EUROPEAN CUP CHAMPIONS 1979

On 30 May 1979, Nottingham Forest captain John McGovern held the European Cup aloft to complete one of the most remarkable fairytales in football history.  The Unforgettable Fairytale.

It was just Forest's luck that, having beaten Liverpool to championship the previous year, the Reds' first opponents in the European Cup would be Liverpool. The critics wouldn't give Forest a hope against the current Champions of Europe, but Forest never took any notice of the odds.

They beat Liverpool 2-0 at the City Ground, and held them to a 0-0 in the second leg at Anfield, to start off a glorious cup run.

They saw off AEK Athens with ease.

Before knocking out Grasshoppers of Zurich to reach the semi-final.

In a thrilling two-legged encounter, Forest beat Colonge by an aggregate score of 4-3, Ian Bowyer scoring the crucial goal in the away leg.

Forest would face Swedish side Malmo in the final to be played Munich's glorious Olympic Stadium on May 30, 1979. The Reds had been beaten to the championship by Liverpool, but were boosted by the European debut of the million-pound man, Trevor Francis who had completed his record-breaking transfer a few months previously.

And it was money well spent as moments before the half-time break, John Roberton's searching cross found Francis at the far post. Francis' diving header beat the keeper and put Forest in the lead.

There were no more goals and in front of 30,000 traveling fans from Nottingham, John McGovern lifted the European Cup for Forest, making them the smallest club ever to take the title of Champions of Europe.

European Cup Team 1979

EARLY ROUNDS:

Liverpool (H) 2-0, (A) 0-0 Aggr. 2-0  Highlights

A.E.K. Athens (A) 2-1, (H) 5-1 Aggr. 7-2  Highlights
Grasshopper Zurich (H) 4-1, (A) 1-1 Aggr. 5-2  Highlights
F.C. Cologne (H) 3-3, (A) 1-0 Aggr. 4-3  Highlights 1    2    3

FINAL:
30th May 1979 Olympic Stadium, Munich  Highlights

Nottingham Forest 1 Malmo 0

The Forest players salute the Forest fans!

The Red Army

John McGovern, Larry Llyod, Frank Clark and the rest of the team stepping down with the European Cup to parade to the Nottingham Forest fans.

Trevor Francis stoops to head home the winner!

Brian Clough & Peter Taylor acknowledge the Forest fans.

John Robertson & Kenny Burns hold aloft the European Cup.

Trevor Francis if the Cup fits?

Note: (1:50) Are You Watching Liverpool (The Red Elvis Banner)

Links

The Unforgettable Fairytale - Report, Audio from the BBC

The European Cup Team 1979 - Official Site

EUROPEAN CUP WINNERS 1980

European Cup Winners 1980

Oesters Vaxjo (H) 2-0, (A) 1-1 Aggr. 3-1
Arges Pitesti (H) 2-0, (A) 2-1 Aggr. 4-1
Dynamo Berlin (H) 0-1, (A) 3-1 Aggr. 3-2
Ajax Amsterdam(H) 2-0, (A) 0-1 Aggr. 2-1
Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid
Forest 1 S.V. Hamburg 0

Football League Champions 1978

Nottingham Forest side took on the First Division by storm, by winning the League Cup on 22 March and confirming themselves as League Champions the following month.

They joined a small and exclusive company of clubs to have won the League Championship one season after promotion.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

LEAGUE CUP WINNERS 1978

The 1978 Football League Cup Final was a match between
Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

The initial match resulted in a 0–0 draw. The replay saw John Robertson score from the penalty spot after a 'professional' foul by Phil Thompson on John O'Hare, which TV replays later seemed to show was outside the penalty area.

This was enough to win the cup for Nottingham Forest, who thus became the first club to achieve a League and League Cup double.

Road to Wembley
Nottingham Forest
Forest averaged almost 6 goals per game in their route to the final, which included victories over First Division teams West Ham United, Aston Villa and Leeds United (beating the latter 7-3 on aggregate in the semi-final). They also beat city rivals Notts County.
Liverpool
Liverpool were drawn at home to First Division teams in their first 3 rounds, although they needed a replay to beat Coventry City. They then beat Third Division Wrexham in the quarter-final, before edging out Arsenal 2-1 on aggregate in the semi-final.

18th March 1978 Wembley Stadium London
Nottingham Forest 0 Liverpool O AET
Nottingham Forest FC (Manager: Brian Clough)
1 Chris Woods (GK)
2 Viv Anderson
3 Frank Clark
4 John McGovern Captain
5 Larry Lloyd
6 Kenny Burns
7 Martin O'Neill
8 Ian Bowyer
9 Peter Withe
10 Tony Woodcock
11 John Robertson
Substitute:
12 John O'Hare


Liverpool FC Manager: Bob Paisley
1 Ray Clemence (GK)
2 Phil Neal
3 Tommy Smith
4 Phil Thompson
5 Ray Kennedy 91'
6 Emlyn Hughes Captain
7 Kenny Dalglish
8 Jimmy Case
9 Steve Heighway
10 Terry McDermott
11 Ian Callaghan
Substitute:
12 David Fairclough 91'

22nd March 1978 Old Trafford Manchester
Nottingham Forest 1 Liverpool O (John Robertson Penalty)
Nottingham Forest FC Manager: Brian Clough
1 Chris Woods (GK)
2 Viv Anderson
3 Frank Clark
4 John O'Hare
5 Larry Lloyd
6 Kenny Burns Captain
7 Martin O'Neill
8 Ian Bowyer
9 Peter Withe
10 Tony Woodcock
11 John Robertson
Substitute
12 John O'Hare

Liverpool FC Manager: Bob Paisley
1 Ray Clemence (GK)
2 Phil Neal
3 Ray Kennedy
4 Tommy Smith
5 Phil Thompson
6 Emlyn Hughes Captain
7 Kenny Dalglish
8 Jimmy Case 64'
9 Steve Heighway
10 Terry McDermott
11 Ian Callaghan
Substitute
12 David Fairclough 64'

FA CUP WINNERS 1959

2nd May 1959

Nottingham Forest 2 Luton Town 1

The 1959 FA Cup Final was contested by Nottingham Forest and Luton Town at Wembley. Forest won 2–1, with goals from Roy Dwight and Tommy Wilson just four minutes apart. Dave Pacey scored Luton's consolation goal.

The game was notable for an unusually large number of stoppages due to injury, particularly to Nottingham Forest players, which was put down to the lush nature of the Wembley turf. The most notable of these stoppages occurred when goalscorer Roy Dwight was carried off the pitch after breaking his leg in a tackle with Brendan McNally after 33 minutes.

This also proved a turning point in the game as Forest had been the more dominant team to that point, leading by two goals at the time. Luton gradually took control of the match from this point on, scoring midway through the second half.

Forest were reduced to nine fit men with ten minutes remaining when Bill Whare was crippled with cramp, being forced to play wide on the wing where he was little more than a spectator.

The high volume of injuries during the second half led to four minutes of additional time being added on by the referee, during which time Luton twice came close to forcing extra time as Allan Brown headed narrowly wide of goal before Billy Bingham hit the side netting. Given the condition of the Forest team at that time it would have been a remarkable feat for them to have won the game or even forced a replay in extra time had Luton equalised.

At the final whistle the Forest manager Billy Walker entered the field to congratulate his team and was chased by a steward who tried to marshall him back off. The steward mistook Walker to be a pitch invader.

The game was televised live on the BBC Grandstand programme who introduced score captions into their broadcast for the first time in an FA cup final. This however caused much annoyance in Nottingham where their team's name was displayed on the screen at regular intervals as Notts Forest. Commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme apologised live on air for the mistake, stating that the caption should read Nott'm Forest.

During the game the Forest fans were heard to sing the theme tune to the then popular television programme Robin Hood, this being the first time that popular television culture had made its way into a terrace song during a cup final.

The FA Cup Final 1959 - Official Site

MATCH REPORT

Forest had come within an ace of losing to non‑League Tooting& Mitcham in the third round of the competition, drawing after being two goals down, but there have probably never been more worthy Final winners. Reduced to ten men after Dwight's injury on the half‑hour, they became the first side to win at Wembley with a depleted team. They were two goals up, after fourteen minutes and had established a moral superiority that even the loss of Dwight could not affect.

Forest settled quickly into their best form, and it came as no surprise when they took the lead in the tenth minute. Imlach, out on the left, feinted to cut inside, then beat McNally on the outside before pulling the ball back for Dwight to shoot into the top corner. Four minutes later the scene was repeated as Imlach centred perfectly for the unmarked Wilson to head past Baynham.

As the weight of numbers took its effect in the second half, Luton came more and more into the game and played much better football. Hawkes' hard cross into the goalmouth in the sixty‑second minute eluded several players before Pacey slammed the ball into the net to reduce Forest's lead.


In the last few minutes Forest were desperately kicking long balls upfield whenever possible, and, though Luton remained on the attack right up to the final whistle, the ten men stood firm.

Round By Round

Semi‑Final

LUTON T v Norwich C 1‑1, 1 ‑0; Aston Villa v NOTT'M FOREST 0‑1

Sixth Round
Blackpool v LUTON T 1 ‑1, 0‑1; Sheff Utd v Norwich C 1‑1, 2‑3; Aston Villa v Burnley 0‑0, 2‑0; NOTT'M FOREST v Bolton Wand 2‑1

Fifth Round
Ipswich T v LUTON T 2‑5, Blackpool v WBA 3‑1; Arsenal v Sheff Utd 2‑2,0‑3, Spurs v Norwich C 1‑ 1, 0‑1; Everton v Aston Villa 1‑4; Burnley v Portsmouth 1‑0; Bolton Wand v PNE 2‑2, 1‑1, 1‑0; Birmingham C v NOTT'M FOREST 1‑1, 1‑1, 0‑5

Fourth Round
Leicester C v LUTON T 1‑1, 1‑4; Stoke C v Ipswich T 0‑1; Bristol C v Blackpool 1 ‑1, 0‑1; WBA v Brentford 2‑0; Colchester Utd v Arsenal 2‑2, 0‑4; Worcester C v Sheff Utd 0‑2 Spurs v Newport Co 4‑1, Norwich C v Cardiff C 3‑2; Charlton Ath v Everton 2‑2, 1‑4; Chelsea v Aston Villa 1‑2; Blackburn R v Burnley 1‑2; Accrington S v Portsmouth 0‑0, 1‑4; Wolves v Bolton Wand 1‑2; PNE v Bradford C 3‑2; Birmingham C v Fulham 1‑1, 3‑2; NOTT'M FOREST v Grimsby T 4‑1

Third Round
LUTON T v Leeds Utd 5‑1; Leicester C v Lincoln C 2‑2,2‑0; Stoke C v Oldham Ath 5‑1; Ipswich T v Huddersfield T 1 ‑0; Southampton v Blackpool 1‑2; Doncaster R v Bristol C 0‑2; Sheff Wed v WBA 0‑2; Brentford v Barnsley 2‑0; Colchester Utd v Chesterfield 2‑0; Bury v Arsenal 0‑1; Worcester C v Liverpool 2‑1; Sheff Utd v Crystal Palace 2‑0; Spurs v W. Ham 2‑0; Newport Co v Torquay Utd 0‑0, 1 ‑0, Norwich C v Man Utd 3‑0; Plymouth Arg v Cardiff C 0‑3; Bristol R v CharIton Ath 0‑4; Everton v Sunderland 4‑0; Newcastle Utd v Chelsea 1‑4; Aston Villa v Rotherham Utd 2‑1; Blackburn R v Leyton Orient 4‑2; Stockport Co v Burnley 1‑3, Accrington S v Darlington 3‑0; Portsmouth v Swansea T 3‑1; Barrow v Wolves 2‑4, Scunthorpe Utd v Bolton Wand 0‑2; Derby Co v PNE 2‑2, 2‑4; Brighton & H Alb v Bradford C 0‑2; Middlesbro v Birmingham C 0‑1; Fulham v Peterborough Utd 0‑0, 1 ‑0; Grimsby T v Man C 2‑2, 2‑1; Tooting & Mitcham v NOTT'M FOREST 2‑2, 0‑3

FA Cup Final 1959 Collection

FA CUP WINNERS 1898

Saturday 16 April 1898 15:00 GMT
Nottingham Forest 3 – 1 Derby County
Crystal Palace, London
Attendance: 62,017
Referee: J. Lewis
Capes 19' 42' McPherson 86' Bloomer 31'

Round By Round

First Round
Southampton St Mary's v Leicester Fosse 2-1; PNE v Newcastle Utd 1 -2; Luton T v Bolton Wand 0-1; Man C v Wigan C 1 -0; WBA v New Brighton Tower 2-0; Sunderland v Sheff Wed 0-1; NOTT'M FOREST v Grimsby T 4-0; Long Eaton Rangers v Gainsboro Tr 0-1; Liverpool v Hucknall St John's 2-0; Newton Heath v Walsall 1 -0; Notts Co v Wolves 0-1; DERBY CO v Aston Villa 1-0; Burnley v Woolwich Arsenal 3-1; Burslem Port Vale v Sheff Utd 1-1,2-1; Everton v Blackburn R 1 -0; Bury v Stoke 1 -2

Second Round
Southampton St Mary's v Newcastle Utd 1 -0; Bolton Wand v Man C 1 -0; WBA v Sheff Wed 1 -0; NOTT'M FOREST v Gainsboro Tr 4-0; Liverpool v Newton Heath 0-0, 2-1; Wolves v DERBY CO 0-1; Burnley v Burslem Port Vale 3-0; Everton v Stoke 0-0, 5-1

Third Round
Southampton St Mary's v Bolton Wand 0-0, 4-0; WBA v NOTT'M FOREST 2-3; Liverpool v DERBY CO 1-1, 1-5; Burnley v Everton 1-3

Semi-Final
Southampton St Mary's v NOTT'M FOREST 1-1,0-2; DERBY CO v Everton 3-1
F.A. Cup winners 1898,
the day Nottingham Forest won the FA Cup for the first time, and wore the Derby County shirts for the Winners Team Photo, due to the adverse lighting conditions for the days of Black and White pictures.

Nottingham Forest 3 Derby County 1
at Crystal Palace

Standing :- H. Hallam (Sec.), Frank forman, Archie Ritchie, Dennis Allsop, John McPherson, A. William Wragg, Adam Scott, Geo. Bee (Trainer)
Seated :- Tommy McInnes, Charles H. Richards, Leonard Benbow, Arthur Capes, Alf. Spouncer.

The 1898 FA Cup Final was contested by Nottingham Forest and Derby County at Crystal Palace. Forest won 3–1, with goals from Arthur Capes (2) and John McPherson. Steve Bloomer scored Derby's effort.

Forest went ahead early on due to a goal from Capes, but Bloomer scored an equalizer with a header. The turning point was near the midway point. Richards tried to lob from a Mcinnes cross, but Fryer was easily first to it. The custodian, however, dropped the ball at the feet of Capes, who turned it in to the empty net.Forest lost a player with injury, but Mcpherson killed off the contest.

Nottingham Forest FC Dan Allsop, Archie Ritchie, Adam Scott, Frank Forman (c) ,John McPherson,
Willie Wragg, Tom McInnes, Charlie Richards, Len Benbow, Arthur Capes, Alf Spouncer,
Secretary-Manager: Harry Haslam

Derby County FC Jack Fryer, Jimmy Methven, Joe Leiper, John D. Cox, Archie Goodall, James Turner,
John Goodall, Steve Bloomer, John Boag, Jimmy Stevenson, Hugh McQueen
Manager: Harry Newbould

MATCH REPORT

Derby, the favourites, had knocked out both the previous year's finalists earlier in the competition and had beaten Forest 5-0 in a League match only one week before the Final.

Nevertheless from the very beginning it was Forest most of the way, although the standard of play generally fell a long way behind the superb exhibition provided by Villa and Everton the previous year. In an early attack, Methven was lucky to get in the way of Capes's shot, after Mclnnes and Richards had dallied unnecessarily.

One of the Forest team. Spouncer, had missed most of the pro-Final training sessions, being unable to obtain leave of absence from his work, but it was Spouncer who featured in the build-up to the first goal after nineteen minutes. Benbow raced down the middle and clipped a fine pass out to Spouncer on the left. The winger was fouled by Cox near the by-line. and Wragg's free-kick went to Capes whose low shot went through the defensive wall and beat Fryer in goal.

Derby began to have slightly the better of things after the goal, and in the thirty-first minute the legendary Steve Bloomer headed a good goal from Leiper's expertly placed free-kick, the ball striking the crossbar and bouncing down behind Allsop. Forest made a concerted effort as the interval approached and scored the goal that effectively won the Cup when Fryer parried Richards' shot and Capes closed in to shoot steadily along the ground and into the net.

Wragg, injured in the first half, wrenched his leg again and had to move out to the wing. Capes retreated into midfield and Spouncer had to go inside. Though handicapped. Forest came back with a third goal four minutes from time. Boag headed out from a corner-kick but McPherson slipped in to drive in a ground shot.

Play had almost all been in Derby's favour in the second half. but the rock-like Forest defence held out. Allsop leapt to turn away Cox's drive and McPherson saved a certain goal by charging down Bloomer's shot. Victory undoubtedly went to the better team. Indeed, their marked superiority must have come as a surprise to those who had expected a Derby walk-over.