Forest 40 years ago

After at last seeing off local rivals, Notts County , next up, 40 years ago, for the tricky trees was Cloughie's first club, and old stomping ground (whatever that is!), Middlesbrough. Forest were oozing confidence, having just dispatched the oldest enemy in football in midweek, our neighbouring jinx team Notts County, and were unbeaten in nine games, sitting two points clear at the top of the first division. Middlesbrough, were in 13th place having won, drawn and lost 4 of their 12 games. The big story here has to be the relationship of Forest's management team with 'Boro. Brian Clough was not only born in Middlesbrough but they were his first club where he had an amazing scoring record 204 goals in 222 games. Clough met and became friends with his management partner Peter Taylor at Middlesbrough too. Taylor played in goal. More on that later, but first I'm going to take my regular look into the history of our opponents and see how they compare with Forest. Brian

One thing guaranteed to needle a Forest fan is seeing their team labelled "Notts Forest". It might seem trivial or pedantic to outsiders but if you are from Notts (that is Nottinghamshire, a County, right?), it's a bit like making a really stupid and ignorant spelling mistake. It's not that Forest fans have got any particular hatred of Notts County. I think it's fair to say we all quite like them. (Not sure if the reverse is true!) Certainly the rivalry with County is nothing compared to that with Derby County and, to a lesser extent, Leicester City. So next up for the tricky trees, 40 years ago, was a match where no-one would make that mistake. A real local derby - perhaps the original one: A League Cup 4th Round tie against the oldest enemy in football - Notts County. After their win at QPR on Saturday , it was nice to get a break from the pressure of being top of the league. Forest were riding high at the top of the First Division whilst Notts had started t