Forest had finally clinched the English league title three days before at Highfield Road, Coventry. This was their second major trophy win in a month, after a 19 year wait since their previous one and 80 years since their first. Some might have forgiven the players for taking their foot off the peddle a little after such an amazing few weeks. But this was not the way of Clough & Taylor. Forest faced an away game at a club who had made it to the F.A. Cup Final. Ipswich were not on the best of form and clearly some players had one eye on Wembley, but nevertheless it was another tough game.
So, as I missed the game, I'm going to write a shorter report this time, just one to complete the picture.
Instead of travelling 150 miles to Portman Road, I made the short 5 mile journey to Field Mill the night before, instead, to watch Mansfield play in one of their few remaining games in the second division.
Mansfield were playing in their first, and only, ever season in the second tier but, as one of the old Stags fans always used to shout as they slid towards the Fourth Division in 1972, "your hopes are fading!" Mansfield had been rock bottom of the division for 11 games or nearly two months now, and they'd been in the relegation zone since the end of November.
It was looking increasingly likely that even the appointment of Billy Bingham was not going to save them from an instant return to the third division.
I had seen them play Sunderland earlier in the season (when Forest played at QPR in the league) but this was only my second game at Field Mill, something I did feel guilty about as I made clear in the Newcastle blog post - when Stags played Spurs at home but I went to Forest to watch them parade the League Cup.
Anyway, it turned out to be a good night for Mansfield as they won 3-0 with two goals from John Aston (he of 300+ league appearances for Manchester United and Luton Town) and one from John Miller.
The team that night was:
Rod Arnold, Sandy Pate,Barry Foster, Colin Foster, Michael Saxby, Kevin Bird, Michael Miller, Dennis Martin, Dave Syrett, Gordon Hodgson, John Aston.
The attendance was 6,121.
Rod Arnold, Dave Syrett and David Hodgson were all ever-presents that season. Syrett was top scorer with 16 league goals.
Sandy Pate made his 410th appearance for the Stags that night. He was in the Mansfield side for the first match I'd ever seen in November 1970 but would make just two more appearances before retiring after Stag's relegation. Pate scored just one goal in his career.
The big win, satisfying as it was, really was too little too late and although Mansfield avoided the drop that night, with just two games to go, it was just delaying the inevitable really.
So, sorry Stags, I wish you could have stayed up a couple more seasons in the second tier, and sorry that I didn't come along more often to watch you when you were there.
This was our eighth, an final, double of the season...
MIA (Missing Ipswich Away)
This was the first Forest match (not including testimonials) I'd missed since Chelsea away on Bonfire night. That's a run of 36 consecutive matches, my best run ever. Although some people might think this is evidence of football craziness, those who really understand these things will know that it's really not that impressive. We used to know a group of Forest fans (including "radio" - the old guy who always carried a big radio with him to every match) who literally went everywhere with Forest, almost always on Barton's buses. I remember them proudly telling me that they'd gone to both Kilmarnock and Ayr United away in the Anglo Scottish Cup for midweek away games. There must have been Forest fans, even before the Clough/Taylor glory days that hadn't missed a match in years.
In Donetsk (then a peaceful city in Ukraine), after England's opening draw with France in Euro 2012, I met a few England fans whose fanaticism was truly impressive. One guy, a Chelsea fan, told me he hadn't missed an England or Chelsea game (including friendlies) for years and showed me a tatty piece of paper which took everywhere on his travels listing about 140 counties his visited.
He'd caught my attention as I overheard a bit of a conversation he was having with a guy from Nottingham across the bar from me. They were talking about a non-league football ground in Notts which I can't now exactly remember - it might have been Hucknall Town. After the Notts guy went away I joined him at the bar thinking he was also from Notts - why else would he have gone to Hucknall? Turns out, after he'd been on all 92 league grounds (and, all England's horse-racing grounds!) he wanted to continue "down the pyramid". GMVC premier league grounds - Done! Northern League - Done! Southern League etc. etc. I can't remember what tier of the pyramid Hucknall were in at the time but he must have been on hundreds of grounds by then.
And you thought I was crazy!
In Donetsk (then a peaceful city in Ukraine), after England's opening draw with France in Euro 2012, I met a few England fans whose fanaticism was truly impressive. One guy, a Chelsea fan, told me he hadn't missed an England or Chelsea game (including friendlies) for years and showed me a tatty piece of paper which took everywhere on his travels listing about 140 counties his visited.
He'd caught my attention as I overheard a bit of a conversation he was having with a guy from Nottingham across the bar from me. They were talking about a non-league football ground in Notts which I can't now exactly remember - it might have been Hucknall Town. After the Notts guy went away I joined him at the bar thinking he was also from Notts - why else would he have gone to Hucknall? Turns out, after he'd been on all 92 league grounds (and, all England's horse-racing grounds!) he wanted to continue "down the pyramid". GMVC premier league grounds - Done! Northern League - Done! Southern League etc. etc. I can't remember what tier of the pyramid Hucknall were in at the time but he must have been on hundreds of grounds by then.
And you thought I was crazy!
Still, I'm still proud to say that I went to 36 consecutive Forest games, even if they were winning the league and League Cup at the time.
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| My run of 36 consecutive Forest games (home and away) comes to an end |
Stags Return
Instead of travelling 150 miles to Portman Road, I made the short 5 mile journey to Field Mill the night before, instead, to watch Mansfield play in one of their few remaining games in the second division.Mansfield were playing in their first, and only, ever season in the second tier but, as one of the old Stags fans always used to shout as they slid towards the Fourth Division in 1972, "your hopes are fading!" Mansfield had been rock bottom of the division for 11 games or nearly two months now, and they'd been in the relegation zone since the end of November.
It was looking increasingly likely that even the appointment of Billy Bingham was not going to save them from an instant return to the third division.
I had seen them play Sunderland earlier in the season (when Forest played at QPR in the league) but this was only my second game at Field Mill, something I did feel guilty about as I made clear in the Newcastle blog post - when Stags played Spurs at home but I went to Forest to watch them parade the League Cup.
Anyway, it turned out to be a good night for Mansfield as they won 3-0 with two goals from John Aston (he of 300+ league appearances for Manchester United and Luton Town) and one from John Miller.
The team that night was:
Rod Arnold, Sandy Pate,Barry Foster, Colin Foster, Michael Saxby, Kevin Bird, Michael Miller, Dennis Martin, Dave Syrett, Gordon Hodgson, John Aston.
The attendance was 6,121.
Rod Arnold, Dave Syrett and David Hodgson were all ever-presents that season. Syrett was top scorer with 16 league goals.
Sandy Pate made his 410th appearance for the Stags that night. He was in the Mansfield side for the first match I'd ever seen in November 1970 but would make just two more appearances before retiring after Stag's relegation. Pate scored just one goal in his career.
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| Sandy Pate |
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| Mansfield clinging on to Second Division status |
So, sorry Stags, I wish you could have stayed up a couple more seasons in the second tier, and sorry that I didn't come along more often to watch you when you were there.
Ipswich Town's F.A. Cup Run
After Forest beat Ipswich 4-0 early in October, which was their 9th game, they went top of the league - a position they never surrendered. Forest were still top on this night having quadrupled their points tally since then.
Peter Withe got all four goals at home to Ipswich on that night in October, making him the league's top scorer at the time with nine. Unfortunately for Peter that wasn't a position he held for very long. He would only add another three league goals all season.
Ipswich had started the season quite well when they came to the City Ground. They were in 7th position that night but the defeat seemed to knock them down into mid table mediocrity and then, seemingly distracted by a good cup run, Ipswich slid down the table, almost flirting with the relegation battle.
As their league form dipped, though, Ipswich continued to show decent form in the F.A. Cup, along with - it needs to be said - some very favorable cup draws.
In the F.A. Cup 3rd round they were handed an away tie at struggling Cardiff City. While Forest were beating Swindon 4-1 at home (I wrote one of my best blogs, in my humble opinion, for this match including some good stuff on the history of the F.A. Cup), Ipswich were beating Cardiff 2-0.
Whilst Forest were paired up against Manchester City in the 4th Round, Ipswich were handed a relatively easy home tie against 4th division Hartlepool in the 4th Round. Ipswich won that 4-1.
In the 5th round Ipswich were drawn against another struggling 2nd division side. Bristol Rovers were disposed of after a replay. Forest were drawn another first division side, QPR, away and finally disposed of them after two replays.
In the 6th Round, Ipswich were drawn away to Millwall. What might have been a fearful tie on paper was dismissed as Ipswich slaughtered the Lions 6-1 to reach the semi finals for only the second time in their history. Forest were knocked out at West Bromwich Albion 2-0.
In the semi-final, Ipswich finally were given a first division team to play - West Bromwich Albion. The match was played at Highbury and Ipswich won 3-1 to reach their first F.A. Cup final - ironically against Arsenal.
I know this is "a bit previous" (only by eleven days though) but I want to pay tribute to Bobby Robson's side by showing their F.A. Cup triumph against Arsenal at Wembley. I had forgotten how much Ipswich dominated the tie, hitting the woodwork three times and bringing out a couple of brilliant saves from Pat Jennings before Roger Osborne got the deserved winner.
Here's how they defeated Arsenal to win their 2nd trophy ever...
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| Forest Top from October 4th after beating Ipswich |
Peter Withe got all four goals at home to Ipswich on that night in October, making him the league's top scorer at the time with nine. Unfortunately for Peter that wasn't a position he held for very long. He would only add another three league goals all season.
Ipswich had started the season quite well when they came to the City Ground. They were in 7th position that night but the defeat seemed to knock them down into mid table mediocrity and then, seemingly distracted by a good cup run, Ipswich slid down the table, almost flirting with the relegation battle.
As their league form dipped, though, Ipswich continued to show decent form in the F.A. Cup, along with - it needs to be said - some very favorable cup draws.
In the F.A. Cup 3rd round they were handed an away tie at struggling Cardiff City. While Forest were beating Swindon 4-1 at home (I wrote one of my best blogs, in my humble opinion, for this match including some good stuff on the history of the F.A. Cup), Ipswich were beating Cardiff 2-0.
Whilst Forest were paired up against Manchester City in the 4th Round, Ipswich were handed a relatively easy home tie against 4th division Hartlepool in the 4th Round. Ipswich won that 4-1.
In the 5th round Ipswich were drawn against another struggling 2nd division side. Bristol Rovers were disposed of after a replay. Forest were drawn another first division side, QPR, away and finally disposed of them after two replays.
In the 6th Round, Ipswich were drawn away to Millwall. What might have been a fearful tie on paper was dismissed as Ipswich slaughtered the Lions 6-1 to reach the semi finals for only the second time in their history. Forest were knocked out at West Bromwich Albion 2-0.
In the semi-final, Ipswich finally were given a first division team to play - West Bromwich Albion. The match was played at Highbury and Ipswich won 3-1 to reach their first F.A. Cup final - ironically against Arsenal.
I know this is "a bit previous" (only by eleven days though) but I want to pay tribute to Bobby Robson's side by showing their F.A. Cup triumph against Arsenal at Wembley. I had forgotten how much Ipswich dominated the tie, hitting the woodwork three times and bringing out a couple of brilliant saves from Pat Jennings before Roger Osborne got the deserved winner.
Here's how they defeated Arsenal to win their 2nd trophy ever...
The Teams
Trevor Whymark returned to the team in place of David Geddis for Ipswich, whilst Forest played the same team they'd fielded against Coventry in their title clincher the Saturday before.
Ipswich Town
1 Paul Cooper, 2 George Burley, 3 Mick Mills, 4 Brian Talbot, 5 Alan Hunter, 6 Russell Osman, 7 Roger Osborne, 8 John Wark, 9 Paul Mariner, 10 Trevor Whymark, 11 Clive Woods, 12 Michael Lambert.
Substitution: Michael Lambert (12) for Roger Osborne (7).
Nottingham Forest
1 Peter Shilton, 2 Viv Anderson, 3 Colin Barrett, 4 John O'Hare, 5 David Needham, 6 Kenny Burns, 7 Martin O'Neill, 8 Ian Bowyer, 9 Peter Withe, 10 Archie Gemmill, 11 John Robertson.
Goals : Paul Mariner (o.g.) 73m, Frank Clark 78m
Substitution: Frank Clark(12) came on for Peter Withe (9).
Attendance: 30,062
The Game
Everywhere we go, people already seemed to know, who the hell we were. We were the "Super Reds!"
Another big crowd packed into the ground at Portman Road to see the new champions of England. It wasn't their biggest crowd of the season, and no that wasn't the Norwich game but the opener against Arsenal. Forest attracted Ipswich's second highest attendance of the season.
According to "my man" at the match (John Shipley) Forest gave Ipswich "a bit of a roasting" although it sounded from his description quite an even first half that ended 0-0.
At half time, Cloughie made one of those peculiar managerial decisions he was famous for that are unfathomable to everyone else.
Who would have predicted this? Take off leading striker, number nine, Peter Withe and bring on, in his place.... Frank Clark, our veteran Geordie left back, who had never scored a goal.
Classic Cloughie.
Both Forest and Ipswich had their chances in the second half until a bizarre five minute spell sealed the win (and the double) for the Reds.
Paul Mariner was the top scorer for Ipswich that season, on eleven goals, so the odds on him scoring in the match must have been fairly low, but I don't think you'd have got a price on him scoring an own goal. Here's how Shipley describes what happened.
In the seventy-third minute, Colin Barrett's corner resulted in a calamity for Paul Mariner. The England striker had positioned himself in his own penalty area to help out his defence. But when the ball flew over the heads of both Dave Needham and Rusell Osman, Mariner decided to lob the bouncing ball back to his goalkeeper. However, all he did was loft it over Cooper's outstretched arms and into the net off the upright. Oh dear!
Four minutes later the game was killed off by our new lethal striker, Frank Clark. A ferocious shot from John O'Hare spun off a defender and dropped invitingly for Clark.
Back to John Shipley...
...although Frank was somewhat in unchartered waters he lashed it home with all the expertise of a top-class striker. His goal drew excited yells from all but the Ipswich players, their officials, and fans, none of whom had any idea what all the celebrations were about. Frank's teammates surrounded him, burying him with their delight for his achievement. The congratulations went on for some time, and even Cloughie and the rest of the Forest bench were leaping around in excitement; the referee looked baffled by it all, but eventually restored calm and order.
So Frank Clark finally got his first (and, like Sandy Pate, only ever) league goal in over 500 league appearances and made his appearance in the first division top scorers chart...
Another big crowd packed into the ground at Portman Road to see the new champions of England. It wasn't their biggest crowd of the season, and no that wasn't the Norwich game but the opener against Arsenal. Forest attracted Ipswich's second highest attendance of the season.
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| Ipswich's home league attendances 1977-78 |
According to "my man" at the match (John Shipley) Forest gave Ipswich "a bit of a roasting" although it sounded from his description quite an even first half that ended 0-0.
At half time, Cloughie made one of those peculiar managerial decisions he was famous for that are unfathomable to everyone else.
Who would have predicted this? Take off leading striker, number nine, Peter Withe and bring on, in his place.... Frank Clark, our veteran Geordie left back, who had never scored a goal.
Classic Cloughie.
Both Forest and Ipswich had their chances in the second half until a bizarre five minute spell sealed the win (and the double) for the Reds.
Paul Mariner was the top scorer for Ipswich that season, on eleven goals, so the odds on him scoring in the match must have been fairly low, but I don't think you'd have got a price on him scoring an own goal. Here's how Shipley describes what happened.
In the seventy-third minute, Colin Barrett's corner resulted in a calamity for Paul Mariner. The England striker had positioned himself in his own penalty area to help out his defence. But when the ball flew over the heads of both Dave Needham and Rusell Osman, Mariner decided to lob the bouncing ball back to his goalkeeper. However, all he did was loft it over Cooper's outstretched arms and into the net off the upright. Oh dear!
Four minutes later the game was killed off by our new lethal striker, Frank Clark. A ferocious shot from John O'Hare spun off a defender and dropped invitingly for Clark.
Back to John Shipley...
...although Frank was somewhat in unchartered waters he lashed it home with all the expertise of a top-class striker. His goal drew excited yells from all but the Ipswich players, their officials, and fans, none of whom had any idea what all the celebrations were about. Frank's teammates surrounded him, burying him with their delight for his achievement. The congratulations went on for some time, and even Cloughie and the rest of the Forest bench were leaping around in excitement; the referee looked baffled by it all, but eventually restored calm and order.
So Frank Clark finally got his first (and, like Sandy Pate, only ever) league goal in over 500 league appearances and made his appearance in the first division top scorers chart...
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| Clark in at (joint) 186th place |
Notice a player down there with Clark, in 215th place?... more on him later.
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| Clark wasn't celebrating his first goal here, but League Managers Association Manager of the Month (actually for the Year too), at Forest in 1995 |
Other Games
Liverpool leapfrogged Arsenal into 3rd place with a 1-0 win against them at Anfield.
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| Craig Johnston Scored his first league that night |
At the bottom, West Ham United gave their survival hopes a massive boost with an impressive 2-1 at Middlesbrough. On the scoresheet for Boro that night - and therefore joining Frank Clark on the first division scorers' chart - was a young 17 year old lad who was born in South Africa of Australian parents and grow up in New South Wales... Craig Johnston. He would make just 64 league appearances for Boro, scoring 16 goals, before becoming another Boro star to be picked off by Liverpool, following in the footsteps of Graeme Souness.
West Ham's win put them two points above Wolves, who didn't play, and fractionally above QPR on goals scored and put them joint top of the current form (last 3 home/away) table. Chelsea won 2-0 at doomed Leicester to keep themselves above the drop zone.
Wolves were two points from safety but still had three games in hand but they were in terrible form and so it looked like the relegation battle would go "to the wire."
Another remarkable fact from the night was the attendance at St James' Park, reported to be just 7,180 - not only Newcastle's the lowest crowd of the season but their lowest home attendance since the first world war.
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| Lowest First Division Attendances 1977-78 |
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| Eight points clear |
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| West Ham, joint top of the current form league |
This was our eighth, an final, double of the season...
Forest's unbeaten league run continued...
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| Unbeaten in 23 in the League |
Next up for Forest, our last home game of the season against Birmingham City.
The Programme
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