NOTTINGHAM FOREST THE 1970's

Francis Lee said that Duncan McKenzies
performance was one of the finest he had
seen. This inevitably led to speculation
about the future of the Forest star.
Six days later Forest entertained runaway
leaders Middlesbrough, unbeaten for
twenty four games under the leadership of
Jack Charlton. The game was played on a
Saturday, as for some reason Boro refused
Forests request to move the game and this
resulted in a disappointing attendance of
18,000.
‘Cup happy Forest rock the leaders’ was the
headline after Forest tore Middlesbrough
apart with a sensational 5-1 victory. A
great team performance, that also featured
a blockbusting right foot wonder goal from
John Winfield, who told me, that despite
playing virtually his whole career on the left,
he preferred using his right foot. Duncan
McKenzie might not have scored but again
he controlled the game.
Allan Brown declared that he was delighted
with his team, but added, perhaps
dangerously, that he didn’t want to make any
signings, as he was worried that new faces
could upset team morale.
Confidence was now sky high, so it was
massively disappointing when another huge
following saw the Reds fall 2-1 to struggling
Preston at Deepdale, Forest missed out on a
point when Tommy Jackson failed with a last
minute penalty.
Before the fifth round tie with Portsmouth,
long serving Peter Hindley was allowed to
join Coventry City for a small fee, but such
was the regard in which he was held, Peter
was granted a testimonial match to be held
at the end of the season.
Once again the Portsmouth game was to
be held on a Sunday. M Harris, Newthorpe
commented, ‘I realise that Sunday football
looks like it is here to stay, so would it be
possible to have some hymn singing before
the games?’
The match itself was a tight and tense affair
settled by a disputed penalty from Duncan
McKenzie. Portsmouth were fuming when
Eoin Hand was ruled to have fouled Bowyer.
Ian with a smile remembers ‘perhaps it was a
soft decision, but we all thought we had two
clear handball claims earlier in the game that
weren’t given, so perhaps justice was done’
McKenzie who took the penalty was only
given the job because George Lyall was
missing through suspension and Tommy
Jackson had missed one the week before.
Allan Brown had organized a penalty
competition, won by Duncan, during the
week running up to the game. McKenzie
said ‘My knees were shaking as I went to
take it and as I stepped forward I hadn’t even
thought what I was going to do, still it went
in.’
George Lyall saw the game from the stand,
although he had thought about not going. ‘I
hated watching games, for this one I was a
bag of nerves, I must have chewed my nails
down to the quick, it was just a relief when
Duncan put the penalty away’.
The reward for beating Portsmouth was a
trip to the North East and a game against
Newcastle, but with three weeks until
the game the manager had to remind his
players that the League was the priority,
they appeared to be struggling with more
mundane fixtures. Martin O’Neil, not for
the first or last time in his career was in
dispute with the manager, a training ground
incident had led the club to discipline him.
Harry Richards in the Football Post offered
his opinion, before Martin himself wrote to
the editor, telling him to keep his nose out.
Martin was upset at being left out, so he
asked for a transfer, although the manager
still picked him for the Cup game.
Before the Newcastle game, Orient were
beaten at home 2-1, although both sides
ended the game with ten men as Jackson
and Heppolite were sent off for fighting. The
last game before the Newcastle encounter
was another intense affair against Notts
County before 30,000 fans. The Magpies
came determined to win a point and the
blanket defence they employed worked as
they escaped with a 0-0 draw.
Forest had sold 10,000 tickets for the
Cup tie and five trains and hundreds of
coaches ferried supporters to the North
East. Although Forest knew that Newcastle
would be tough opposition, there was real
confidence that they could get a result.
George Lyall was now back, ‘We really
thought that we had the players to win up
there, the game was billed as a shootout
between the two Macs, Malcolm Macdonald
for the Geordies, but our Duncan was
something different’. The game turned out
to be one of the most controversial FA Cup
ties in the history of the game.
Forest took the attack to Newcastle and were
rewarded with an Ian Bowyer goal after just
ninety seconds. Newcastle responded with
a period of intense pressure that led to an
equalizing goal from David Craig, but the
Forest players were beginning to realise that
there was nothing to fear and defensively
Chapman and Serella were marking danger
man Macdonald out of the game. It was
no surprise that the Reds regained the lead
before half-time, what was surprising was
that it was Liam O’Kane, with his first and
only goal for the club who hooked home
with his left foot no less.
Forest were now on top and McKenzie began
to flourish, showing his class with feints and
dribbles, whilst the team knocked the ball
around with confidence. The game looked
over when McKenzie was pulled down for
a penalty after half-time. Newcastle’s Pat
Howard made things even worse, getting
himself sent off for arguing with the referee
and despite a long wait, George Lyall coolly
scored in front of the thousands of Reds fans
behind the goal.
Almost immediately there were disturbances
behind the opposite goal, the Gallowgate
End. Several United fans got onto the pitch,
determined to stop play and before long
hundreds joined them as police struggled
to maintain order. Eventually they charged
the length of the pitch towards the Forest
supporters punching several Reds players
along the way including Dave Serella who
was badly shaken, whilst Forests Geordie
keeper got close to the Newcastle players for
safety. Referee Gordon Kew was left with no
‘WE ALL AGREE,
DUNCAN McKENZIE
IS MAGIC!’... FOREST-4
FOREST-4
CITY -1
92 NOTTINGHAM FOREST IN THE 1970s
NOTTINGHAM FOREST IN THE 1970s 93