Albion's home game against Forest on Friday 8th January 2010 will be the 114th time we've played them in the League. We have a distinct advantage over the first 113 games:
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | |
| Home | 56 | 29 | 11 | 16 | 113 | 83 | 30 |
| Away | 57 | 22 | 12 | 23 | 83 | 86 | -3 |
| Total |
113 |
51 | 23 | 39 | 196 | 169 | 27 |
The odd away game was our first away game of this season. The only goal was scored by Forest's Chris Cohen, in a desperate attempt to prevent Luke Moore getting to Jonathan Greening's cross. Forest had just had a Dele Adebola goal disallowed for a foul during the build-up, and Robbie Earnshaw missed a penalty in the 76th minute after he was brought down by a combination of Leon Barnett and Marek Cech.
The last time we played them at The Hawthorns was the final game of the 2003-4 season, with Albion already assured of promotion; Gareth Williams scored for Forest in the 4th minute, and it remained 1-0 until David Johnson got a second right at the end.
Earlier that season, two goals from Jason Koumas and an own goal from Matthieu Louis-Jean had given Albion a comfortable 3-0 victory at the City Ground.
We also played Forest in the third round of the FA Cup in 2003-4. They won 1-0, with a penalty scored by Marlon King in the 54th minute. Incredibly, this was the 16th time we'd played Forest in the Cup.
(Where are they now? David Johnson was forced to retire in 2005 after sustaining a back injury. Gareth Williams spent three years with Leicester City, and joined Watford in the Premiership in 2007, but made only three appearances after suffering a cruciate ligament injury; he was released in May 2009, aged 27, and is still without a contract. Matthieu Louis-Jean moved to Norwich in 2005 in exchange for Gary Holt, after making 198 League appearances for Forest; he made only two appearances for Norwich and was released in 2007, aged 31. Marlon King joined Watford in 2005 and Wigan in 2008; now aged 29, he made just three substitute appearances for Wigan in the Premiership this season before being jailed for 18 months in October for sexual assault. Jason Koumas is now 30 and still turns out for Wigan occasionally.)
Here's the recent(ish) record:
| 2009-10 | Championship |
Albion |
Forest |
Forest |
0 | 1 | Albion |
|
W | ||
| 2003-4 | Division 1 |
Albion |
0 | 2 | Forest | Forest | 0 | 3 | Albion | L | W |
| 2001-2 | Division 1 | Albion | 1 | 0 | Forest | Forest | 0 | 1 | Albion | W | W |
| 2000-1 | Division 1 | Albion | 3 | 0 | Forest | Forest | 1 | 0 | Albion | W | L |
| 1999-2000 | Division 1 | Albion | 1 | 1 | Forest | Forest | 0 | 0 | Albion | D | D |
| 1997-8 | Division 1 | Albion | 1 | 1 | Forest | Forest | 1 | 0 | Albion | D | L |
| 1993-4 | Division 1 | Albion | 0 | 2 | Forest | Forest | 2 | 1 | Albion | L | L |
| 1985-6 | Division 1 | Albion | 1 | 1 | Forest | Forest | 2 | 1 | Albion | D | L |
| 1984-5 | Division 1 | Albion | 4 | 1 | Forest | Forest | 1 | 2 | Albion | W | W |
1984-5 is a good place to stop I think, because not only was that the last time before 2001-2 that we won at the City Ground and the last time before 2000-1 that we beat Forest anywhere, but the previous season Albion suffered a particularly heavy home defeat at the hands of Forest.
Nottingham
Forest: club historyThe history of Nottingham Forest FC is long, and except for about twenty years starting in 1976 it isn't particularly distinguished.
The Forest Football Club was founded in 1865; this makes it one of the oldest in the world. Unfortunately for them, there is a club in Nottingham that's even older: Notts County was founded in 1864. When the Football League was formed, it was Notts that got the nod and Forest had to wait a further four years until 1892, when the First Division was expanded to 16 clubs and the Second Division was formed. Forest were elected to the First along with Newton Heath. (Darwen had joined the previous year, and Sunderland the year before that.)
They won the FA Cup in 1898, beating their local rivals Derby County 3-1 in the final. They also beat Albion 3-2 in the third round. But this was their only major trophy until 1959, when they beat Luton Town to win the Cup for a second time.
Forest were relegated for the first time in 1906, but won promotion at the first attempt. Their second relegation came in 1911; this time it took them seven seasons (eleven years, due to the First World War) to get back. This time they stayed in the First Division for only three years, and it took them 32 years (25 seasons - Second World War) to get back. Between 1911 and 1957 they had spent only three seasons in the First Division, and they dropped to the Third for two seasons from 1949 to 1951.
After promotion in 1957, they enjoyed their longest ever period in the First Division, just beating the 14-year spell after they first joined the league in 1892. During this time they finished in the bottom half of the table more often that not, and only twice were they above tenth place; but in 1966-7 they achieved their highest League finish to date when they were runners-up to Manchester United. Also, as we've already seen, they won the Cup for a second time in 1959. But their 15-year spell in the First Division came to an end in 1972 when they were relegated along with Huddersfield Town.
When Brian Clough joined them, Forest had spent three years in the Second Division. Five years later they had won one League Championship (1978), two European Cups (1979 and 1980) and two League Cups (1978 and 1979). During Cloughie's 18 years in charge they won two more League Cups (1989 and 1990) and lost one FA Cup final (1991). The FA Cup was in fact the only real prize that Forest failed to win during the Clough years; in 1978, the year they won the other two domestic trophies, it was Albion that spoilt their dream of a treble by beating them 2-0 in the sixth round. Mick Martin and Cyrille Regis were the scorers. This was the only competitive game that Forest lost in over a year - between 19th November 1977 and 9th December 1978.
It was in 1977 that Clough led Forest to promotion, and they stayed in the top flight for 16 years - their longest ever spell.
With the arrival of the Premiership in 1992, Brian Clough and Nottingham Forest seemed to lose their way. In the final season of the old First Division they'd finished in a respectable eighth place; but in the Premiership's inaugural season they ended up bottom, with 40 points from 42 games - nine points from safety. Clough decided to call it a day, and he retired after 18 years in charge at the City Ground. In the 16 years that followed, Forest went through 13 managers - including such names as Frank Clark, Stuart Pearce, Dave Bassett, Micky Adams, Ron Atkinson, Paul Hart, Joe Kinnear, and ... Gary Megson.
Clark got them back to the Premiership at the first attempt, and in 1995 they finished third in the Premiership behind Blackburn Rovers and Manchester United. But two years later they finished bottom again and were, to coin a phrase, back in the Nationwide.
This brought Stuart Pearce's time as a reluctant player-manager to a close, and the pragmatic lower-division specialist Dave Bassett was brought in. Once again Forest were promoted at the first attempt, but this time they finished bottom (for a third time) in their first season back in the Premiership. Relegated alongside them were Blackburn, who'd won the Premiership title just four years earlier, when Forest had finished third.
This time there was no quick return for Forest. In fact they haven't been back since; and in 2006 they suffered relegation to League One, thus becoming the first club to play in their country's third division having won the European Cup.
It was Gary Megson that had been appointed to try and avoid that catastrophe. He not only failed to do that, but he failed even to guide them to the play-offs the following season; Forest finished seventh, and Megson was sacked.
In 2007, under Colin Calderwood, they finished fourth and did make the play-offs. They beat Yeovil town 2-0 in the first (away) leg of the semi-final, and with eight minutes of the second leg remaining Forest looked home and dry with the score at 1-1. But Yeovil scored twice in those last eight minutes to take the game into extra time. Two minutes into extra time Yeovil took the lead; Forest equalised a minute later, but with just six minutes remaining Yeovil got a fifth goal to win 5-4 on aggregate.
In 2007-8 Calderwood finally guided Forest to promotion as they finished second behind Swansea City. Last season they struggled to adjust to the Championship, winning only one of their first thirteen games (and losing ten of them). Results did then improve slightly as they lost only two of the next eleven, but a 4-2 defeat at home to fellow-strugglers Doncaster Rovers on Boxing Day proved to be the final straw and Calderwood was sacked, with Forest in 22nd place after 25 games.
Forest then turned to Billy Davies. It was a brave choice, as Davies' Derby County had suffered a miserable season after he led them to the Premiership - in fact he himself had only survived until November that season. But Forest's results improved immediately; they'd already won their one League game under caretaker John Pemberton, away to Norwich City, and they'd also claimed the considerable scalp of Manchester City (enjoying their first season of Arabian riches) in the Cup. They went on to win the next two after Davies' arrival, and eventually finished in 19th place with 53 points. After parting with Calderwood they'd taken 32 points from 21 games.
This season they started slowly, and after eight games they were exactly where they'd finished last time: 19th, with seven points. But they then won their next five games, starting with a 1-0 win away to Plymouth, and coming up to their visit to The Hawthorns on Friday 8th January they have gone a remarkable 16 games unbeaten. They are now in third place, just two points behind Albion in second, although we do have a game in hand.
As well as going 16 League games without defeat, they have also just held the Premiership's form team, Birmingham City (11 games unbeaten) to a 0-0 draw in the FA Cup. There is a notable link between that game and Albion's win at the City ground in August: Robert Earnshaw missed a penalty in both!
A few points worth noting: firstly, during the 16-game unbeaten run, only three of Forest's ten wins have come away from home. Two of those were against struggling Plymouth and Peterborough, although the third (and most recent) was against Swansea City, currently in sixth place. And secondly, they seem to struggle to score away from home. While their home wins have included scores of 4-1 against Doncaster and 5-1 against Leicester, only once during that run have they scored more than one away from home - when they beat Peterborough 2-1.
Thirdly however: they have not conceded in any of their last six games, and in fact the last goal they did concede was a penalty.
Should be an intriguing game ...
Head to HeadAlbion's first League game against Forest was on the 2nd of March 1893, and Albion won 4-3 with goals from Alf 'Jasper' Geddes, Billy Bassett (2) and Willie Groves. This was at the Town Ground - where Forest played before moving to the City Ground in 1898. The return match at Stoney Lane a month later ended in a 2-2 draw; Albion's scorers were Charlie Perry and John 'Baldy' Reynolds.
Albion won the next seven games at The Hawthorns, scoring 23 goals and conceding just one. Meanwhile in Nottingham, we won three games and lost four. Our biggest win in that period was 8-0, in the very last game played at Stoney Lane - on 16th April 1900. Billy Walker scored three of the goals. This is still our biggest ever victory over Forest.
Forest had won 6-1 at the Town Ground the previous October, and they won by the same score the following season on their first ever visit to The Hawthorns. This is still their biggest win over Albion, although they did win 5-0 at The Hawthorns in 1983-4.
In December 1924, George James scored what is believed to be the fastest ever goal at The Hawthorns - 5 seconds after kick-off - in a match that ended 5-1 to Albion. James ended up with four of the goals.
Albion were undefeated in nine visits to the City Ground between 1948 and 1964. We then lost the next five. Meanwhile, Forest were undefeated in six visits to The Hawthorns between 1959 and 1965!
John Osborne made his debut for Albion in a League game against Forest in January 1967. This was the very first Albion game that I attended. Forest won 2-1, one of their goals being a penalty. This was the season that they ended as runners-up to Manchester United.
In January 1974, Tony Brown scored all four of Albion's goals in a 4-1 victory at the City Ground. A week earlier, Bomber had scored a hat-trick as Albion beat Notts County 4-0 at The Hawthorns in the FA Cup - Willie Johnston getting the other.
Following Forest's relegation from the Premiership in 1993, their side still included the likes of Stuart Pearce, Steve Stone and Stan Collymore. Albion frankly struggled to compete, and lost both games: 2-0 at The Hawthorns and 2-1 at the City Ground. Collymore got both goals at The Hawthorns; at the City Ground, their scorers were Steve Stone and Colin Cooper, while Albion's was Bob Taylor.
Four years later, after they were relegated for the second time, we lost 1-0 at the City Ground, and in the final game of the 1997-8 season a late penalty by Lee Hughes salvaged a point. In 1999-2000 both games were drawn, and finally in 2000-1 - after losing 1-0 at the City Ground on the opening day of the season - Albion won 3-0 at The Hawthorns with two goals from Jason Roberts and an own goal from Ben Olsen.
In 2001-2 Albion won both games 1-0. At The Hawthorns Uwe Rosler won it with the only goal of his five-game loan spell; at the City Ground it was a late goal from Bob Taylor that reduced Wolves' lead to five points when it had been eleven just over 24 hours earlier.
Let's just relive that Bob Taylor goal. It was the Friday night, and Albion's first game after the Battle of Bramhall Lane. Riccardo Scimeca (then with Forest) pushes Scott Dobie over 25 yards from goal; Neil Clement's pile-driver of a free-kick hits the bar; goalkeeper Darren Ward tries to push it over as it rebounds out, but succeeds only in pushing it into the path of the onrushing SuperBob who nods it home. I can still remember it as if it were yesterday!
In 2003-4, as we've already seen, both games were won by the away side; as was the first encounter of the current season. Let's hope Albion can buck that trend on Friday ...
As already mentioned, Albion have played Forest a total of 16 times in the FA Cup. We've only actually been drawn against them eight times - the other eight have been replays!
Here's the full list:
| 1891/2 | Semi-final | Albion | 1 | Forest | 1 | (Geddes) | D | |
| 1891/2 | Semi-final | (replay) | Albion | 1 | Forest | 1 | (Bassett) | D |
| 1891/2 | Semi-final | (2nd replay) | Albion | 6 | Forest | 2 | (Geddes 3, Bassett, Groves, Perry) | W |
| 1897/8 | Round 3 | Albion | 2 | Forest | 3 | (Williams, Bassett) | L | |
| 1903/4 | Round 1 | Albion | 1 | Forest | 1 | (Simmons) | D | |
| 1903/4 | Round 1 | (replay) | Forest | 3 | Albion | 1 | (Smith) | L |
| 1957/8 | Round 4 | Albion | 3 | Forest | 3 | (Allen, Kevan, Robson) | D | |
| 1957/8 | Round 4 | (replay) | Forest | 1 | Albion | 5 | (Kevan, Whitehouse, Griffin, Robson, Howe (pen.) | W |
| 1962/3 | Round 4 | Albion | 0 | Forest | 0 | D | ||
| 1962/3 | Round 4 | (replay) | Forest | 2 | Albion | 0 | (Smith) | L |
| 1972/3 | Round 3 | Albion | 1 | Forest | 1 | (Winfield o.g.) | D | |
| 1972/3 | Round 3 | (replay) | Forest | 1 | Albion | 1 | (Hartford) | D |
| 1972/3 | Round 3 | (2nd replay) | Forest | 0 | Albion | 0 | D | |
| 1972/3 | Round 3 | (3rd replay) | Albion | 3 | Forest | 1 | (Cantello, Hartford, Suggett) | W |
| 1977/8 | Round 6 | Albion | 2 | Forest | 0 | (Martin, Regis) | W | |
| 2003/4 | Round 3 | Forest | 1 | Albion | 0 | L |
That's four wins each - and eight draws. In the above table, matches shaded blue were at Albion; those shaded pink were at Forest; those shaded grey were on neutral grounds. Here's the summary:
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | |
| Home | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 1 |
| Away | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| Neutral | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 6 |
| Total |
16 |
4 | 8 | 4 | 28 | 21 | 7 |
This includes the first replay in 1972/3 (at the City Ground), which was abandoned after 79 minutes due to fog.
Albion's 6-2 win in the second replay in 1891/2 was, and still is, one of the biggest wins ever in an FA Cup semi-final. Billy Bassett is said to have had a hand in all six goals, laying on a hat-trick for his opposite winger Alf Geddes. The game was played at Derby, reportedly in blizzard conditions throughout. Forest afterwards protested that the game should be replayed yet again, but their appeal was turned down by the FA on the grounds that they should have protested during the game. The referee later admitted that had either side done this, he would have abandoned the game.
The first two games in 1891/2 were played at Molineux.
The 1962/3 replay, and the second replay in 1972/3, included extra time. The third replay in 1972/3 was played at Filbert Street, Leicester.
We've been drawn against Forest twice in the League Cup:
| 1968/9 | Round 2 | Forest | 2 | Albion | 3 | (Astle 2, Rees) | W | |
| 1982/3 | Round 2 | (1st leg) | Forest | 6 | Albion | 1 | (Regis) | L |
| 1982/3 | Round 2 | (2nd leg) | Albion | 3 | Forest | 1 | (Regis, Nicky Cross, Whitehead) | W |
The 1968/9 game was played at Meadow Lane, following a fire at the City Ground.
Forest won the 1982/3 tie 7-4 on aggregate.