Nottingham Forest F.C.
1977–78 season
ChairmanS.M. Dryden, J.P.
ManagerBrian Clough
First Division1st
FA Cup6th Round
League CupWinners
Top goalscorerLeague: Robertson
Withe (12)
All: Withe
Woodcock (19)
Highest home attendance47,218 vs. Liverpool
(Division One,
26 December 1977)
Lowest home attendance18,224 vs West Ham United
(League Cup,
30 August 1977)
Average home league attendance32,501

The 1977–78 season was Nottingham Forest's first year back in the First Division since their relegation in 1972. They had finished third in the Second Division the previous season to earn promotion.

Summary

Forest's credentials at the start of the season did not appear to be especially impressive. Promotion from Division Two in 1976–77 had been achieved only by the skin of their teeth and the squad of players was a mixture of underachievers, journeymen and inexperienced youngsters. Many pundits tipped them to struggle. However, Brian Clough and Peter Taylor had already proved at Derby County that they were capable of blending a winning formula from apparently limited resources and they would now do so again. No player epitomised Forest's success more than Kenny Burns, who arrived for £150,000 in pre-season from Birmingham City where he had acquired something of a 'wild man' reputation. Having spent several years playing as a forward, Burns was converted back to the defensive role where he had begun his career and although it took a few matches for him to settle he ended the season by being voted Footballer of the Year.

Forest confounded the critics from the outset, registering three straight league wins to top the first table of the season and thrashing West Ham United 5–0 in the second round of the League Cup. Although their 100% record ended with a 3–0 defeat at Arsenal, Forest won the next three and ended September second in the table behind Manchester City on goal difference. A 4–0 win over Ipswich Town at the beginning of October (Peter Withe scoring all four) restored them to the top of the table and there they stayed for the rest of the season. After a slight hiccup in November saw them lose consecutive away matches at Chelsea and Leeds United they went unbeaten in their remaining 26 league fixtures and were confirmed as champions following a goalless draw at Coventry City in April.

Two further additions had been made to the playing squad in the early weeks of the season. Peter Shilton was signed from Stoke City for £325,000, then a record transfer fee for a goalkeeper, and Archie Gemmill joined from Derby in a deal that also saw Shilton's predecessor John Middleton move in the opposite direction. Middleton had conceded six goals in Forest's opening five league matches - Shilton would concede only 18 in the remaining 37. In December, Forest bought David Needham from Queens Park Rangers for £140,000 to add depth to the defence. Nevertheless, they used just 17 players during the season, one of whom (teenage reserve goalkeeper Chris Woods) only appeared in the League Cup as cover for the cup-tied Shilton.

Forest's League Cup run saw them score 23 goals in just six matches en route to facing Liverpool in the final at Wembley where Woods performed heroics to keep the reigning league and European champions at bay and earn Forest a goalless draw. Liverpool also had the better of the replay at Old Trafford but a controversial penalty converted by John Robertson was enough to give Forest their first piece of major silverware since the FA Cup in 1959. A clean sweep of domestic trophies looked a distinct possibility until defeat at West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup quarter-final.

Players

Squad Stats

The statistics for the following players are for their time during 1977–78 season playing for Nottingham Forest. Any stats from a different club during 1977-78 are not included. Includes all competitive matches.

Position Nation Name Total Division One League Cup FA Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England Peter Shilton 43 0 37 0 0 0 6 0
DF England Viv Anderson 50 4 37 3 8 1 5 0
DF Scotland Kenny Burns 55 4 41 4 8 0 6 0
DF England Larry Lloyd 34 1 26 0 6 1 2 0
DF England Colin Barrett 41(2) 1 33(2) 1 5 0 3 0
MF Northern Ireland Martin O'Neill 52(2) 13 38(2) 8 8 3 6 2
MF Scotland Archie Gemmill 36(2) 3 32(2) 3 0 0 4 0
MF Scotland John McGovern 42 5 31 4 7 1 4 0
MF Scotland John Robertson 56 18 42 12 8 3 6 3
FW England Peter Withe 54 19 40 12 8 5 6 2
FW England Tony Woodcock 50 19 36 11 8 4 6 4
GK England John Middleton 6 0 5 0 1 0 0 0
GK England Chris Woods 7 0 0 0 7 0 0 0
DF England Frank Clark 19(1) 1 12(1) 1 4 0 3 0
DF England Bryn Gunn 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF England David Needham 22 4 16 4 0 0 6 0
MF England Steve Burke 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MF England Ian Bowyer 36(3) 10 25(3) 4 8 6 3 0
FW England Garry Birtles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FW England Steve Elliott 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FW Scotland John O'Hare 11(2) 1 10 0 1(1) 1 0(1) 0
Own goals 2 2

Transfers In

Pos Player From Fee Date
DFScotland Kenny BurnsEngland Birmingham City£150,000July 1977
GKEngland Peter ShiltonEngland Stoke City£325,000September 1977
MFScotland Archie GemmillEngland Derby County£25,000 & P/ESeptember 1977
DFEngland David NeedhamEngland Queens Park Rangers£140,000December 1977

Transfers Out

Pos Player To Fee Date
DFEngland Sammy ChapmanEngland Notts County£7,500July 1977
FWEngland Barry ButlinEngland Peterborough United£20,000September 1977
MFEngland Sean HaslegraveEngland Preston North End£25,000September 1977
GKEngland John MiddletonEngland Derby CountyP/ESeptember 1977
MFEngland Terry CurranEngland Derby County£50,000November 1977

Club Kit

Supplier: Adidas

Home
Away

Source: Wikipedia Nottingham Forest Article

Table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Nottingham Forest (C) 42 25 14 3 69 24 +45 64 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Liverpool 42 24 9 9 65 34 +31 57 Qualification for the European Cup first round[lower-alpha 1]
3 Everton 42 22 11 9 76 45 +31 55 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4 Manchester City 42 20 12 10 74 51 +23 52
5 Arsenal 42 21 10 11 60 37 +23 52
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ↑ Liverpool qualified for the European Cup first round as the 1977–78 European Cup winners.

Results by round

Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142
GroundAHHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHHHAHAAHHAAHAA
ResultWWWLWWWDWDWWWLWLDWWWDWWDDWWDWWWDWWDDWDWDDD
Position511433221111111111111111111111111111111111
Source: Competitive matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss;   = Leader, 1978-79 European Cup;   = 1978-79 UEFA Cup;   = 1978-79 Second Division

Matches

A list of Nottingham Forest's matches in the 1977–78 season.[1][2][3]

Competitive

Division One

20 August 1977 1 Everton 1–3 Nottingham Forest Liverpool
Pearson 44' Withe 20'
Robertson 38'
O'Neill 77'		 Stadium: Goodison Park
Attendance: 38,001
23 August 1977 2 Nottingham Forest 1–0 Bristol City Nottingham
Withe 82' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 21,743
27 August 1977 3 Nottingham Forest 3–0 Derby County Nottingham
Withe 31', 67'
Robertson 78'		 Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 28,807
3 September 1977 4 Arsenal 3–0 Nottingham Forest London
Stapleton 3', 60'
Brady 69' (pen.)		 Stadium: Highbury
Attendance: 40,810
17 September 1977 6 Nottingham Forest 2–0 Aston Villa Nottingham
Woodcock 5'
Robertson 89'		 Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 31,016
24 September 1977 7 Leicester City 0–3 Nottingham Forest Leicester
O'Neill 18'
Woodcock 63'
Robertson 89' (pen.)		 Stadium: Filbert Street
Attendance: 21,447
1 October 1977 8 Nottingham Forest 1–1 Norwich City Nottingham
Burns 73' Peters 78' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 23,741
4 October 1977 9 Nottingham Forest 4–0 Ipswich Town Nottingham
Withe 43', 58', 86', 89' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 26,845
8 October 1977 10 West Ham United 0–0 Nottingham Forest London
Stadium: Upton Park
Attendance: 26,128
15 October 1977 11 Nottingham Forest 2–1 Manchester City Nottingham
Woodcock 34'
Withe 86'		 Kidd 21' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 35,572
22 October 1977 12 Queens Park Rangers 0–2 Nottingham Forest London
Bowyer 59'
Burns 82'		 Stadium: Loftus Road
Attendance: 24,248
29 October 1977 13 Nottingham Forest 4–0 Middlesbrough Nottingham
Anderson 31', 44'
Bowyer 40'
McGovern 55'		 Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 27,373
5 November 1977 14 Chelsea 1–0 Nottingham Forest London
Aylott 55' Stadium: Stamford Bridge
Attendance: 36,116
12 November 1977 15 Nottingham Forest 2–1 Manchester United Nottingham
Burns 49'
Gemmill 74'		 Pearson 5' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 30,183
19 November 1977 16 Leeds United 1–0 Nottingham Forest Leeds
Hankin 36' Stadium: Elland Road
Attendance: 42,925
3 December 1977 18 Birmingham City 0–2 Nottingham Forest Birmingham
O'Neill 10'
Woodcock 52'		 Stadium: St. Andrew's
Attendance: 29,925
10 December 1977 19 Nottingham Forest 2–1 Coventry City Nottingham
O'Neill 40'
McGovern 44'		 Wallace 41' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 29,823
17 December 1977 20 Manchester United 0–4 Nottingham Forest Manchester
B. Greenhoff 23' (o.g.)
Woodcock 28', 89'
Robertson 53'		 Stadium: Old Trafford
Attendance: 54,375
26 December 1977 21 Nottingham Forest 1–1 Liverpool Nottingham
Gemmill 21' Heighway 39' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 47,218
31 December 1977 23 Bristol City 1–3 Nottingham Forest Bristol
Mabbutt 82' Needham 11'
Woodcock 21'
O'Neill 58'		 Stadium: Ashton Gate
Attendance: 31,990
2 January 1978 24 Nottingham Forest 1–1 Everton Nottingham
Robertson 25' (pen.) Ross 85' (pen.) Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 44,030
14 January 1978 25 Derby County 0–0 Nottingham Forest Derby
Stadium: Baseball Ground
Attendance: 36,500
21 January 1978 26 Nottingham Forest 2–0 Arsenal Nottingham
Needham 32'
Gemmill 64'		 Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 35,743
25 February 1978 28 Norwich City 3–3 Nottingham Forest Norwich
Ryan 44' (pen.)
Suggett 68'
Robson 70'		 Withe 16'
Barrett 22'
O'Neill 24'		 Stadium: Carrow Road
Attendance: 26,004
14 March 1978 30 Nottingham Forest 1–0 Leicester City Nottingham
Robertson 13' (pen.) Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 32,355
1 April 1978 33 Nottingham Forest 3–1 Chelsea Nottingham
Burns 68'
O'Neill 82'
Robertson 87'		 Langley 8' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 31,262
5 April 1978 34 Aston Villa 0–1 Nottingham Forest Birmingham
Woodcock 86' Stadium: Villa Park
Attendance: 44,315
11 April 1978 35 Manchester City 0–0 Nottingham Forest Manchester
Stadium: Maine Road
Attendance: 43,428
15 April 1978 36 Nottingham Forest 1–1 Leeds United Nottingham
Withe 65' F. Gray 41' (pen.) Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 38,662
22 April 1978 38 Coventry City 0–0 Nottingham Forest Coventry
Stadium: Highfield Road
Attendance: 36,881
25 April 1978 39 Ipswich Town 0–2 Nottingham Forest Ipswich
Mariner 73' (o.g.)
Clark 78'		 Stadium: Portman Road
Attendance: 30,062
29 April 1978 40 Nottingham Forest 0–0 Birmingham City Nottingham
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 37,625
4 May 1978 42 Liverpool 0–0 Nottingham Forest Liverpool
Stadium: Anfield
Attendance: 50,021

League Cup

Second round

30 August 1977 Nottingham Forest 5–0 West Ham United Nottingham
O'Neill 9'
Bowyer 25', 85'
Woodcock 65'
Withe 78'		 Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 18,224

Third round

25 October 1977 Nottingham Forest 4–0 Notts County Nottingham
Robertson 16' (pen.)
Woodcock 46'
Bowyer 65', 84'		 Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 26,931

Fourth round

29 November 1977 Nottingham Forest 4–2 Aston Villa Nottingham
Lloyd 7'
Anderson 13'
Withe 25'
Woodcock 52'		 Little 79'
Carrodus 85'		 Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 29,333

Fifth round

17 January 1978 Bury 0–3 Nottingham Forest Bury
Bowyer 8'
O'Neill 55'
Robertson 78'		 Stadium: Gigg Lane
Attendance: 21,500

Semifinals

8 February 1978 1 Leeds United 1–3 Nottingham Forest Leeds
E. Gray 28' Withe 19', 21'
O'Hare 75'		 Stadium: Elland Road
Attendance: 43,222
22 February 1978 2 Nottingham Forest 4–2
(7–3 agg.)		 Leeds United Nottingham
Withe 18'
Bowyer 49'
O'Neill 72'
Woodcock 75'		 F. Gray 13'
Graham 19'		 Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 38,131

Final

18 March 1978 Nottingham Forest 0–0 (a.e.t.) Liverpool London
Stadium: Wembley
Attendance: 100,000
Replay
22 March 1978 Nottingham Forest 1–0 Liverpool Manchester
Robertson 52' (pen.) Stadium: Old Trafford
Attendance: 54,375

FA Cup

Third round

7 January 1978 Nottingham Forest 4–1 Swindon Town Nottingham
Woodcock 37', 77'
Withe 55'
Robertson 67'		 Moss 84' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 28,953

Fourth round

31 January 1978 Nottingham Forest 2–1 Manchester City Nottingham
Robertson 3'
Withe 59'		 Kidd 61' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 38,509

Fifth round

Replay
Second replay

Sixth round

Pre-season and Friendlies

1 August 1977 Friendly St Gallen Switzerland 2–3 Nottingham Forest St Gallen, Switzerland
Bowyer 51'
Withe 7' 37'		 Stadium: Espenmoos
Attendance: 2,300
5 August 1977 Friendly SV Plattling West Germany 1–5 Nottingham Forest Plattling, Germany
O'Neill
Elliott
Birtles 		Stadium: Rennbahnstadion
Attendance: 1,500
9 August 1977 Friendly SC Bregenz Austria 0–3 Nottingham Forest Bregenz, Austria
Elliott
Woodcock 		Stadium: Casino Stadium
Attendance: 2,000
13 August 1977 Centenary Match Skegness Town 0–4 Nottingham Forest Skegness
Burns
Bowyer
Elliott
Robertson (pen.)'		 Stadium: Burgh Road
Attendance: 2,500
15 August 1977 County Cup Final Nottingham Forest 1–1
(3–2 p)		 Notts County Nottingham
Bowyer 49' Smith Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 11,569
Referee: G. Flint
12 September 1977 Liam O'Kane Testimonial Nottingham Forest XI 0–0 Leicester City XI Nottingham
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 5,190
Referee: B. Martin
14 November 1977 Alan Goad Testimonial Hartlepool United 2–2 Nottingham Forest Hartlepool
Burns
Woodcock 		Stadium: Victoria Park
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: P. Partridge
12 April 1978 Les Bradd Testimonial Notts County 0–1 Nottingham Forest Nottingham
O'Hare Stadium: Meadow Lane
Attendance: 10,129
Referee: B. Martin

References

  1. ↑ "1977-1978". Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  2. ↑ Smales, Ken (1991). Forest - The First 125 Years. Nottingham: Temple Printing. ISBN 978-1870010092.
  3. ↑ Attaway, Pete (2010). Nottingham Forest: Brian Clough and His Legacy - A Complete Record 1975 - 2010. Southend-on-Sea: Desert Island Book. ISBN 978-1905328833.
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