 4 (0)

TOTAL 51 (1)

1998/99 League 34 (3)

League Cup 4 (0)

TOTAL 38 (3)

1999/2000 League 36+1 (9)

F.A.Cup 1+1 (1)

League Cup 5 (1)

TOTAL 42+2 (11)

2000/01 League 16+1 (3)

League Cup 1 (1)

TOTAL 17+1 (4)

2001/02 League 3 (0)

League Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 4 (0)

2003/04 League 12 (0)

2004/05 League 32+1 (0)
F.A.Cup 2 (0)

League Cup 4 (0)

TOTAL 38+1 (0)

TOTAL League 179+3 (17)

F.A.Cup 4+1 (1)

League Cup 19 (2)

TOTAL 203+3 (20)

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

England Under 21 1998 3 (0)

Middlesbrough - Brian Laws

2010-02-15T19:49:00Z

One manager that has been in the news this season is Burnley boss Brian Laws but it is as a player that he gained and still holds an affection with Nottingham Forest fans.

Brian Laws was born in the famous Newcastle footballing region of Wallsend and honed his skills at the famous Wallsend Boys Club. He signed his first professional contract at the age of 17 for Burnley and would become a crowd favourite either at full back or in midfield. Unfortunately for Laws Burnley fortunes were on the slide and when the club were relegated to the old Division Three Laws was sold to Huddersfield for £ 10,000.

Laws would have two seasons at Huddersfield before moving to Middlesbrough for £ 30,000 in 1985. It would be a successful time for Laws at Middlesbrough as in his three seasons at the club he would be part of two promotion sides as the club rose from Division Three to One. However Middlesbrough was not the wealthiest of clubs at the time and when Nottingham Forest offered £ 120,000 for his services in the summer of 1988 Laws was on the move Trentside. Forest’s legendary first words to Laws were “I’ve never seen you play son, I’m going on the recommendation of Ronnie Fenton. So if you’re crap Ronnie signed you. If you’re good, I signed you.”

Laws would struggle to break into the side on his arrival as Steve Chettle and Gary Fleming were both preferred at right back. However with Laws would make a number of appearances as substitute with his versatility to be able to play in midfield proving a valuable asset. Eventually by December Laws had won a place in the side and almost immediately Forest would embark on an 18 game unbeaten streak. This would be a memorable season for Forest as not only would they finish 3^rd in the league they would also reach Wembley for the first time since 1980 and being greedy they managed it twice by beating Luton Town 3-1 in the Littlewoods (League) Cup Final and Everton 4-3 in the Simod Cup.

The club nearly managed a third appearance but were beaten by Liverpool in the F.A.Cup Semi-Final. Following the first semi-final at Sheffield being abandoned due to the “Hillsborough Tragedy” the game was restaged at Old Trafford where Liverpool with what seemed the world behind them won 3-1 with the third goal being a Brian Laws own goal where John Aldridge famously sarcastically congratulated him.

Laws would remain a regular the following season and would have another Wembley visit as Forest retained the Littlewoods Cup by beating OldhamForest youth system and when Forest made their annual Wembley visit this time in the F.A.Cup Final Laws found himself a substitute as Charles got the nod for the starting 11. Laws would make an appearance as a midfielder when replacing Lee Glover as Forest lost in extra time to Tottenham. 2-1 in the final. But the following season Laws would have competition for the right backs role as Gary Charles emerged through the ranks.

Laws would be the crowds preference at right back during this period but manager Clough seemed to like Charles and when Charles won an England call up (Graham Taylor was manager) Laws days looked numbered and throughout the 1991/92 season he would play second fiddle to Charles as Forest made another two visits to Wembley. Laws would miss out on the Zenith Data Systems victory over Southampton but would play for most of the League Cup final defeat to Manchester United as a clearly unfit Charles had been selected ahead of him.

Laws would regain the number two jersey the following season but it would not be a memorable one as Forest were relegated in Brian Clough’s final season in charge. With new manager Frank Clark deciding to build a younger team Laws first team appearances became more and more infrequent as new signing Des Lyttle was preferred in the right back position.

In December 1994 Laws left the City Ground to begin his managerial career when he was appointed player/manager at Grimsby Town. Initially progress was good but a dressing room incident with Grimsby striker Ivano Bonetti where Laws allegedly threw a plate of chicken wings at the player. This dressing room unrest began to affect performances and when the club got off to a bad start the following season Laws was sacked.

After a short spell back playing at Darlington he was then appointed Scunthorpe United manager in 1997. He would spend nearly 10 years at the club and lead them to two promotions (1999 and 2005) during his time in charge though nearly missed the last promotion as he was caught up in the middle of a boardroom battle in March 2004 which saw him sacked from his position only to be reinstated three weeks later.

He finally did leave Scunthorpe in November when he was offered the managers job at Sheffield Wednesday and would gain a good reputation for getting the maximum out of players in a squad built with very restrictive finances. He went down in folklore in February 2009 when he became the first manager in 95 years to complete the double of neighbours and fierce rivals United. However a poor run of results saw Laws leave by mutual consent on 13 December 2009.

Laws would not be out of work for long as perhaps surprisingly he was chosen to replace Owen Coyle at Premier League side Burnley in January 2010 completing the full circle as he returned to the club where he began his playing career back in 1979.

CAREER STATS

PLAYING CAREER

LEAGUE CAREER

Burnley 1979/80 to 1983/84 152 (12)

Huddersfield Town 1983/84 to 1984/85 56 (1)

Middlesbrough 1984/85 to 1987/88 103+5 (12)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1988/89 to 1994/95 136+11 (4)

Grimsby Town 1994/95 to 1996/97 30+16 (2)

Darlington 1996/97 9 (0)

Scunthorpe United 1996/97 to 1999/2000 11+6 (0)

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1988/89 League 20+2 (1)

F.A.Cup 5 (1)

League Cup 5 (0)

Simod Cup 4 (0)

TOTAL 34+2 (2)

1989/90 League 38 (3)

F.A.Cup 1 (0)

League Cup 10 (0)

Zenith DS Cup 2 (0)

County Cup 2 (1)

TOTAL 53 (4)

1990/91 League 30+2 (0)

F.A.Cup 4+2 (0)

League Cup 4 (0)

Zenith DS Cup 1 (0)

County Cup 0+1 (0)

TOTAL 39+5 (0)

1991/92 League 10+5 (0)

F.A.Cup 2 (0)

League Cup 3+2 (0)

Zenith DS 2+1 (0)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 18+7 (0)

1992/93 League 32+1 (0)

League Cup 4 (0)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 37+1 (0)

1993/94 League 6+1 (0)

League Cup 2+1 (0)

Anglo-Italian 2 (0)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 11+2 (0)

TOTAL League 136+11(4)

F.A.Cup 12+2 (1)

League Cup 28+3 (0)

Simod/ZDS 9+1 (0)

Anglo-Italian 2 (0)

County Cup 5+1 (1)

TOTAL 192+18(6)

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

England B 1991 1 (0)

MANAGERIAL CAREER

Grimsby Town 29/11/1994 to 01/11/1996

Scunthorpe United 24/02/1997 to 25/03/2004

Scunthorpe United 15/04/2004 to 06/11/2006

Sheffield Wednesday 06/11/2006 to 13/12/2009

Burnley 13/01/2010 to Current

Sheffield United - Colin Addison

2010-02-13T08:16:00Z

Colin Addison has won a reputation as one of the best modern day coaches in the business gained at a number of clubs but what many people do not realise is that he was more than a decent player as well.

Born in Taunton in 1940 he moved with his family to York as an eleven year old and would join his new local team York City in 1957. He soon became a regular at York and helped them to promotion in his second season when he contributed 10 goals. He was mainly used as an Inside-Forward but also made appearances in midfield as well.

With York relegated the following season a then York record club fee of £ 12,000 was offered by Nottingham Forest in January 1961 for Addison’s services and he joined the First Division club.

Nottingham Forest were in a season of transition following long serving manager Billy Walker’s retirement at the end of the previous season and new manager Andy Beattie was slowly developing his own team. Addison would have no problem adjusting to the higher level of football and finish his first season with 7 goals from 14 games.

The following season Addison would be in and out of the side as he struggled to displace another young forward called Geoff Vowden but with Colin Booth leaving at the end of the 1961/62 season Addison finally became a regular member of the starting line up. He would hold a regular place in the side for the next four seasons, after three of which he would finish as leading scorer for the club.

But towards the end of the 1965/66 season with Forest struggling under new manager Johnny Carey Joe Baker was signed to add more fire power to the forward line meaning places were now at a premium and when at the start of the 1966/67 season John Barnwell was preferred to Addison in the side he was allowed to move to Arsenal in September of 1966.

He would be one of Bertie Mee’s first signings at Highbury after he had only taken over from Billy Wright in the summer but it would not be a successful spell in North London as he would only manage 9 goals in a 15 month spell at the club from 28 games. Addison was then sold to Sheffield United in 1967 but was unable to prevent the club being relegated in his first season. He would find regular football at Bramall Lane and after four seasons of trying helped the club to promotion after the 1970/71 season.

By now he was heading towards the end of his playing career and in October 1971 was offered the opportunity to replace the legendary John Charles as Player/Manager at non-league Hereford United. His first season at Edgar Street would be a spectacular success as the club embarked on a famous F.A.Cup run where they defeated top flight Newcastle in a memorable third round tie before losing in a replay to West Ham in the Fourth Round. The season had an even better ending as Hereford were elected to the Football League in place of Workington.

Addison would finally retire from playing in November 1973 when he suffered a broken leg but would remain as manager at Hereford until the end of the 1973/74 season when he accepted an offer to join South African side Durban City. He returned to England in December 1975 when he became Assistant Manager to Ron Fenton at Notts County before having a short spell as Newport County manager.

He then returned to being an assistant manager when he joined Ron Atkinson at West Bromwich Albion but would return to the top job at Derby County in 1980. He would last a couple of seasons at the Baseball Ground before having a three year spell back at Newport. With Newport in financial ruin Addison headed abroad firstly with Al-Ahli in the Middle East and then Celta Vigo in Spain. He then rejoined Ron Atkinson as his assistant back at West Bromwich Albion and then followed Atkinson to Spain when he joined Athletico Madrid in October 1988.

Atkinson would not last long in Spain and Addison would succeed Atkinson at Madrid. This led to a falling out between Atkinson and Addison which was only healed when Atkinson called Addison when compiling his autobiography.

Addison lasted a little longer in Spain than Atkinson and followed his spell at Athletico Madrid by moving to Cadiz before having a second less successful spell at Hereford in 1990. He then had four years abroad with Al Arabi and Badajoz in the Middle East before returning in 1996 where he continued working at lower league and non-league sides.

After a brief spell at Barry Town concluded in 2004 he now resides back in Hereford and has also worked as a pundit for BBC Radio Wales. So highly is he thought of in Hereford that a street close to the ground has been named “Addison Court” in his honour.

CAREER STATS

PLAYING CAREER

York City 1957/58 to 1960/61 87 28

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1960/61 to 1966/67 160 62

Arsenal 1966/67 to 1967/68 28 9

Sheffield United 1967/68 to 1971/72 94 22

Hereford United 1971/72 to 1973/74

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1960/61 League 14 (7)

1961/62 League 18 (6)

F.A.Cup 1 (0)

League Cup 3 (1)

Others 2 (0)

TOTAL 24 (7)

1962/63 League 35 (16)

F.A.Cup 7 (4)

TOTAL 42 (20)

1963/64 League 26 (10)

1964/65 League 36 (14)

F.A.Cup 3 (2)

TOTAL 39 (16)

1965/66 League 28 (9)

1966/67 League 3 (0)

TOTAL League 160 (62)

F.A.Cup 11 (6)

League Cup 3 (1)

Others 2 (0)

TOTAL 176 (69)

MANAGERIAL CAREER

Hereford United 1971 to 1974

Durban City 1975 to 1976

Notts County 1976 to 1977 (Assistant)

Newport County 1978 to 1979

West Bromwich Albion 1979 to 1980 (Assistant)

Derby County 1980 to 1982

Newport County 1982 to 1985

Al-Ahli 1985 to 1986

Celta Vigo 1986 to 1987

West Bromwich Albion 1987 to 1988 (Assistant)

Athletico Madrid 1988 to 1989 (Assistant then Manager)

Cadiz 1989 to 1990

Hereford United 1990 to 1991

Al-Arabi 1992 to 1993

Badajoz 1995 to 1996

Merthyr Tydfil 1996 to 1998

Scarborough 1999 to 2000

Yeovil Town 2000 to 2001

Swansea City 2001 to 2002

Forest Green Rovers 2002 to 2003

Barry Town 2004

Doncaster Rovers - Colin Booth

2010-02-09T18:36:00Z

Colin Booth would have an impressive goalscoring record at whichever club he played for but for some reason would never seem to find a permanent home.

Beginning his career as an apprentice at Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1950 he made his debut towards the end of the 1954/55 season and would help the club finish second in Division One.

Booth would feature more regularly the following season but would find it hard to break into the successful Wolves forward line up including Dennis Wilshaw, Peter Broadbent and Jimmy Murray.

He would remain as an understudy during the 1956/57 season even though he impressed every time he had an opportunity and scored 4 goals in a 5-2 victory over Arsenal. He would be part of the League Championship winning sides of 1957/58 and 1958/59 without being considered a regular. Although he would receive representive honours in 1957 when he played for England’s Under 23 team.

Then in October 1959 he finally got the opportunity for regular first-team football when Nottingham Forest paid their then highest fee for a player as they offered £ 20,000 for Booth. Nottingham Forest had won the F.A.Cup the previous season and manager Billy Walker was looking to build on this success.

It would not be the season that Forest had expected as they spent the season struggling near the bottom of the table rather than the expected top. Fortunately Booth settled into his new surroundings very well and his 8 goals would help the club survive relegation by a single point from Leeds United.

With Forest’s long serving manager Billy Walker retiring at the end of the 1959/60 season it was the beginning of a new era for the club with Andy Beattie eventually taking over in September 1960. Booth would be a key player for Forest under the new regime and the 1960/61 season would be his best at the club top scoring with 19 league goals.

Forest improvement during the 1960/61 had earned them their first taste of European football in 1961/62 when they gained entry to the Inter Cities Fairs Cup. Although it would be a short stay in the competition as they lost in Round One to Spainish side Valencia it was a good experience for the club and with the City Ground playing its first games under floodlights the club should have moving the right direction.

But league form was poor as the players and especially fans struggled to adapt with manager Andy Beattie’s negative tactics of a “4-3-3” system. By the end of the season Beattie had decided to rebuild the squad with younger players and Booth became surplus to requirements. He then would spend two successful seasons at Doncaster Rovers where again goals flowed with an impressive 57 goals in 88 games before moving to Oxford where he scored 22 in 48 games before he endin his career at non=-league Cambridge United.

On retirement he built a career in healthcare before moving to Dorset where he still currently lives.

CAREER STATS

PLAYING CAREER

LEAGUE CAREER

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1954/55 to 1959/60 78 26

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1959/60 to 1961/62 87 39

Doncaster Rovers 1962/63 to 1963/64 88 57

Oxford United 1964/65 to 1965/66 48 22

TOTAL 301 144

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1959/60 League 24 (8)

F.A.Cup 2 (0)

TOTAL 26 (8)

1960/61 League 35 (19)

F.A.Cup 1 (0)

League Cup 2 (0)

County Cup 2 (2)

TOTAL 40 (21)

1961/62 League 28 (12)

F.A.Cup 2 (1)

League Cup 2 (1)

Inter Cities Fairs Cup 2 (0)

TOTAL 34 (14)

TOTAL League 87 (39)

F.A.Cup 5 (1)

League Cup 4 (1)

Inter Cities Fairs Cup 2 (0)

County Cup 4 (2)

TOTAL 102 (43)

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

England Under 23 1957/58 1 (0)

Coventry City - Larry Lloyd

2010-02-06T08:21:00Z

Larry Lloyd has the fairly unique achievement of winning a League Championship with two different teamsand throughout his career would play under some of the greatest managers the game has ever produced.

He began his career at local club Bristol Rovers in 1967 and his uncompromising style brought him to the attention of a number of bigger clubs. In April 1969 Bristol Rovers accepted a bid of £ 50,000 from Liverpool for the defender and Lloyd moved to Anfield. Liverpool legendary manager Bill Shankly was undertaking a big rebuild at the club with many of the squad nearing retirement age Lloyd was eyed as a potential replacement for Ron Yeats.

He made his Liverpool debut later that year and when the 1970/71 season began he had overtaken Yeats as first choice partner for club captain Tommy Smith in the centre of defence. He would play in 40 league games during the season and helped the club reach the F.A.Cup Final where they lost to Double chasing Arsenal 2-1 in the final after extra time. The season would have a happy ending for Lloyd as England manager Sir Alf Ramsey rewarded Lloyd with a full England cap in the Home International game with Wales after impressing in a number of outings for the Under 23 side during the season.

Lloyd would remain a permanent fixture in the Liverpool side and helped them to a League & UEFA Cup double in the 1973/74 season where Lloyd played in every minute of all of the 54 games played during the season. Lloyd would remain first choice during the following season but in February suffered a thigh injury in a game against Norwich. This would prove disasterous for Lloyd as not only did substitute Peter Cormack score a late winner it allowed young defender Phil Thompson to move back from his midfield role to a central defence one. Lloyd would be unable to regain his place back in the side for the remainder of the season and missed out as Liverpool lifted the F.A.Cup demolishing Newcastle 3-0 in the Final.

Bill Shankley was replaced by Bob Paisley at the end of that season and the new manager preferring Thompson and Emlyn Hughes as his central defensive partnership Lloyd’s Anfield career was over. Coventry City offered a club record £ 240,000 for Lloyd in August 1974 and Paisley decided the offer was too good to refuse as not only was it the most Coventry had paid for a player it was the most Liverpool had received for a player.

Coventry were expecting to fund the transfer by selling Jimmy Holmes and Mick McGuire to Tottenham for £ 200,000 but early into the season Tottenham manager Bill Nicholson retired and the transfer was cancelled meaning Coventry were forced into the red and left with financial problems. Lloyd would not settle at Coventry and his performance dipped as the club struggled in the lower half of the table and by the start of the 1976/77 season he found himself struggling to get into the Coventry side. It was no surprise when Lloyd was soon on the move as Nottingham Forest were suffering an injury crisis at the back with veteren Sammy Chapman injured and Lloyd moved down to Division Two initially on a month’s loan transfer.

After a successful month Lloyd would return back to Coventry but would make a permanent move to Forest shortly after. Many experts thought that Lloyd was now past his best and beginning to wind his career down but he had other ideas as he almost immediately made a return to the top division helping Forest to promotion in his first season at the City Ground.

For the new season Nottingham Forest signed Birmingham City striker Kenny Burns and converted him to be Lloyd’s central defensive partner. Even though Lloyd would miss part of the season with a broken toe against previous club Coventry he would eventually regain his place in spite of the impressive form of replacement David Needham and help Forest win the League Cup against another of his former clubs Liverpool. The partnership between Lloyd and Burns would be one of the key reasons for Forest’s success during the season and with Peter Shilton waiting behind them Forest would win the League Championship for the only time in their history.

The following season would prove that Forest were no one season wonder as they would embark on a European adventure as Lloyd and Burns would again be pretty much unbreakable as not only would Forest win the European Cup they would retain the League Cup and also finish second in the league.

The following season Lloyd would be ever present in the league although he missed the League Cup final defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers he would again have an impressive season as he helped Forest reach their second successive European Cup Final which not only resulted in him winning the Forest Supporters’ Player of the Season award he also won a recall to the England squad after an absence of 8 years.

Though the England recall was not happy for Lloyd as playing alongside old Liverpool team mates Ray Clemence and Phil Thompson England got beaten heavily 4-1 in Wrexham against Wales and after 80 minutes the bad day was amplified when Lloyd got carried off with a bad ankle injury putting his place in the European Cup Final only a couple of weeks away in doubt.

Having already lost Trevor Francis with an achilles tendon injury Forest were desperate to get Lloyd fit for the game against German champions Hamburg who included one of Lloyd’s former Liverpool team mates Kevin Keegan. With Lloyd passing a late fitness test he took his place in the side as Forest who went into the game as big underdogs. But the big trio of Lloyd, Burns and Shilton were on top form as they were able to stop everything Keegan and co could throw at them and with John Robertson scoring the only goal Forest again defied the experts and retained the trophy.

By the 1980/81 season the years were beginning to catch up with the ageing Forest side and in March 1981 Lloyd was given the opportunity to take over as player-manager at Division Four side Wigan Athletic. He would lead Wigan to promotion to Division Three a year later and even though Wigan would battle well and stay in the division Lloyd would be sacked in April 1983. He would not be out of work for long as he would be heading back to Nottingham as team manager of Notts County allowing Jimmy Sirrell to move upstairs.

It would not be a successful spell at Meadow Lane as Notts got relegated from Division One in his first season and with the club not improving the season after he left by “Mutual Consent” in October 1984. This would be Lloyd’s last attempt at management but he would remain associated with the club firstly in a PR capacity on match days and then alongside Darren Fletcher as a matchday summarizer on local radio firstly on GEM AM then on Century 106.

However Lloyd did not get along with the then Forest manager David Platt who he seemed to enjoy critisising at every opportunity and this did not go down well at the club. With Century keen to retain commentary rights and not wanting to upset the club further Lloyd was replaced by Garry Birtles during the summer of 2000.

Lloyd with no chance of any other media work and suffering from depression decided to open a bar in the Costa del Sol. Needing money to fund this project Lloyd decided to auction his medal collection, a decision he now regrets. Even though he sold the bar after about six months he still remains in Marbella working as a PR for a Property company.

CAREER STATS

PLAYING CAREER

LEAGUE CAREER

Bristol Rovers 1967/68 to 1968/69 43 1

Liverpool 1968/69 to 1973/74 150 4

Coventry City 1974/75 to 1976/77 50 5

Nottingham Forest 1976/77 to 1980/81 148 6

Wigan Athletic 1980/81 to 1982/83 52 2

NFFC PLAYING CAREER

1976/77 League 26 (3)

F.A.Cup 5 (0)

Anglo-Scottish Cup 3 (1)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 35 (4)

1977/78 League 26 (0)

F.A.Cup 2 (0)

League Cup 6 (1)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 35 (1)

1978/79 League 36 (0)

F.A.Cup 3 (1)

League Cup 6 (1)

European Cup 9 (1)

Charity Shield 1 (1)

County Cup 1 (1)

TOTAL 56 (5)

1979/80 League 42 (3)

F.A.Cup 2 (0)

League Cup 9 (1)

European Cup 9 (0)

Super Cup 2 (0)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 65 (4)

1980/81 League 18 (0)

F.A.Cup 2 (0)

League Cup 2 (0)

European Cup 1+1 (0)

World Club 1 (0)

Super Cup 2 (0)

TOTAL 26+1 (0)

TOTAL League 148 (6)

F.A.Cup 14 (1)

League Cup 23 (3)

European Cup 19+1 (1)

World Club 1 (0)

Super Cup 4 (0)

Charity Shield 1 (1)

Anglo-Scottish 3 (1)

County Cup 4 (1)

TOTAL 217+1 (14)

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

England 1970/71 to 1980/81 4 (0)

England U23 8 (0)

MANAGEMENT CAREER

Wigan Athletic 1980/81 to 1982/83

Notts County 1983/84 to 1984/85

Sheffield Wednesday - Chris Woods

2010-01-30T12:56:00Z

For all the advantages Nottingham Forest gained from the signing of Peter Shilton, and there were many it did create one problem for the club as Shilton had played in the early rounds of the League Cup for Stoke meaning he was cup tied and also previous first choice keeper John Middleton was allowed to join Derby in exchange for Archie Gemmill.

So when the Third Round tie with Notts County came around Forest were forced to give a debut to young reserve keeper Chris Woods. Woods had come through Forest’s youth system and had signed professional terms at the club in December 1976. Throughout Forest’s promotion season of 1976/77 Woods had been third choice behind John Middleton and Peter Wells but with Wells moving to Southampton Woods became the goalkeeper understudy.

Woods had a comfortable debut as Forest beat neighbours County 4-0 and progressed to a 4^th Round tie against current League Cup holders Aston Villa. Woods conceded his first goals in this tie but Forest progressed easily into the next round with 3 first half goals on the way to a 4-2 victory.

The Quarter Finals would prove no problem for Forest as they again had a comfortable 3-0 victory at Third Division Bury. The Semi-Finals saw Woods with a slightly harder task as they faced Leeds United. But although Leeds gave Forest a small scare Woods and Forest were fairly safely through to Wembley to face Liverpool.

Woods’ inexperience would be a focal point in the build up to the final with Liverpool fielding a team of 10 internationals their experience made them favourites with the press. But Woods would confound all the pre match predictions to star in the final as he was able to keep out all that Liverpool could throw at Forest and the game finished in a goalless draw meaning a midweek replay would be necessary.

In the replay Woods would again prove unbeatable and with John Robertson scoring a hotly disputed penalty, which they have not forgotten about to this day Forest had secured their first piece of silverware since 1959. Even though Woods was outstanding in both of the Final games he returned to his role of understudy to Peter Shilton for the remainder of the season.

Again in the 1978/79 season Woods would act as understudy to Shilton and with Shilton arguably the best goalkeeper in the world at this point and in peak fitness Woods games were at a premium with his only first team game being a County Cup Final game against Mansfield. Woods only other contact with the first team was during the European Cup campaign where he had the role of substitute keeper. It was in this role he would win a European Cup winners medal as Forest beat Malmo in the Final.

Woods would still be in the headlines as during the 1978/79 season his potential would be rewarded with a call up to the England Under 21 squad and made his debut in February when he came off the bench to replace Gary Bailey against Wales. A further appearance in an end of season friendly against Sweden would give Woods another taste of first team football. These appearances would give Woods itchy feet for more First team football and with Shilton likely to be first choice for the foreseeable future the opportunity to join Queens Park Rangers arose and Woods decided to accept.

Woods would spend two seasons in the Second Division with QPR and would further his reputation further with more England Under 21 appearances. Then in March 1981 Norwich City bid £ 250,000 for his services.

1984/85 was a memorable season for Woods as he had helped the club win the League Cup with a 1-0 victory over Sunderland although both clubs would be relegated at the end of the season. It was as Norwich goalkeeper that Woods began to show that his earlier promise shown at Forest was no fluke as he developed into one of the best young goalkeepers in the country. This promise won him a call up to the full England squad for an end of season tour of North America in 1985 and he would make his debut in a 5-0 win over United States in Los Angeles.

Woods would become a permanent fixture in the England squad from now on although his appearances would be scarce due to the prescence of a familiar face as Woods found Peter Shilton firmly secure as number 1 choice. Woods would be part of the England squad for the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico although Shilton remained first choice.

At the end of the World Cup Woods joined the “English Invasion” at Glasgow Rangers as he joined the Scottish giants for £ 600,000. At Rangers he set a record of 1196 consequtive minutes of football without conceding a goal. During his time at Rangers he would cement his place as Shilton’s heir apparent and would make an appearance in the 1988 European Championships when Shilton was rested for England’s final game after England’s early exit from the tournement.

Woods would be second choice again at World Cup 1990 where England finished fourth. But with Shilton retiring at the end of the tournement Woods chance with England finally came.

With Woods now first choice with his country a problem arose with his club side as a new UEFA ruling limiting the number of foreign players allowed to play in European games coming in. This new rule saw Rangers go out and sign Scottish goalkeeper Andy Goram meaning Woods place was in jeopardy.

In August 1991 Rangers received a bid of £1.2 million from Sheffield Wednesday who were managed by Woods’ former Forest and Rangers team mate Trevor Francis. This move helped Woods retain his role as England’s first choice as they qualified for the 1992 European Championships. The finals were a major disappointment for England as they were unable to progress out of the group stages.

Woods would remain as England’s number one at the start of the 1992/93 season but the season would prove a major disappointment for Woods as although his club side Sheffield Wednesday reached both major cup finals they lost both finals to Arsenal. England’s fortunes were on the decline as well as World Cup campaign of 1994 was not going the way manager Graham Taylor had planned. Woods was also facing competition for his role as England goalkeeper as David Seaman, Tim Flowers and Nigel Martyn were all competing for his role.

Woods would still be in the England squad for the summer tour to America but whereas the 1985 tour would see his debut the 1993 one would see his final appearance in an England shirt when after a defeat to the USA would see him out of favour on his return.

By the end of the 1995/96 season Woods career was coming to the end after losing his Sheffield Wednesday place to Kevin Pressman. He would end his career with a spell with Colorado Rapids before short spells with Southampton, Sunderland and Burnley. Upon retirement he became Everton’s goalkeeping coach in 1998 a role in which he remains today.

CAREER STATS

LEAGUE CAREER

Nottingham Forest 1976/77 to 1978/79 0 0

Queens Park Rangers 1979/80 to 1980/81 63 0

Norwich City 1980/81 to 1985/86 216 0

Glasgow Rangers 1985/86 to 1990/91 173 0

Sheffield Wednesday 1991/92 to 1995/96 107 0

Reading (Loan) 1995/96 5 0

Colorado Rapids 1996/97 23 0

Southampton (Loan) 1996/97 4 0

Sunderland 1996/97 0 0

Burnley 1997/98 12 0

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1977/78 League Cup 7 (0)

TOTAL 7 (0)

1978/79 County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 1 (0)

TOTAL League Cup 7 (0)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 8 (0)

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

England (Full) 1984/85 to 1992/93 43 (0)

England (U21) 1978/79 to 1984/85 6 (0)

England (B) 1985/86 to 1989/90 2 (0)

Derby County - Alan Hinton

2010-01-25T19:07:00Z

Alan Hinton was one of the best wingers of his generation but was unfortunate that England found that they could achieve success as “Wingless Wonders”.

Born in Wednesbury in the West Midlands he came through the ranks of local club Wolverhampton Wanderers making his debut in a F.A.Cup tie with Huddersfield in January 1961. He would have to wait until the following season to make his League debut and would make 16 appearances alongside Wolves legends such as Ron Flowers, Bill Slater and Peter Broadbent. But it would be the 1962/63 season that Hinton first made his mark. Now a regular on the left wing Hinton would finish the season as top scorer with 19 goals. He also won a call up to the England squad and played against France in October 1962 during Walter Winterbottom’s final year as England manager.

It was somewhat of a surprise when Wolves allowed Hinton leave in January 1964 when they agreed a swap deal with Nottingham Forest with Dick ‘Flip’ Le Flem heading to Molineux.

Forest were in their first season of management of Johnny Carey who was beginning to freshen up the squad. Hinton was not the only new arrival at the club as Frank Wignall joined from Everton and John Barnwell joined from Arsenal. The improvement under Carey continued in 1964/65 as Forest who were aided by the goals of Hinton (13), Barnwell (12), Wignall (14) and Colin Addison (14) finished a much improved 5^th place in Division One. Hinton would win another two England caps during this season and also scored in the friendly against Belgium.

This would be Hinton’s last appearances for England as new manager Alf Ramsey initially preferred other wingers Peter Thompson and Terry Paine before adopting the wingless wonders formation that would win the World Cup in 1966.

Hinton on his day was one of the most exciting players in the country but lacked consistency and it was this lack of consistency that never completely won over the Forest fans. With Hinton a player that needed to be loved to play at his best his performances began to dip and when Ian Storey-Moore emerged Hinton faced a battle to hold on to his place. Even though Forest achieved their best League position to date in their history when they finished 2^nd in 1965/66 Hinton would only play in 17 of the games.

When the 1966/67 season began Hinton was out of favour which alerted other clubs that he might be available and always on the look out for a bargain new Derby County manager Brian Clough offered £ 30,000 for his services in September 1967 and Hinton moved to the Baseball Ground. Hinton would now prove what he could produce if he was made to feel wanted as he would be a key member of the Derby County’s greatest period as he first helped them win promotion and then two league championship medals in 1971/72 and 1974/75.

It shows how much a mistake to release Hinton was by the fact that he was still going strong when his replacement Ian Storey-Moore had retired from the game.

He left Derby after the 1975/76 season and after a brief spell as manager of Borrowash Victoria he relocated to North America where after two final years of playing with Dallas Tornado and Vancouver Whitecaps he moved into coaching where he coached several teams across North America between 1979 and 1994. He now lives in Seattle working as an estate agent.

Hinton’s nephew Craig is also a footballer and is currently captain of Northampton Town.

Alan Hinton should have been remembered as a “Forest Great” and could have easily made the 1966 World Cup squad but for one reason or another his spell at Nottingham Forest was opportunity missed shown by the fact of what he achieved at Derby County where he is that highly regarded that in 2009 he was voted as part of Derby’s best ever team.

CAREER STATS

PLAYING CAREER

LEAGUE CAREER

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1961/62 to 1963/64 75 29

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1963/64 to 1967/68 108+4 24

Derby County 1967/68 to 1975/76 240+13 63

Dallas Tornado 1977 24 4

Vancouver Whitecaps 1978 29 1

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1963/64 League 15 (2)

County Cup 2 (2)

TOTAL 17 (4)

1964/65 League 41 (13)

F.A.Cup 3 (0)

County Cup 1 (2)

TOTAL 45 (15)

1965/66 League 33 (6)

F.A.Cup 2 (0)

TOTAL 35 (6)

1966/67 League 17+2 (1)

F.A.Cup 2+1 (0)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 20+3 (1)

1967/68 League 2+2 (2)

League Cup 0+1 (0)

Fairs Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 3+3 (2)

TOTAL League 108+4 (24)

F.A.Cup 7+1 (0)

League Cup 0+1 (0)

I/C Fairs Cup 1 (0)

County Cup 4 (2)

TOTAL 120+6 (26)

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

England 1962/63 to 1964/65 3 1

England Under 23 1962/63 to 1964/65 7 6

MANAGEMENT CAREER

Tulsa Roughnecks 1979

Seattle Sounders 1980-1982

Vancouver Whitecaps 1984

Tacoma Stars 1985-1990

Seattle Sounders 1994

Queens Park Rangers - David Needham

2010-01-16T20:41:00Z

Every successful team has some unsung heroes who do not get as many headlines as other members of the team but provide a valuable and important role to the team. From the Nottingham Forest “Glory Years” team from the late 70’s David Needham fell into this category although he is unfortunately remembered for one incident that lost a cup final.

Born in Leicester he began his career at Notts County in 1966 making his debut as a 17 year old and quickly became a regular in the County side. Initially his first couple of seasons were a struggle for County as they struggled in the lower half of Division Four but thing changed for the better in 1969 when Jimmy Sirrell became Manager.

In 1970/71 Needham was a valuable part of the Notts defence as they easily won the Fourth Division title only missing 1 of the 46 league games during the successful campaign. They would only spend two seasons in Division Three with another promotion two years later when Needham again would play in 45 games.

He came close to helping County reach the First Division in 1975/76 as they finished 5^th in Division Two and 8^th in 1976/77 only 4 points behind Forest who snatched the last promotion position. It began to look like Needham would spend his whole career at Meadow Lane but at the 1976/77 First Division clubs began to show an interest in Needham and after 429 appearances he left Notts. Even though County’s neighbours across the river Forest had shown an interest the directors did not want to sell to local rivals so Needham went to Queens Park Rangers as a replacement for retired Frank McLintock. At Loftus Road he would find a familiar face as former Notts County team mate Don Masson was a member of the team.

It was not a good QPR side as the team that narrowly missed winning the league in 1975/76 was beginning to break up and they were now a team struggling near the bottom of the division. Even though the team was struggling Needham would make an impressive start with him being the clubs top scorer in early September.

However back in Nottingham, Forest were taking the division by storm and were surprise leaders but in December central defender Larry Lloyd broke his toe in a game against Coventry City and with Forest manager Brian Clough being a big admirer of Needham immediately launched a £ 140,000 bid for the player. So after only 18 games at QPR Needham moved back home to Nottingham and joined Forest.

He made his Forest debut in the famous 4-0 win at Manchester United and would be a regular fixture in the Forest squad for the remainder of the season as he provided backup for the first choice Larry Lloyd and Kenny Burns. Again Needham would show impressive form contributing 4 goals in Forest’s chase for League title glory with Larry Lloyd finding it difficult to gain his place back in the side. It would only be the fact that Needham was cup-tied and miss the League Cup Final victory over Liverpool that he lost his place back to Lloyd. Needham would end the season on a high as he helped Forest win the League Championship for the only time in their history and also he was called up for the England “B” team.

The following season Needham would remain as cover for Lloyd and Burns but would still make regular appearances with his longest run in the side coming when Kenny Burns suffered a torn cartilage in November. This run of games allowed Needham to be part of the side that retained the League Cup with a 3-2 victory over Southampton. With Lloyd and Burns back to full fitness Needham would be an unused substitute as Forest won the European Cup Final.

Needham’s appearances would be more infrequent the following season as he struggled to break the Lloyd/Burns partnership. But a suspension to Lloyd meant that Needham would again be in the League Cup Final team but the game was decided when a misunderstanding between Needham and goalkeeper Peter Shilton allowed Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Andy Gray score the only goal of the game. Even though Shilton admitted it was his mistake Needham would be the one whose reputation was most tarnished by the goal. He would remain in the Forest team for the next game which would be one of their most memorable victories as they beat Dynamo Berlin 3-1

Needham would remain at Forest until the end of the 1981/82 season when he finished his playing career in Canada for Toronto Blizzard. Perhaps he will not be remembered as one of the great defenders mainly because of the mistake in the 1980 League Cup Final against Wolves but he still was a very important part of the most successful squad in the clubs history.

CAREER STATS

LEAGUE CAREER

Notts County 1965/66 to 1976/77 428+1 32

Queens Park Rangers 1977/78 18 3

Nottingham Forest 1977/78 to 1981/82 81+5 9

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1977/78 League 16 (4)

FA Cup 6 (0)

TOTAL 22 (4)

1978/79 League 23+3 (2)

FA Cup 2 (1)

League Cup 6 (1)

European Cup 4 (1)

Charity Shield 0+1 (0)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 36+4 (5)

1979/80 League 8+2 (1)

FA Cup 1 (0)

League Cup 3 (0)

European Cup 1 (0)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 14+2 (1)

1980/81 League 17 (0)

FA Cup 1 (0)

League Cup 3 (0)

European Cup 2 (0)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 24 (0)

1981/82 League 17 (2)

FA Cup 1 (0)

League Cup 3 (1)

TOTAL 21 (3)

TOTAL League 81+5 (9)

FA Cup 11 (1)

League Cup 15 (2)

European Cup 7 (1)

Charity Shield 0+1 (0)

County Cup 3 (0)

TOTAL 117+6(13)

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

England B 1977/78 6 (2)