NOTTINGHAM FOREST THE 1970's

In between football seasons,
Britain saw a change of government as
the Conservatives defied all predictions
and returned with a thirty seat majority.
Industrial relations were now so bad it
was easier to list who wasn’t on strike or
demanding more money rather than those
working normally. Inflation was high and
calls for wage increases of over 30% were
routine, disputes with the power companies
and everyday services such as the Post Office
and bin collections were directly affecting
everyone and the situation only looked as if
it would get worse.
Football as usual, seemed to be
oblivious to the real world as transfer fees
spiraled, even average Division One players
were going for over £50,000. So what could
the Forest Committee do? There were calls
for the club to modernize, become a limited
company, the same as every other club
and look for wealthy investors, whilst the
traditionalists wanted things to remain the
same, they were proud of the clubs unique
status within football.
Of course after two months off and
with the sun shining, Forest along with
every other club in the country returned to
training full of optimism. With Ian Moore
now fully fit and expected to link up with
new signing Peter Cormack, there were
grounds for thinking that the football might
be more exciting and adventurous, but with
Cormack untested in English football and
Moore seeming to be more prone to injury
than ever, there were still doubts.
The goalkeeping problem was solved by
signing Jim Barron from Oxford United for
a fee of £30,000. Jim wasn’t young and hadn’t
established himself at either Wolves or
Chelsea, before dropping down a division to
get a regular starting position at the Manor
Ground. Though a good shot stopper, there
were concerns about his ability to deal with
crosses, as he wasn’t the biggest of keepers.
With this signing, Matt Gillies now declared
that this was his team and he could be judged
on how it performed.
Nottinghamshire Police meanwhile
announced that they were introducing new
measures at the City Ground to combat
the increasing number of incidents,
these included dogs and the use of plain
clothes officers on the terraces to identify
troublemakers. At this time there were no
NOTTINGHAM
FOREST
FOOTBALL CLUB
DIVISION ONE 1969 -70
Back row, left to right:
Middle row, left to right:
Front row, left to right:
JOHN WINFIELD ALAN HILL BOBBY McKINLAY PETER GRUMMITT
BOB CHAPMAN PETER HINDLEY
IAN MORE TERRY HENNESSEY PAUL RICHARDSON BARRY LYONS
DAVE HILLEY HENRY NEWTON
JOHN BARNWELL LIAM OKANE COLIN HALL RONNIE REES
18 NOTTINGHAM FOREST IN THE 1970s
NOTTINGHAM FOREST IN THE 1970s 19