|
This preview was written by Brian Judson.
Full Record of Spurs -v- Nottingham Forest
Premier Pl W D L For-Ag Pts
Home 5 2 0 3 5-7 6
Away 4 0 1 3 5-8 1
============================================
Total (Prem) 9 2 1 6 10-15 7
============================================
Football Lge
Home (Div 1) 34 20 4 10 76-46 48
Away (Div 1) 34 17 10 7 48-37 50
============================================
Total (Div 1) 68 37 14 17 124-83 98
============================================
Football Lge
Home (Div 2) 13 8 3 2 25-15 19
Away (Div 2) 13 1 6 6 15-25 8
============================================
Total (Div 2) 26 9 9 8 40-40 27
============================================
Total (Prem) 9 2 1 6 10-15 7
Total (Div 1) 68 37 14 17 124-83 98
Total (Div 2) 26 9 9 8 40-40 27
============================================
Grand Total 103 48 24 31 174-138 132
============================================
This is the perfect fixture for Spurs and Spurs fans to erase the memory
of last weekend's disappointment. Although the City Ground has not been
a happy hunting ground for us in the Premiership, it has been a 'lucky'
ground for us in the past. Should Spurs win on Saturday, we will condemn
Nottingham Forest to relegation to the Football League. That would be the
perfect irony since Irving Scholar was a member of the consortium that
took over Nottingham Forest, although he does not seem to be on their
Board of Directors.
It is only since the mid-50s that Nottingham Forest have enjoyed
pre-eminence. Between the wars they spent most of their time in the old
Division Two. In the late 1940s, they even slipped to the old Third
Division (South) but by the mid-1950s, they had climbed back to the First
Division for the first time since being relegated at the end of season
1924-25.
Before the heyday of Brian Clough's teams at the end of the 1970s, their
best period had been their brief flowering in the mid-1960s when Johnny
Carey, the former Manchester United defender, had been their manager. But
it was under the stewardship of Clough and Taylor that a mixed bag of
misfits and skilled players suddenly gelled and conquered Europe in two
successive seasons. They were a very workmanlike team with little flair
but by golly! they had guts and tenacity which stood them in good stead as
they managed to play 42 League matches without defeat from November 1977
to December 1978 in the old First Division, a record that will take a very
long time to remove from the record books, if at all.
Spurs' 4-0 win at Nottingham Forest in 1960-61 came the weekend after they
had been held at home to Manchester City, 1-1, the first point that Spurs
had dropped that season. The pundits wondered whether that dropped point
presaged a collapse after their sparkling start to the season. Bill
Nicholson missed the game through illness but must have been heartened by
the reports he received about the game. White chipped the ball over
Thompson, the Forest 'keeper, to put Spurs ahead in the 7th minute. Mackay
added the second 12 minutes later when his shot-cum-centre glanced off
centre-half McKinlay to fly into his own goal. In the 24th minute, Bobby
Smith headed the ball to Jones, who rolled the ball home. 3-0! The fourth
goal came almost as an afterthought in the second half. Mackay took his
time before chipping the ball to Jones, who headed home. Goalkeeper Bill
Brown had virtually nothing to do all afternoon, making only one save.
Spurs' win at Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day 1964 was their only away
victory that season. It was also the only occasion for 18 months after
joining Spurs that Gilzean scored a goal outside London. Cliff Jones
scored the other goal.
The 1-1 draw that Spurs secured at Nottingham Forest on 4 February 1967
was part of the long undefeated run from January to September 1967 that
saw Spurs go 28 League matches without defeat, our longest ever undefeated
sequence. Inevitably, a certain Jimmy Greaves scored our goal. He loved
scoring against Nottingham Forest : I think he scored something like 23
goals against them.
It has been suggested on the List that Spurs once condemned Nottingham
Forest to relegation by beating them 6-1. But the only 6-1 victory that I
can remember took place at Tottenham in October 1971. We certainly haven't
beaten Nottingham Forest 6-1 away!
Our away draw at Nottingham Forest on the opening day of the 1978-79
season marked the Tottenham debut of Ardiles and Villa and our return to
the old Division 1 after promotion from the old Second Division at the end
of season 1977-78. Villa scored our goal in the 1-1 draw.
In more recent years, Nottingham Forest have become a yo-yo side, too good
for Division One but not good enough for the Premier League. Last season
they raced away with the First Division championship but this season has
seen them permanently nailed to the floor of the Premier League. If we win
on Saturday, they will be relegated at the end of the season. Their cause
was certainly not helped by van Hooijdonk going on strike for three months
at the start of the season, thereby undermining any chance of survival
they might have had. He was undoubtedly correct in his blunt assessment of
their chances for survival but given his predatory goalscoring skills he
might have enabled them to survive by the skin of their teeth. After all
he scored 29 goals (including 6 penalties) out of the 82 goals they scored
in the League last season!
No team managed by Ron Atkinson is going to surrender without a fight but
given their poor morale, the recent departure of Steve Stone, the one
player capable of battling against the odds, and Spurs' desire to better
their League position after last weekend's disappointing result, I think
Spurs are capable of winning 3-0 at least. I shall feel very disappointed
if we do not win at the City Ground this weekend!
Cheers, Brian
· All the Spurs Stats you could hope for here! THFC6061 Sports Stats
Top of page | Index to 1998-99 Match Reports
|
