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 Founded 1865 |
The History of Forest |
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Forest beat Southampton 3-2 in the Full Members Cup final in 1992, but then lost to Manchester united in the League Cup in the same season, both finals being played by a Forest team much weakened by injuries. Brian Clough's reign as manager ended in May 1993 when Forest were relegated from the inaugural Premier League after 16 illustrious years of top flight football which had seen a league title, two European Cups and four League Cups. 
Frank Clark, who was a left back in the 1979 European Cup winning team returned to the club in May 1993 to succeed Brian Clough as manager. His management career had previously been uneventful, although he had won the Fourth Division promotion playoffs with Leyton Orient in 1989. Having inherited most of the players from the Clough era, Clark was able to achieve an instant return to the Premier League when the club finished Division One runners-up at the end of the 1993-1994 season. 
Forest's return to the Premier League was impressive as they finished third in 1994-1995 and qualified for the UEFA Cup- their first entry to European competition in the post-Heysel era. The club notably reached the quarter-finals as the longest lasting English club in European competition that season. The 1996-1997 season became a relegation battle and Clark was sacked in December. 34year old captain Stuart Pearce was instilled as player manager on a temporary basis and he inspired a brief upturn in the club's fortunes. He was tipped to become manager on a permanent basis, but the Forest's directors wanted someone more experienced so in March 1997 they turned to Crystal Palace manager Dave Bassett. Forest were unable to avoid relegation and finished the season in bottom place. 
They won promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt, being crowned Division One champions in 1997-1998. Bassett was sacked in January 1999, with Ron Atkinson replacing him. However he was unable to prevent them from once again slipping back in to the Football League with a succession of poor results, most noticeably the 8-1 defeat by Manchester United. David Platt succeeded Atkinson and spent approximately £12 million on players, including the Italian veterans Moreno Manninni, Salvatore Matrecano and Gianluca Petrachi. Platt managed two mid table finishes before departing for the England U-21S when Forest were in financial difficulties. Platt remains the most hated Forest manager by the fans and ex players due to his attitude and disregard for history. |
