What A Difference 33 Years Makes

It was 30th May 1979, when a rather unfashionable and little known club from the East Midlands, kicked down the front doors of the footballing world by winning the European Cup in Munich.

Although we went on to retain the trophy the following year in Madrid, that night in Munich will probably go down as the greatest night and achievement in this clubs' long and illustrious history.

Forest ran out 1-0 winners over Swedish side Malmo, in a game unusually short on quality, given our growing reputation for the tippy tappy stuff at the time. It was one moment of sheer brilliance from winger John Robertson that won the game, when he delivered one of his trademark pinpoint crosses, for striker Trevor Francis to nod in. The rest as they say is history.

Fast forward thirty three years later and fortunes have changed dramatically for the twice European 'you're not famous anymore' Champions. Forest supporters have just endured one of the worst seasons' in living memory, having escaped relegation to League 1. Although the margin was by a comfortable 10 points in the end, it was a little too close for comfort for most of the campaign. It was a pretty dire season in hindsight, where we could have lost much more than our Championship status.

After the sad and premature death of chairman Nigel Doughty in February, the club now faces an uncertain future. The financial state of the club is in limbo, as the new owners are sought. Not only is the financial future of the club looking bleak at present, but the very existence of NFFC is as well, unless new owners are found soon. As things stand right now, financial security has only been guaranteed up to the beginning of August. We can only hope that it continues after, because otherwise the very future of NFFC as a football club could be in serious doubt. For those who think that statement a little dramatic, who would have said 12 months ago that we would have employed 3 managers this season, the chairman would resign and later sadly die and that we would be in a relegation fight for almost the entire campaign?

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.