Why we loved them
The Nottingham Forest side of 1994/95 were that season’s surprise packet. Having been promoted back to the top-flight at the first time of asking, they managed to finish in third place by playing a free-flowing brand of football. With a relatively steady defence and captained by the ferocious Stuart Pearce, Forest had a solid platform that allowed other more creative players to shine.
With two classic wingers in Ian Woan and Steve Stone plus the imaginative midfield nous of Lars Bohinen, it was a side filled with consistent performers. Up front, there was the converted wide-man Bryan Roy who partnered the irresistible Stan Collymore.
Individually, Collymore and Pearce were outstanding though there was a very able support cast too. Despite Frank Clark being a limited and wildly inexperienced manager, things seemed to gel nicely for him and he was able to rely on a collection of players who all seemed to hit their stride at the same time. The season was book-ended by two impressive unbeaten spells though any faint hopes of a Premier League title were lost in a haze of consecutive mid-season defeats.
Ultimately though, a true cult team featuring some stand-out players.
The story
In May 1993, Forest were in complete transition. The legendary Brian Clough had been at the club for 18 years, won successive European Cups in 1979 and ’80 with the provincial and unfashionable side, the league championship in 1978 and four League Cups. But success dried up and back-to-back domestic Cup final defeats in 1991 and 1992 couldn’t paper over the cracks. In May 1993 and with Forest relegated from the new Premier League, Clough retired.
But Forest retained a sense of their proud past when appointing Clough’s successor. Frank Clark was the club’s left-back when they were crowned champions of Europe in 1979 and despite having little managerial experience, he oversaw the club’s immediate return to the top-flight. With Colin Cooper signed as a centre-back and striker Stan Collymore brought in from Southend, things seemed to gel nicely and the club were automatically promoted, finishing behind Crystal Palace.
In the summer of 1994, Clark loosened the purse-strings and persuaded Dutch World Cup winger Bryan Roy to sign for Forest. Though Clark wanted a wide-man to supply Collymore, Roy ended up playing through the middle and it proved a master-stroke as he scored 13 Premier League goals. With specialists Ian Woan on the left-flank, Steve Stone on the right and the under-rated Lars Bohinen in central midfield, Forest had a core group who consistently contributed. Between them, those five players scored 51 of the side’s 72 goals. Throw in Stuart Pearce’s incredible tally of eight (four of those from the penalty spot) and Clark required little from anyone else other than solid defending.
They began the season superbly — Roy scored on his debut against Ipswich while Collymore grabbed an equaliser against reigning champions Manchester United. They were unbeaten for the first 11 games of the campaign and won handsomely against Sheffield Wednesday and Tottenham with Roy proving his worth with a glut of goals.
But the fixture list proved unkind to them. Between the end of October and the start of December, they failed to win a game. They lost to Blackburn, Liverpool, Chelsea and Leeds and it proved costly to their faint hopes of possibly lifting the title. Early in the new year, they lost successive games to Blackburn and Aston Villa. However, they finished better than they started, going on a run of 13 games without defeat and scoring a hatful of goals in the process. They knocked four past Leicester, racked up successive 3-0 victories over Southampton and Leeds before thumping seven past Sheffield Wednesday.
As Blackburn and Manchester United battled it out for the top-two places, Forest still did astonishingly well to finish in third spot ahead of a quartet of well-fancied clubs — Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle and Tottenham.
Qualifying for the UEFA Cup was a terrific achievement but following such a successful top-flight season, everything went steadily downhill. Collymore, after his 22 goal haul, was inevitably sold to Liverpool for a then-British record fee. The money wasn’t re-invested and instead, Collymore’s replacement was the much-maligned Jason Lee. He didn’t do too badly, scoring eight times. But Roy could only manage the same amount and despite Woan and Stone contributing fifteen between them, Clark was left rummaging for attacking alternatives but Kevin Campbell endured a frustrating debut campaign and scored just three goals in twenty-one games. A year after finishing third in the table, Forest found themselves in mid-table obscurity.
Their UEFA Cup odyssey was more impressive and they were the only English club involved in any European competition that season to reach the last eight. A tricky first-round clash with Malmo saw them through on away goals while they just about got the better of French side Auxerre in the next stage, winning 1-0 on aggregate – Steve Stone with the crucial strike. They faced another French club, Lyon, in the third round and another slender aggregate win followed and despite holding Bayern Munich to a narrow last-eight victory in Bavaria, Jurgen Klinsmann grabbed a brace as they thumped five past Forest in the return leg at the City Ground.
In May 1997, Forest were relegated having finished bottom of the Premier League table – just like they had done four years previously, when the transition first began.
Stand-out player
I was taking on defenders from the halfway line, and I doubt many of them looked forward to facing me.”
Stan Collymore spent two seasons at Forest, scoring 41 times in 64 league games. In his first campaign, he steered the side to automatic promotion to the top-flight while his 1994/95 goal tally pushed them to European qualification and a top-three Premier League finish.
As he showed during his spell at Liverpool, he had great awareness and was equally adept at creating chances for others as he was at scoring. He had a terrific first-touch and his trademark was spinning around defenders and using his speed to sprint away or his vision to find a team-mate. Alternatively, he also had the ability to turn sharply and just thump a shot straight to the top corner.
Stand-out moment
It said much that when the 1995 Premier League champions wanted to invest in more quality, they signed Forest’s Norwegian midfielder Lars Bohinen. He spent just two seasons in Nottingham but, like Collymore, his effect was huge. A silky ball-player, he scored six times in the 94/95 campaign and his best goal came during Forest’s best performance.
Heading to Hillsborough on April Fool’s Day, Forest were on a six-game unbeaten run and had racked up ten goals in their previous three games. Against Sheffield Wednesday, they were in the mood right from the off and it was a display full of pace, power, relentless movement and slick passing. To cap it all off, Bohinen scored the seventh with the most delightful of chips – outside of the right boot, bending incredibly to the far corner. A thing of beauty.
