Position: Right Back Born: Wallsend Signed from: Middlesbrough, June 1988
Debut: 8 October 1988 vs Queen's Park Rangers Sold to: Grimsby Town, December 1994
The second-best right back we have had in the past 25 years, and a real fans' favourite - they never could quite understand why Cloughie messed around with Gary Charles at the expense of Laws in 91-92. Laws was strong, not slow and decidedly committed - with Pearce on the other flank we had two of the toughest-tackling full backs in the country. It was the committment that made the fans love him (they always love players who wear their heart on their sleeve, whether any good or not - see Marlon Harewood & Jason Lee!)
Lawsey also has something of a temper on him, or at least is as uncompromising off the pitch as on it. When he left Forest to become player-manager at Blundell Park, he became notorious for throwing a plate of chicken at Ivano Bonetti, his Italian striker, "for not trying hard enough". A chip off the old block! He is now managing Scunthorpe, with a certain amount of success.
Back to ... The Players : 1988 - 1989 : 1989 - 1990 : 1990 - 1991 : 1991 - 1992 : 1992 - 1993 : 1993 - 1994
Position: Forward Born: Newham Signed from: Southend United, March 1994
Debut: 5 March 1994 vs Luton Town Sold to: Watford, May 1997
As the events get further away, there seems to be a myth growing up in internet circles that Forest fans drove Lee out of the City Ground with their insensitive songs about his haircut. Let's nail that one straight away, because it is total bollocks!
Let's get this out of the way first: Jase wasn't very good. He had the first touch of a brick wall, for a start. But he was a big awkward customer who tried his heart out game after game, and the Forest fans respected him for that - it wasn't his fault that he replaced a great player like Stan Collymore and suffered by comparison. As a man to come off the bench for the final 15 minutes against a tiring defence, he was OK - as a first choice centre forward he wasn't up to it.
So what's all this haircut thing? Well for those who don't remember, Jason had long dreadlocks and when he played he used to wear them tied up in a bunch on top of his head. Frank Skinner and David Baddiel, in their "Fantasy Football League" TV show, pointed out that it looked like he had a pineapple on his head - and it stuck. Away fans were merciless with the pineapple songs, and the whole thing snowballed until it affected Lee's form (which was patchy even at best). He became a figure of national ridicule, which would be pretty hard for any young player to take, let alone one without the raw talent to ram it back down people's throats.
The mistake Forest made was that Frank Clark publicly reacted and asked people to back off - which of course made it worse.
Lee was not the worst centre forward we have ever had - several in the 70s and Andrea Silenzi (to whom he was supposed to be an understudy) made him look like Gabriel Batistuta. But don't blame the Trent End for the pineapple thing!
Jason has now just about found his level in the 2nd & 3rd Division with Peterborough. Good luck to him.
Back to ... The Players : 1993 - 1994 : 1994 - 1995 : 1995 - 1996 : 1996 - 1997
Position: Forward Born: Sheffield, 8 October 1975 Signed from: Grimsby Town, February 2000 & again from Sheffield United, November 2004
Debut: 5 February 2000 vs Manchester City Sold to: Sheffield United, July 2003
Signed from Grimsby after the Martin Smith transfer fiasco (Smith announcing that he'd signed for Forest, asked for permission "to visit his sick sister up North", and re-emerged having mysteriously signed for Huddersfield whilst supposedly mopping her fevered brow), Lester is a quick and imaginative player. He arrived with the reputation of being someone who makes goals rather than scoring them by the bucket-full, and what we saw in his time at Forest tended to back that up - he is a decent player and will run his heart out for you, but is unlikely to ram in 20 in a season.
Jack arrived at a time when we were playing poorly - hardly the fairest time to judge anyone. But early in the 2000-2001 season he formed a productive partnership with the on-loan Robbie Blake; both were fairly similar in their size, movement off the ball and eye for the counter attack, and Blake certainly brought the best out of Jack. This was epitomised at the Priestfield in November 2000, when Gillingham kept the ball in midfield for long periods... and Lester came away with the match ball after an inspired hat trick.
Unfortunately, not only did Robbie Blake go back to Bradford, but Jack suffered an injury only a couple of games later. At the time it was thought that it would keep him out for about 3 or 4 months, but in fact we didn't see him again in the entire season. None the less, with 7 goals in 17 league games (perhaps revealingly all of them away from home, where Forest played on the counter), Jack was confortably our most prolific forward in that season.
He was less prominent in 2001 - 2002, falling down the pecking order behind Stern John, David Johnson, Marlon Harewood and even the 16-year-old Craig Westcarr. However, he kept plugging away and re-emerged as the season went on, often in a deep role playing behind the front man, where his work rate and ability to spot other people's runs made him finish the season strongly. The following season he continued in that vein, playing an effective role in the hole behind the front 2, in rotation with Eoin Jess - 9 goals in 20 starts suggests that he was pretty good at it.
Alas, the other side of the coin was Jack's tendency to get into trouble with referees - he was sent off twice in 2002 - 2003, which was hardly calculated to endear him to a disciplinarian like Paul Hart. He also found himself suspended retrospectively for a headbutt, missed by the referee, on Ipswich's Jim Magilton. A reputation for a mardy attitude in the dressing room was (allegedly) the final straw, and Jack's contract was not renewed. Most of us thought this was a real shame - no, he was never going to be the full-on out-and-out goal machine, but he seldom had a stinker either, playing tidy neat football and working hard for week after week. Nothing wrong with that in any team.
On balance, Jack was a bargain - arguably David Platt's best signing (though the competition for that claim is not too tough)!
... so when he came back 18 months later, as part of Joe Kinnear's bid to strengthen the squad and get us out of the brown stuff, most people were pretty pleased to see him back. He made an immediate impact, scoring a bullet header (of all things - Jack is no Dixie Dean!) to beat QPR in the dying embers of Joe Kinnear's reign. Less than 3 games into his return, however, he suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury and was out for the rest of the season, no doubt watching in helples frustration as Forest sank like a stone towards Division 3.
It is to be hoped that he is fit, can curb his temperament and knuckle under with gary Megson, because he could yet be an important player for us in escpaing League One.
Back to ... The Players : 1999 - 2000 : 2000 - 2001 : 2001 - 2002 : 2002 - 2003 : 2004 - 2005 : 2005 - 2006
Position: Central Defender Born: Bristol Signed from: Coventry City, October 1976 (initially on loan)
Debut: 2 October 1976 vs Hull City Sold to: Wigan Athletic, March 1981
An uncompromising brick wall of a centre back, Larry had made his name with Shankly's Liverpool in the early 70s and briefly forced his way into the England side, before he lost form and went to Coventry City. He was languishing somewhat even at Highfield Road, seemingly going nowhere, when Cloughie snapped him up early in the 76 promotion season to replace the ageing Sammy Chapman.
Lloyd added a bit of finesse to Chapman's aggression - he could play as well as intimidate centre forwards! He, forming a formidable and skillful partnership with the incomparable Kenny Burns, was a vital part of the 77-78 Championship side (though he missed a lot of that season through injury), was virtually ever-present in the 78-79 European Cup side, and missed only one game (the League Cup Final, when his replacement collided with Shilton to allow the only goal) in 79-80, when the fans voted him Player of the Year. He even earned a recall to the England set-up for a game against Wales in 1980, but unfortunately had a stinker and was never selected again.
By the end of the 80-81 season, he was beginning to creak a bit, and Einar Aas was bought to replace him as Larry moved into player-managing at Wigan. His managerial career has been a good deal less successful than his time as a player.
His final connection with Forest was as an increasingly embittered and critical pundit for Century 106 radio station in Nottingham. Most clubs have an ex-player who sits on the sidelines and snipes in the local press, and certainly Platt's 1999-2000 season offered him a fair amount of ammunition. Larry, however, allowed his personal prejudices to show too much, to the point where he found it impossible to say much that was positive even when Forest did well and was incapable of saying the word "Platt" without an audible sneer, having been banned from the dressing room. Century quietly sacked him in the summer of 2000.
It would, however, be a shame if Larry's failings as a broadcaster were to overshadow the fact that he played a crucial part in promotion from Division 2, the Championship, 2 European Cups and 3 League Cup campaigns. Since he signed shortly after Coventry had knocked us out of the 77 League Cup and missed the 80 Final, he didn't play in a losing League Cup team for Forest until Watford beat us in October 1980, a mere 4 years after he'd signed. Respect, Larry!
Back to ... The Players : 1976 - 1977 : 1977 - 1978 : 1978 - 1979 : 1979 - 1980 : 1980 - 1981
Position: Midfield Born: Croydon Signed from: Leicester United, August 1989
Debut: 30 March 1991 vs Wimbledon Sold to: Released, May 1993
"Blink and you'll miss him" midfield player who understudied Gary Crosby in the 90-91 side. Scored after 36 seconds on his debut, but it was all down hill from there. Went on a free and disappeared without trace.
Back to ... The Players : 1990 - 1991
Position: Right Back Born: Mont St-Aignan, France, 22 February 1976 Signed from: Le Havre, January 1998
Debut: 15 September 1998 vs Leyton Orient Sold to:
One of the few decent things that Ron Atkinson did while he was in charge was sign this guy properly - initially he came here on loan from Le Havre. ML-J is by no means perfect, but he is the best full back we had at the club for most of his time at Forest (and I mean full back as opposed to wing back). He is very quick, still young, patchy going forward, but generally (if not invariably) sound in defence. In particular, he does what all proper full backs do, namely cover across into the middle when the central guys get pulled out of position - I lost count of the number of times he dug us out of a hole doing that during the 99-00 season.
Unfortunately for MLJ, 2000-2001 was something of a write off, as a series of niggly but persistent injuries confined him to a mere 10 appearances. But the following season he rapidly cemented his place as regular right back in what proved to be a very tight defence until injuries disrupted it in early Spring (just as well, because we were not exactly rattling them in at the other end!). Mattieu even contributed a goal himself, a thumping shot from the corner of the box against Crewe in the final home game of the season - to judge by his ecstatic reaction, probably the first goal he has ever scored anywhere, and a memorable one.
He promptly repeated the performance in 2002-2003, scoring against Bradford City with a rasping drive. By then, which was Forest's best season in years, Matty had established himself both as an automatic choice for Forest and also as one of the best right backs outside the Premiership, though there remains the suspicion that his lack of physical stature might make him struggle at the highest level. This made it all the more galling that his contract ran out in June 2003. However, at a time when Forest's finances forced many to leave for better wages elsewhere, Matty stayed and continued to be a model of consistently quiet excellence at the back.
Until, that is, 2004 - 2005, when suddenly his form and fitness deserted him (not that he was alone in that in this worst of all seasons). We even heard rumours of refuelling issues more in keeping with Bordeaux and Macon than NG2 - though it has to be said that Gary Megson isn't the sort of manager to keep a player with genuine drink problems. It is to be hoped that we see Matty back to his best, because, while no Viv Anderson, he's a good player, and we need everyone we can get.
Back to ... The Players : 1998 - 1999 : 1999 - 2000 : 2000 - 2001 : 2001 -2002 : 2002 - 2003 : 2003 - 2004 : 2004 - 2005 : 2005 - 2006
Position: Midfield Born: Wick Signed from: Preston North End, May 1972
Debut: 12 August 1972 vs Portsmouth Sold to: Hull City, December 1975
Scottish winger about whom I confess I don't remember much (anyone who does please contact me). What I do recall is a sound but unspectacular attacking wide midfield player (as opposed to an out-and-out dribbling winger) who weighed in with a good scoring rate. Gradually replaced by Robbo as Clough eased himself towards the side he wanted.
Back to ... The Players : 1972 - 1973 : 1973 - 1974 : 1974 - 1975 : 1975 - 1976
Position: Forward Born: Leicester Signed from: Leicester United, August 1989
Debut: 10 October 1990 vs Burnley Sold to: Shrewsbury Town, July 1991
Neil WHO?? One substitute appearance in the League Cup. So that's why you don't remember him.
Back to ... The Players : 1990 - 1991
Position: Right winger Born: Shirebrook Signed from: Rotherham United, August 1966
Debut: 12 November 1966 vs Sunderland Sold to: York City, September 1973
Signed 3 months into the wonderful 1966 - 67 season which saw Forest come close to the Double without winning either, Lyons slotted straight into the side in place of Alan "Gladys" Hinton (departed to Derby) & Chris Crowe wide on the right. Forest only lost 4 of the 33 league and FA Cup matches that remained in that season after Lyons' arrival, a run that included 2 spells of 6 & 8 consecutive wins, some fantastic football and the highest crowds that the City Ground had ever seen - regular attendences of over 40,000 were the norm as that season moved to its climax. Alas, in the end Forest were to lose the FA Cup semi final to Spurs and finish runners-up to Manchester United in the League. None the less, Lyons must have thought he had joined a club to be reckoned with.
It was downhill pretty much all the way after that. Though 67-68 saw Forest with pretty much the same side, the performances were not in the same class as the team aged and then (does this sound familiar to younger readers?) was gradually dismantled as Forest found they couldn't afford to keep them (or thought they couldn't - signing the likes of Jimmy Baxter could have saved a lot, but that's another story). By the end of the 68-69 season Forest had slumped to the 4-year fight against relegation that they were eventually to lose in 1972, and along the way they said goodbye to such excellent players as Ian Storey-Moore, Peter Cormack and Henry Newton. Lyons must have wondered what the hell was happening around him!
He didn't deserve this fate, because he was a decent player. By the time we did go down, however, his own standards had declined almost as rapidly as the club's, and he left to see out his career in the lower leagues whence he had come.
Back to ... The Players : 1966 - 1967 : 1967 - 1968 : 1968 - 1969 : 1969 - 1970 : 1970 - 1971 : 1971 - 1972 : 1972 - 1973 : 1973 - 1974
Position: Right Back Born: Wolverhampton Signed from: Swansea City, July 1993
Debut: 15 August 1993 vs Southend United Sold to: Released, May 1999
A highly popular right back signed by Frank Clark as soon as he took over, "Bruno" served Forest well and (in the eyes of many, including me) was discarded unecessarily early. He was a more than decent defender, but really shone in his marauding forays up the right wing in tandem with Steve Stone, when his pace and crossing ability came to the fore.
For some reason Harry Bassett didn't rate him highly and, having been an automatic selection ever since his signing, he found himself out of favour. Unsurprisingly, he chose to leave when his contract ran out and, though his subsequent career has not been an undiluted success, he was part of the WBA team promoted to the Premier League in 2001-2002. He was only 29 when he left us, which seems young to be discarded. OK, so he was no Viv Anderson or Brian Laws, but he was a far better defender than Thierry Bonalair, who replaced him.
Back to ... The Players : 1993 - 1994 : 1994 - 1995 : 1995 - 1996 : 1996 - 1997 : 1997 - 1998 : 1998 - 1999