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 Founded 1865 |
Forest Profiles |
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Brian Howard Clough In 1990, Forest were playing QPR in the League Cup which they won 5-2 thanks to four goals from Lee Chapman. Trevor Francis was the Rangers manager that day when some Forest fans stormed the pitch in celebration only to smacked around the back of the head by Cloughie. The ITV cameras caught the whole incident and Clough recieved a £5000 fine from the FA for his actions. But interestingly he actually got an apology from the two assaulted fans for the pitch invasion and neither of them wished to press criminal charges to the man who had done so much for their beloved club. In 1991 Forest reached the FA Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur, Clough famously walked hand in hand onto the sacred Wembley turf with Spurs' boss Terry Venables much to the amusement of the watching millions. The FA Cup was the only piece of silver ware that Clough hadn't won during his time as a manager and that afternoon proved to be another day of hopes dashed as Forest and Spurs went to extra time in a game of real incident. Forest had taken the lead with a Stuart Pearce free kick, Paul Gascoigne had been stretchered off after a tackle on Gary Charles went wrong for him and Mark Crossley had saved Gary Lineker's penalty kick. However when Spurs equalised and it went to extra time Clough remained on the bench instead of urging his players on. His reverse psychology failed to work its magic on that occasion and he always regretted his actions that sunny afternoon. The next year Forest also lost the League Cup Final against Manchester United 1-0, this also was Clough's final season as Forest boss. The 1992-1993 season was the first season of the newly formed Premier League and from the start it was clear that it was not to be a good one for the Reds. There were concerns raised over the scale of Clough's drinking habits and before the season had finished with Forest's relegation it was public news that Clough was resigning. Brian was given the freedom of the City of Nottingham that year where he spent a morning and afternoon touring the city. Time had run out for the greatest manager Nottingham Forest had ever had. His last league game was a defeat against Sheffield United that saw the fans singing endlessly throughout the game 'Brian Clough's a football genius' at the final whistle the fans stormed the pitch and surrounded the boss with an outpouring of love and thanks for all that he had done. On May 12th 1993 at the age of 58, after the misery of relegation and a forced resignation Clough left the manager's office for the very last time but not before watching a reserves match and spending up to midnight signing autographs for the fans. He left the office at around 12.35 am with his personal belongings, the pictures of Sinatra, The Ink Spots and Del Boy his faithful dog sitting in the chairman's chair and then he walked across the car park for the last time closing the door on his waiting car and the greatest chapter in Forest's history had ended. |