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1977–78 Nottingham Forest F.C. season

Nottingham Forest F.C. 1977–78 football season From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The 1977–78 season was Nottingham Forest's first year back in the First Division since their relegation in 1972. They had finished third in the Second Division the previous season to earn promotion.

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Summary

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Forest's credentials at the start of the season did not appear to be especially impressive. Promotion from Division Two in 1976–77 had been achieved only by the skin of their teeth and the squad of players was a mixture of underachievers, journeymen and inexperienced youngsters. Many pundits tipped them to struggle. However, Brian Clough and Peter Taylor had already proved at Derby County that they were capable of blending a winning formula from apparently limited resources and they would now do so again. No player epitomised Forest's success more than Kenny Burns, who arrived for £150,000 in pre-season from Birmingham City where he had acquired something of a 'wild man' reputation. Having spent several years playing as a forward, Burns was converted back to the defensive role where he had begun his career and although it took a few matches for him to settle he ended the season by being voted Footballer of the Year.

Forest confounded the critics from the outset, registering three straight league wins to top the first table of the season and thrashing West Ham United 5–0 in the second round of the League Cup. Although their 100% record ended with a 3–0 defeat at Arsenal, Forest won the next three and ended September second in the table behind Manchester City on goal difference. A 4–0 win over Ipswich Town at the beginning of October (Peter Withe scoring all four) restored them to the top of the table and there they stayed for the rest of the season. After a slight hiccup in November saw them lose consecutive away matches at Chelsea and Leeds United they went unbeaten in their remaining 26 league fixtures and were confirmed as champions following a goalless draw at Coventry City in April.

Two further additions had been made to the playing squad in the early weeks of the season. Peter Shilton was signed from Stoke City for £325,000, then a record transfer fee for a goalkeeper, and Archie Gemmill joined from Derby in a deal that also saw Shilton's predecessor John Middleton move in the opposite direction. Middleton had conceded six goals in Forest's opening five league matches - Shilton would concede only 18 in the remaining 37. In December, Forest bought David Needham from Queens Park Rangers for £140,000 to add depth to the defence. Nevertheless, they used just 17 players during the season, one of whom (teenage reserve goalkeeper Chris Woods) only appeared in the League Cup as cover for the cup-tied Shilton.

Forest's League Cup run saw them score 23 goals in just six matches en route to facing Liverpool in the final at Wembley where Woods performed heroics to keep the reigning league and European champions at bay and earn Forest a goalless draw. Liverpool also had the better of the replay at Old Trafford but a controversial penalty converted by John Robertson was enough to give Forest their first piece of major silverware since the FA Cup in 1959. A clean sweep of domestic trophies looked a distinct possibility until defeat at West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup quarter-final.

The squad became one of the few teams (and the most recent team to date) to win the First Division title the season after winning promotion from the Second Division. The others were Liverpool in 1906, Everton in 1932, Tottenham Hotspur in 1951 and Ipswich Town in 1962. Forest remain the only club to achieve this feat having not been promoted as champions.

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Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

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Transfers

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Winter

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Competitions

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First Division

League Table

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Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. Liverpool qualified for the European Cup first round as the 1977–78 European Cup winners.

Position by round

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Source: Competitive matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss;   = Leader, 1978-79 European Cup;   = 1978-79 UEFA Cup;   = 1978-79 Second Division

A list of Nottingham Forest's matches in the 1977–78 season.[10][11][12]

Matches

20 August 1977 1 Everton 1–3 Nottingham Forest Walton
Pearson 44' Withe 20'
Robertson 38'
O'Neill 77'
Stadium: Goodison Park
Attendance: 38,001
23 August 1977 2 Nottingham Forest 1–0 Bristol City West Bridgford
Withe 82' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 21,743
27 August 1977 3 Nottingham Forest 3–0 Derby County West Bridgford
Withe 31', 67'
Robertson 78'
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 28,807
3 September 1977 4 Arsenal 3–0 Nottingham Forest Islington
Stapleton 3', 60'
Brady 69' (pen.)
Stadium: Highbury
Attendance: 40,810
10 September 1977 5 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–3 Nottingham Forest Wolverhampton
Bell 73'
Daley 82' (pen.)
18' Withe
64' Bowyer
72' Woodcock
Stadium: Molineux
Attendance: 24,662
17 September 1977 6 Nottingham Forest 2–0 Aston Villa West Bridgford
Woodcock 5'
Robertson 89'
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 31,016
24 September 1977 7 Leicester City 0–3 Nottingham Forest Leicester
O'Neill 18'
Woodcock 63'
Robertson 89' (pen.)
Stadium: Filbert Street
Attendance: 21,447
1 October 1977 8 Nottingham Forest 1–1 Norwich City West Bridgford
Burns 73' Peters 78' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 23,741
4 October 1977 9 Nottingham Forest 4–0 Ipswich Town West Bridgford
Withe 43', 58', 86', 89' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 26,845
8 October 1977 10 West Ham United 0–0 Nottingham Forest Upton Park
Stadium: Boleyn Ground
Attendance: 26,128
15 October 1977 11 Nottingham Forest 2–1 Manchester City West Bridgford
Woodcock 34'
Withe 86'
Kidd 21' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 35,572
29 October 1977 13 Nottingham Forest 4–0 Middlesbrough West Bridgford
Anderson 31', 44'
Bowyer 40'
McGovern 55'
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 27,373
5 November 1977 14 Chelsea 1–0 Nottingham Forest Fulham
Aylott 55' Stadium: Stamford Bridge
Attendance: 36,116
19 November 1977 16 Leeds United 1–0 Nottingham Forest Leeds
Hankin 36' Stadium: Elland Road
Attendance: 42,925
3 December 1977 18 Birmingham City 0–2 Nottingham Forest Birmingham
O'Neill 10'
Woodcock 52'
Stadium: St. Andrew's
Attendance: 29,925
10 December 1977 19 Nottingham Forest 2–1 Coventry City West Bridgford
O'Neill 40'
McGovern 44'
Wallace 41' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 29,823
17 December 1977 20 Manchester United 0–4 Nottingham Forest Manchester
B. Greenhoff 23' (o.g.)
Woodcock 28', 89'
Robertson 53'
Stadium: Old Trafford
Attendance: 54,375
26 December 1977 21 Nottingham Forest 1–1 Liverpool West Bridgford
Gemmill 21' Heighway 39' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 47,218
31 December 1977 23 Bristol City 1–3 Nottingham Forest Bristol
Mabbutt 82' Needham 11'
Woodcock 21'
O'Neill 58'
Stadium: Ashton Gate
Attendance: 31,990
2 January 1978 24 Nottingham Forest 1–1 Everton West Bridgford
Robertson 25' (pen.) Ross 85' (pen.) Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 44,030
14 January 1978 25 Derby County 0–0 Nottingham Forest Derby
Stadium: Baseball Ground
Attendance: 36,500
21 January 1978 26 Nottingham Forest 2–0 Arsenal West Bridgford
Needham 32'
Gemmill 64'
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 35,743
25 February 1978 28 Norwich City 3–3 Nottingham Forest Norwich
Ryan 44' (pen.)
Suggett 68'
Robson 70'
Withe 16'
Barrett 22'
O'Neill 24'
Stadium: Carrow Road
Attendance: 26,004
1 April 1978 33 Nottingham Forest 3–1 Chelsea West Bridgford
Burns 68'
O'Neill 82'
Robertson 87'
Langley 8' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 31,262
5 April 1978 34 Aston Villa 0–1 Nottingham Forest Birmingham
Woodcock 86' Stadium: Villa Park
Attendance: 44,315
11 April 1978 35 Manchester City 0–0 Nottingham Forest Moss Side
Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 43,428
15 April 1978 36 Nottingham Forest 1–1 Leeds United West Bridgford
Withe 65' F. Gray 41' (pen.) Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 38,662
22 April 1978 38 Coventry City 0–0 Nottingham Forest Coventry
Stadium: Highfield Road
Attendance: 36,881
25 April 1978 39 Ipswich Town 0–2 Nottingham Forest Ipswich
Mariner 73' (o.g.)
Clark 78'
Stadium: Portman Road
Attendance: 30,062
4 May 1978 42 Liverpool 0–0 Nottingham Forest Liverpool
Stadium: Anfield
Attendance: 50,021

League Cup

Second round

30 August 1977 Nottingham Forest 5–0 West Ham United Nottingham
O'Neill 9'
Bowyer 25', 85'
Woodcock 65'
Withe 78'
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 18,224

Third round

25 October 1977 Nottingham Forest 4–0 Notts County Nottingham
Robertson 16' (pen.)
Woodcock 46'
Bowyer 65', 84'
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 26,931

Fourth round

29 November 1977 Nottingham Forest 4–2 Aston Villa Nottingham
Lloyd 7'
Anderson 13'
Withe 25'
Woodcock 52'
Little 79'
Carrodus 85'
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 29,333

Fifth round

17 January 1978 Bury 0–3 Nottingham Forest Bury
Bowyer 8'
O'Neill 55'
Robertson 78'
Stadium: Gigg Lane
Attendance: 21,500

Semifinals

8 February 1978 1 Leeds United 1–3 Nottingham Forest Leeds
E. Gray 28' Withe 19', 21'
O'Hare 75'
Stadium: Elland Road
Attendance: 43,222
22 February 1978 2 Nottingham Forest 4–2
(7–3 agg.)
Leeds United Nottingham
Withe 18'
Bowyer 49'
O'Neill 72'
Woodcock 75'
F. Gray 13'
Graham 19'
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 38,131

Final

18 March 1978 Nottingham Forest 0–0 (a.e.t.) Liverpool London
Stadium: Wembley
Attendance: 100,000
22 March 1978 replay Nottingham Forest 1–0 Liverpool Manchester
Robertson 52' (pen.) Stadium: Old Trafford
Attendance: 54,375

FA Cup

Third round

7 January 1978 Nottingham Forest 4–1 Swindon Town Nottingham
Woodcock 37', 77'
Withe 55'
Robertson 67'
Moss 84' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 28,953

Fourth round

31 January 1978 Nottingham Forest 2–1 Manchester City Nottingham
Robertson 3'
Withe 59'
Kidd 61' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 38,509

Fifth round

27 February 1978 replay Nottingham Forest 1–1 (a.e.t.) Queens Park Rangers Nottingham
Robertson 19' (pen.) Shanks 43' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 40,097
2 March 1978 2nd replay Nottingham Forest 3–1 Queens Park Rangers Nottingham
O'Neill 2'
Woodcock 65', 79'
Bowles 64' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 33,960

Sixth round

Pre-season and Friendlies

1 August 1977 Friendly St Gallen Switzerland 2–3 Nottingham Forest St Gallen, Switzerland
Bowyer 51'
Withe 7' 37'
Stadium: Espenmoos
Attendance: 2,300
5 August 1977 Friendly SV Plattling West Germany 1–5 Nottingham Forest Plattling, Germany
O'Neill
Elliott
Birtles
Stadium: Rennbahnstadion
Attendance: 1,500
9 August 1977 Friendly SC Bregenz Austria 0–3 Nottingham Forest Bregenz, Austria
Elliott
Woodcock
Stadium: Casino Stadium
Attendance: 2,000
13 August 1977 Centenary Match Skegness Town 0–4 Nottingham Forest Skegness
Burns
Bowyer
Elliott
Robertson (pen.)'
Stadium: Burgh Road
Attendance: 2,500
15 August 1977 County Cup Final Nottingham Forest 1–1
(3–2 p)
Notts County Nottingham
Bowyer 49' Smith Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 11,569
Referee: G. Flint
12 September 1977 Liam O'Kane Testimonial Nottingham Forest XI 0–0 Leicester City XI Nottingham
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 5,190
Referee: B. Martin
14 November 1977 Alan Goad Testimonial Hartlepool United 2–2 Nottingham Forest Hartlepool
Burns
Woodcock
Stadium: Victoria Park
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: P. Partridge
12 April 1978 Les Bradd Testimonial Notts County 0–1 Nottingham Forest Nottingham
O'Hare Stadium: Meadow Lane
Attendance: 10,129
Referee: B. Martin
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Statistics

Squad statistics

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References

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