| Nottingham Forest's Greatest Ever Side
(as chosen by Football England)
Peter Shilton
Peter Hindley ~ Des Walker ~ Kenny Burns ~ Stuart Pearce
Archie Gemmill ~ Neil Webb ~ Roy Keane ~ John Robertson
Nigel Clough ~ Tony Wodcock
Substitutes:
Peter Grummitt
Terry Hennessey
Steve Hodge
Ian Storey-Moore
Trevor Francis
Manager: Brian Clough
Peter Shilton
1977-82; 202 appearances.
Of all Clough's signings Shilts was perhaps the best. This prince of goalkeepers was undoubtedly at his peak during the five years he spent at Forest and was absolutely awesome in the Championship winning side of 1977-78.
One of England's greatest ever keepers and head and shoulders above anyone else to have kept goal for the club.
Peter Hindley
1962-73; 366 appearances, 10 goals.
Hindley was not as good a footballer as Viv Anderson but he was a more reliable, and scary, defender. For ten years he patrolled the right flank of the Forest defence and during all that time he was never known to take a single prisoner.
Hard as nails, not many wingers looked forward to facing Forest in the 60's with Hindley on one side and the equally unpleasant John Winfield on the other.
The only thing scarier than that prospect is the one of Hindley and Stuart Pearce in tandem.
Don't think Hindley was a donkey, however. He could play a bit too and represented England at Under 23 level.
Des Walker
1983-91 & 2002-04; 321 appearances, 1 goal.
You'll never beat Des Walker. That's why he's an automatic choice in the best ever Forest side.
Lightning quick, perfect timer of challenges and a magnificent reader of the game. What more could you want from a centre half?
Brutality perhaps? That's where Kenny Burns comes in.
Walker was the pride of the City Ground for the best part of a decade and was also the world's finest defender during the World Cup finals of 1990.
Kenny Burns
1977-81; 137 appearances, 13 goals.
Has Clough ever made a more astute signing? Scots wildman Kenny Burns was probably better known as a rampaging centre forward when the Forest manager brought him to Forest and placed him in the centre of his defence alongside Larry Lloyd.
Within a year Forest had won the League and the League Cup and Burns had been selected as Footballer of the Year.
You'd have got long odds on that happening when Cloughie signed him.
There is no doubt that Burns had a savage streak but he was also a gifted footballer and a quality defender; quick across the ground, good in the air and tough tackling.
Stuart Pearce
1985-97; 401 appearances, 63 goals.
A complete Forest legend "Psycho" is an automatic choice at left back in their greatest ever side.
Wingers only had to look at his thighs to work out what kind of an afternoon was in store for them. Most weren't good enough to take him on, those that were seldom lived to tell the tale.
Pearce was also formidable storming forward with good crossing ability and a ferocious shot which was especially dangerous from set pieces.
Archie Gemmill
1977-79; 59 appearances, 4 goals.
Archie wasn't at Forest long and didn't actually play on the right of midfield but he's getting in there anyway.
This tireless midfielder was magnificent during Forest's League Championship success, driving the team forward with his impish dribbling and probing distribution.
He was also a Forest player when he scored the best World Cup goal ever for Scotland against Holland.
Well, the best one ever scored by a Scotsman at any rate.
With an orthodox winger on the other flank having an old fashioned inside forward like Archie on the right will give this side a nice balance as well.
Shaping up nicely, isn't it?
Neil Webb
1985-89; 146 appearances, 47 goals.
Webb was a revelation after being signed from Portsmouth and typified Clough's Forest of the late 1980's.
Classy, skillful and full of attacking intent Webb scored consistently as a roving midfielder.
Later on settled back into a more withdrawn role and pulled the strings for others to get forward.
Just a lovely footballer, he also carried on Forest's long and proud tradition of big money transfers who failed to really make an impact at Manchester United, although he could blame injuries for that.
Roy Keane
1990-93; 114 appearances, 22 goals.
Perhaps Clough's last great discovery. This raw Irish teenager quickly had the footballing world taking notice with his rampaging attacking midfield displays.
Then he showed his versatility when used on occasions as a sweeper.
It quickly became apparent that Keane was the complete midfielder, a move to Manchester United followed and the rest, as they say, is history.
As mentioned above United were perhaps owed a debt by Forest in the transfer market after previous dealings between the clubs but they were certainly repaid in full with the capture of Keane.
John Robertson
1970-83 & 1985; 398 appearances, 61 goals.
It took Robertson a while to truly establish himself at the City Ground but his deceptively lazy dribbing style on the left wing really came into its own as the team developed into one that would conquer Europe.
Capable of jinking his way to the byeline to cross or cutting inside to go for goal with his right foot, for three years Robertson had full backs all over Europe baffled as Forest enjoyed a blaze of glory.
A nerveless penalty taker it was from the spot that Robertson clinched Forest's 1978 League Cup success against Liverpool but from open play that he sunk SV Hamburg in the European Cup final two years later.
Not a bad CV although he only gets into this side by the skin of his teeth.
Nigel Clough
1984-93 & 1996-97; 325 appearances, 102 goals.
His Dad's the manager of this side so he has to get a shirt.
Seriously though, Clough jnr. has every right to a place in Forest's greatest ever team after being playmaker in chief for the best part of a decade in a fine, attacking, pure footballing side.
Clough was singularly without pace, not the greatest goalscorer and pretty average in the air and yet he was an outstanding centre forward.
Possessing one of footballs' keenest brains Clough was always capable of finding space, had a beautiful touch, great passing ability and a wonderful awareness of everything around him.
He must have been a dream to play alongside and it is a huge pity that his Dad could never find a real, top quality striker for him to serve.
Tony Woodcock
1974-79; 129 appearances, 36 goals.
For quite a while it looked as though Woodcock would never actually make the grade at the City Ground but when he did come good it was in truly magnificent fashion.
Quick, intelligent and extremely brave it was Woodcock's mobility that really gave the title winning Forest side its' cutting edge.
Would constantly drag defenders out of position to create space for the midfield runners and was more than capable of taking his man out of the game in a one on one situation.
Again not the most prolific of centre forwards but a player totally in the mould of Clough's Nottingham Forest.
Substitutes Bench
Peter Grummitt was a safe, reliable keeper throughout the 1960's who represented England at Under 23 level and during the second half of that decade Terry Hennessey provided the same virtues whether called upon at centre half or in midfield.
Steve Hodge had two spells at Forest in the 1980's and always adhered to the Clough mandate of pass and move. He was also a consistent source of goals from midfield.
Ian Storey-Moore is incredibly unlucky not to make the starting line up and is placed on the bench behind John Robertson mainly because his explosive style of wing play seems better suited to making an impact coming on when the game is stretched.
Fast, strong and a deadly finisher Storey-Moore gave the club sterling service for a decade and was desperately unlucky to be cut down by injury shortly after completing a move to Manchester United.
Trevor Francis never quite hit the heights one might have expected of him after moving to Forest from Birmingham as Britain's first £1 million pound transfer but he did head the winning goal in the European Cup final of 1979.
Manager: Brian Clough
1975-93.
Under Clough Forest won the League Championship, four League Cups, the Anglo-Scottish Cup, the Simod Cup, the Zenith Data Systems Cup, two European Cups and the European Super Cup.
They were also runners up in the FA Cup on one occasion and twice in the League Cup.
What have they won in the rest of their history?
There can be no argument about the selection of Clough as Forest's greatest ever manager. He is most probably English football's greatest ever manager.
Controversially outspoken the one thing you could never argue about was the quality of the football his sides produced.
Under Clough Forest played some of the most stylish attacking football our game has ever seen and his legacy to the club and football in general is immeasurable.
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