David Marples - The History Boys: Thirty Iconic Goals in the History of Nottingham Forest

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2018

Pitch Publishing

A2 Yeoman Gate

Yeoman Way

Durrington

BN13 3QZ

www.pitchpublishing.co.uk

David Marples, 2018

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A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library

Print ISBN 978-1-78531-433-9

eBook ISBN 978-1-78531-463-6

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Thank you to Mum and Dad for giving me
this football affliction.

Thank you to Jenny and Anya for tolerating
this football affliction.

Nick M: you are my centrocampista difensivo; I owe you more than a few pints. Paul M: all of this started on a rainy Sunday afternoon in The Hop Pole. You were awesome. Jonny O: youve opened so many doors thank you for your encouragement and support. B&S crew: not sure this book would have happened without this thing weve got going. Sean: thanks for bringing these goals to life with your excellent doodlings. Matt App: your knowledge knows no bounds. Thank you for your patience and pointers. Daniel T: deeply honoured that you took the time to write the foreword; your work is an inspiration.

To anyone who has read any of the numerous ramblings Ive churned out down the years, it means a lot. Thank you.

W HEN I first heard that David Marples was writing a book about 30 of the most exhilarating moments from supporting this great club I must confess there was a flicker of regret that I had not come up with the idea first.

I know from experience that it is a labour of love to write about Nottingham Forest and, in particular, if it means a nostalgic trip down memory lane to pick out some of the moments when you can actually feel a little sorry for those non-football people who dont get it on the basis they will never know how much fun they are missing out on.

Living in Manchester now, its not easy bringing up my son James as a Forest supporter brainwashing, I think the term is but when I look down the authors choices it is remarkable to think of the places this club has been and how, as a great man once put it, I do hope nobody is stupid enough to write us off.

Sometimes we, as Forest fans, get accused of living too much in the past, and maybe there is a grain of truth in that. Equally, its 2018 now and the score is still Nottingham 2 London 1 when it comes to European Cups. So why should we overlook the very thing that makes this club famous around the world?

The hardest part for David, Im sure, was narrowing it down to 30 when, heck, you could probably fill a book of that size just by going through Stan Collymores portfolio. Stan gets in here because of that howitzer at Peterborough on a day when Forest fans invaded London Road, scaled the floodlights and swarmed over the pitch in the most joyous celebration you could ever imagine. Yet what about the one at Manchester United, the turn and slotted finish at Wolves, the slalom through Sunderlands defence and on and on?

I know how difficult it can be because when I wrote my first book, Deep Into The Forest, in 2005 I devoted a chapter each to interviewing 15 of our greatest players and, as was quickly pointed out, couldnt find the space for Ian Bowyer, Martin ONeill, Peter Shilton, Frank Clark, Colin Barrett and a good few others.

Sadly, I never got around to writing the sequel not yet, anyway but I certainly wouldnt be short of candidates just from the days when we were conquering Europe, being clapped out of Camp Nou and knocking Liverpool off their perch long before Alex Ferguson tried to claim it as his honour.

From my own experience, I can gently warn David therefore to expect a few questions about the omission, for example, of that moment when Johnny Metgod almost decapitated poor old Phil Parkes in the West Ham net, a 35-yard cannonball finished majestically by our funky Dutchman patenting his own pointing-to-the-skies goal celebration, on repeat.

I may even give David a friendly prod to demand that any sequel includes the Garry Parker special against Bristol City that took us to the League Cup Final in the kind of weather conditions at Ashton Gate that Thor himself might have invoked.

Or how about Des Walker versus Luton, Tommy Gaynor at Huddersfield, Lars Bohinen at White Hart Lane and, though he was never really a favourite, Marlon Kings last-minute winner against West Ham on the day the City Ground tried to take in the news that Brian Clough had decided it was time, as the banner said, for Heaven XI to get a new manager?

The options are endless but David has done a splendid job of narrowing it down to a list that spans the ages, with 50 years separating Ian Storey-Moores four-times-and-in FA Cup winner against Everton to Chris Cohens tension-buster against Ipswich, and Im particularly pleased Stuart Pearces late equaliser against Manchester City at Maine Road in the 1992/93 season is also featured.

It probably wasnt our captains most spectacular goal and it certainly wasnt the happiest season under dear old Cloughie but I was in the away end on the Kippax that day and it was one of those goal celebrations where you can end up 20 yards from where you started. And then, when I had finally come up for oxygen, there was Psycho, held aloft by Nigel Clough, and our skipper had that look on his face.

Thank you, Stuart, and all the players who have given us a lifetime of memories and, in particular, the man who walked on the River Trent all those years and got it spot on when he told Don Revie that he wanted to win the league, and do it better.

And thank you, David Marples, for recapturing it all so brilliantly.

Daniel Taylor

It only takes a second to score a goal.

Brian Clough

Sometimes in football, you have to score goals.

Thierry Henry

Because its always got to be blood. Blood is life. Why do you think we eat it? Its what keeps you going, makes you warm, makes you other than dead. Of course its her blood.

Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Some people give themselves to religion

Some people give themselves to a cause

Some people give themselves to a lover

I have to give myself to goals.

Lyrics from Straight in at 101 Los Campesinos!

G OALS change games. It is a mantra heard many times, most frequently by a manager after their team has con ceded in their eyes at least a dubious goal, precipitating a humiliating or heavy defeat. Indeed, the existence of an actual dubious goals committee invites more questions than answers.

Goals dubious or otherwise are the lifeblood of the football fan. They are the reason you click through the turnstile or travel hundreds of miles on a cold Tuesday evening when the rational part of your head urges you to spend your time doing something more productive or rewarding. It is the carrot of a last-minute winner scored at your end in front of your fans that fuels the desire to watch your team. We may occasionally take satisfaction in possession statistics or solid performances or promising debuts but such things are mere fripperies when compared to goals.