Defeat dooms fallen Forest

By Peter Sterling

Nottingham Forest FC became the only club ever to be crowned European champions and subsequently fall to the third division of their domestic league structure when they were relegated to League 1 on Saturday.

Former greats
Forest, European champions in 1979 and 1980, were defeated 2-1 by Queens Park Rangers FC to fall out of the Championship, and will play next season in the third tier of English football, a level they left behind 54 years ago.

'Bad season'
After Saturday's defeat, manager Gary Megson said: "A club with the history and tradition of Nottingham Forest should not be relegated after a bad season in the second tier of English football. The target is to come straight back up next season."

Forest rise
Twenty-five years ago Forest were mixing it in very different company at the summit of European club football. Their rise began in January 1975 when Brian Clough arrived at the City Ground with Forest battling to stay in the second division.

European champions
That time they survived, won promotion to the old first division in 1977 and were crowned English champions for the first time in their history in 1978. Over the next two years they dominated Europe, winning the European Cup on 30 May 1979 when a header from Trevor Francis, the first £1m signing in English history, was enough for a 1-0 win over Malmö FF in Munich.

Forest falter
They retained the title a year later against Hamburger SV in Madrid, again winning 1-0, and although Clough and Forest were never to repeat that feat, they continued to be a force for most of the next 15 years. By the beginning of the 1990s, though, Clough's influence was on the wane and Forest were beginning to falter. He failed to arrest the slump and his golden era ended with relegation from the Premier League in 1993.

Final hurrah
Clough retired, Forest were down and although they came back under European Cup winner Frank Clark in 1994, they went down again three years later, resurfacing for a final hurrah for the 1998/99 season which ended in relegation for third time in less than a decade.

Tough job
The last six years have seen the once-mighty club struggle under the threat of bankruptcy and in the hands of a succession of short-term managers. Ron Atkinson, David Platt, Paul Hart, Joe Kinnear and now Gary Megson have all attempted to arrest the slide, but with little cash available and increasingly disillusioned supporters, the job gets harder and harder.

Links broken
Poignantly perhaps, two links with Forest's golden era disappeared forever this season. In August, Arsenal beat Forest's record of 42 consecutive unbeaten league matches set between November 1977 and November 1978. The following month, Clough died of liver cancer aged 69.

Fateful conclusion
With goals, points and confidence all in short supply this season perhaps only Clough in his pomp could have saved Forest. It is sad for their fans that he has gone and that they may never reach the European summit again, but relegation to the third division is an even worse fate to contemplate.