NOTTINGHAM FOREST THE 1970's

Mac The Knife
NOTTS. FOREST
FORWARD
DUNCAN McKENZIE
other defeat was away to Chelsea, again 2-0,
where the team played well, controlling the
game for long periods without scoring. It
was becoming a recurring theme, play well,
score goals and still lose.
Martin O’Neills debut came on
the following Saturday at home to West
Brom. The weeks football news had been
dominated by the on off transfer of Albions
Asa Hartford to Leeds United. The deal was
called off, after a medical examination had
discovered that the player was suffering from
what was described as a ‘hole in the heart’,
although he previously had no symptoms
and was to enjoy a full career in football with
no ill effects, even spending a short time
with Forest in 1980.
The Trent End didn’t cover themselves
in glory that day, when Asa didn’t return
their sporting pre match applause, they burst
into a rendition of ‘There’s a hole in your
heart dear Asa, dear Asa’.
On the pitch however it was a
different matter as O’Neill inspired Forest
to a crushing 4-1 victory, coming on as a
substitute and scoring the second goal, a
fifteen yard drive. At this point the club had
an almost identical record as the previous
season, but they had scored twice as many
goals, it was clear where the problems lay.
Despite the referees clampdown,
Sammy Chapman had somehow avoided
trouble, that was until the end of November
and the home encounter with Leeds.
Although they had a reputation with most
teams, their encounters with Forest always
seemed particularly spicy. Sammy who
was already under the threat of a six weeks
suspension found himself embroiled in a
battle with Mick Jones, the Leeds centre
forward. Things came to a head three
minutes before half time, when the linesman
brought the referees attention to Jones lying
face down in the penalty area with nobody
near him. The referee, without seeing the
incident, decided to send Sammy off. The
pair had history, three years before, referee
Syd Kayley had sent off the same player in
similar circumstances during a League Cup
tie away at Barrow. With ten men Forest
stood no chance, but they weren’t helped by
two awful O’Kane errors that gifted United
their goals.
Martin O’Neill continued to make a
good impression. After the Reds tamely
fell behind 3-0 at Old Trafford, he scored
with a twenty yard shot after coming on
as a substitute, but the 3-2 reverse plunged
Forest back to the bottom.
There was another bad tempered affair
with Everton during the last home game
before Christmas. Liam O’Kane suffered
a broken leg in a challenge with John
Hurst. Remembering the incident Liam is
philosophical about it, ’It was a rough old
game, challenges going in, especially with
Tommy Jackson and Henry Newton up
against their old sides. I just remember it
being a fifty fifty ball and I came off worse.
The referee gave him a severe lecture but
didn’t even book him. Up until then, I had
hardly missed a game, after that it seemed
to be one injury after another’. Hurst later
committed another bad foul on Cormack,
again escaping a booking, whilst the Forest
player was not so lucky, after he retaliated.
The game was won in bizarre circumstances
as Henry Newton whilst attempting to clear
the ball, only succeeded in whacking it
against the backside of Tommy Jackson and
from there it rebounded past the helpless
Everton keeper Gordon West and into the
net.
With the loss of O’Kane, Gillies was
forced to look for a replacement. He seemed
to have come up with a coup when it was
announced that Celtic and Scotland full
back Tommy Gemmell was to join for
what was considered a bargain £40,000.
Best remembered for his goal in the 1967
European Cup Final, he had recently fallen
out of favour at Parkhead and at only twenty
seven was looking to restart his career. Fans
were a little perturbed after his first interview,
when he was asked whether he had offers to
join bigger clubs than Forest, he said yes but
he wasn’t ambitious and Forest had agreed to
pay him the money that he had asked for.
Tommy made his debut against Arsenal
on Boxing Day, who also paraded a new
signing in Alan Ball, (complete with white
boots) a £200,000 capture from Everton, but
the game is best remembered by the 42,000
present for one of the finest goals ever scored
at the City Ground.
Ian Moore was not having the best
of seasons, the burden of expectation was
weighing heavily on his shoulders and in
truth it just wasn’t any fun. He was beginning
to regret signing the new contract, although
there were rumours that he was a target for
one of the big clubs.
On this day in front of a big crowd, the
magic returned. Picking the ball up close
to his own penalty area he the set off on a
74 yard run (Luckily there was a film crew
present to record the moment, so we can
work out an exact measurement) scorching
past the Arsenal defenders, until he found
himself with only keeper Bob Wilson to
beat. Ian then coolly slotted home, for what
Ian himself describes as the best goal he ever
scored. It was an effort fit to win any match,
but Arsenal were a top side and the Reds had
to settle for a draw.
The League positioned worsened
throughout January and February,
performances that generally held up, they
weren’t hammered by anyone, except for a
humiliating 3-1 FA Cup exit to Millwall.
Take the game against Crystal Palace
for instance. The Reds attacked virtually non
stop, but fell to a sucker punch as the visitors
broke away for Willie Wallace to score with
a diving header on the stroke of half time.
There was plenty of effort, but it was really
only down to fine margins and the lack of
special quality in certain positions. The fans
would point out that quality had been sold.
Ian Moore had played down the middle
for this game but he was not as effective as
when he was given licence to cut in from the
wing.
Rumours about Ian Moore leaving
were getting louder. Ian says ‘I knew that the
club had been approached and also a couple
of people had a word in my ear, but I wasn’t
going to ask outright for a transfer. The rules
back then said if you asked for a move, you
forfeited your right to a cut of the transfer
54 NOTTINGHAM FOREST IN THE 1970s
NOTTINGHAM FOREST IN THE 1970s 55