Historical documents record, over hundreds of years, regular invasions by armies from Scotland into England, ‘The Auld Enemy’. The 17th century was particularly busy until The Acts Of Union brought the two nations together in 1707. That didn’t stop Bonny Prince Charlie laying claim to the throne. Gathering support, as part of the Jacobite rebellion…
My brother pinged a photo my way soon after he’d watched Forest’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa last week. Post-match social-media traffic is always busy but, on the back of an inspired performance by the Reds, it was buzzing. It was an ‘old mates together’ image of two blokes sharing a word at the City…
“It brought back the memory of my goal against Coventry in the Trent End five minutes after coming on, or looking down the other end and seeing my header against Leeds where I smashed my head off the post whilst scoring. It was unbelievable.” While Jason Longdon’s footballing career never hit the stardom that many…
One a goalkeeper, the other a wing-half, both having played in the early days of association football, and both went by the surname of Toone; a father and son pairing who were born in the fair city of Nottingham, in the latter years of the 1800s. In fact, both were called George Toone, one Snr,…
Last season’s Carabao Cup defeat to Manchester united signalled the end of a thirty year wait for a semi-final in a major competition for Nottingham Forest, but there was a time when finals were a regular occurrence including a two-legged victory over Barcelona in Europe. We’re going to take you back in detail courtesy of…
Fred Mann, a defender, Ken Mann, a winger, and Peter Mann, a centre half-forward, and with club nicknames like the Redlegs and the Bombers, the Sharks and the Bulldogs, and an unlikely connection throughout the history of Australian Rules Football, with the East Midlands city of, Nottingham, England. At the start of May, 1878, a…
Written by Nigel Clark, Lawn Tennis Correspondent of the Daily Mirror in 1976. It was the day when the rain came . . . the soaking Saturday when two of the world’s great tennis stars gave the game back to the public. llie Nastase of Rumania. and Jimmy Connors of the United States, proved that…
“It’s really important to tell their stories and I’d love to hear grandad’s story, and he wants to do it,” Vicky McClure, 2023. Eighty years ago, the D-Day Landings took place on the beaches of Normandy, France, among them, a promising young footballer, Ralph McClure, of Collingham Footway, the Meadows, in Nottingham. Fast-forward eighty years,…
As the gates clunk shut at grounds around the country to signal the end of May and another football season, players will head off for well-earned rests to every popular destination you’d find in a travel agent. Aside from participation in the FA Cup and European finals, teams are now left free to lick their…
I blame Manchester United – in part, at least – for the early demise to my blossoming career as a sports journalist. It’s a tale full of intrigue, with accusations of fraud and dodgy money-making. The saga would have sat comfortably in today’s Westminster world of law-bending and money for honours culture but this was…
When Dad plants the programme on our kitchen table, he gives me a Cheshire-cat grin. ‘Here you are. Luton Town versus Nottingham Forest. FA Cup final at Wembley. May 2nd 1959.’ Over a Sunday breakfast fry-up, he picks out pages, names and photos. I can’t read (I’m five) and I don’t know what a football…
There’s a heady list of past athletes to have played more than on sport in the county of Nottinghamshire, and we’ve already covered a few of those, but, surely up there, in the echelons of the greats, is Nottingham-born, rugby union legend, Vincent Cartwright. A recipient of both the DSO (Distinguished Service Order) and the…
Is there anything quite like a match at the City Ground on a winter’s night? Something about darkness intensifies the experience as senses shift into hyper-alert. Every smell becomes essence of, whether it’s fags, beer or burgers. Every sight gains another characteristic, from a black velvet, rippling Trent, to a stadium so illuminated it has…
When the Titanic hit an iceberg in April 1912, on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, Captain Edward John Smith went down with his ship. He was following a maritime tradition, though there was no legal obligation to do so. If ‘the last person to leave the sinking ship’ has a ring of…
An eye-catching scoreline: Nottingham Forest 12 – 0 Leicester. Remember that? No, not even I do! That thrashing for Leicester Fosse (as they were then) came in a First Division fixture in 1909 and proved to be the heaviest defeat they’ve ever suffered. They went on to be relegated and, a decade later, ‘Fosse’ became…
Sounds, smells, taste, touch, places and things can all evoke powerful, personal associations for us. These can be life-affirming, beautiful and positive, sometimes the opposite, sometimes good and bad. And the trigger for the memory might not be obvious. Take bananas. They are nutritious and much loved in sport by such as tennis players at…
‘We hate Nottingham Forest, we hate Everton too, we hate Man United, but Liverpool, we love you.’ There’s a catchy little chant that’s echoed round the terraces since the late 1960s! Supporters could substitute different names, of course, but that version had particular bite for Forest and Liverpool fans in the late 70s. Last Saturday’s…
During the mid-nineties, I lived in West Bridgford with my ex-wife and two young children. My son Matt was always cricket crazy, taking after his Dad and for a bit of fun, from about 4 years old, I used to run a cricket session for him and his mates from the local Primary School on…
Pub quiz question: what English region dominated the European Cup competition between 1979-82? Answer – as if you didn’t know! – the Midlands. Forest won that cup in 1979 and 1980 and Aston Villa in 1982. (Ok, Liverpool won it in 1981.) It’s a detail of footballing history that I revisit each time the two…
At the tail end of last season, I caught up with a former Forest frontman Kevin Campbell, he spoke at length regarding his move to the City Ground, Pierre Van Hooijdonk, non-tackling centre halves and the fear of being marooned on a desert island with Andy Johnson. Despite numerous invites by Nottingham Forest over the…
