The East Midlands derby is a sobriquet used to describe football matches held between Derby County and Nottingham Forest. It was first held on 1 October 1892 at the Racecourse Ground in the Football League Division One, and saw Nottingham Forest win 3–2. The most recent meeting between the two was a Football League Championship match at Pride Park Stadium, Derby on 19 January 2013, which finished in a 1-1 draw. Although the clubs are rivals due to their geographical proximity, the rivalry grew even more intense towards the late 1970s when Brian Clough was appointed Forest manager, much to the dismay of the Derby support. According to a survey on football rivalries it is the 11th fiercest rivalry in English football, with 9 out of 10 fans from both clubs pointing to the other as their fiercest rival. The fixture will return in the 2012–13 Football League Championship season after Derby finished 12th and Forest narrowly avoided the drop after finishing 19th in the 2011–12 campaign.
Since 2007 whenever the two teams meet the winner has been awarded the Brian Clough Trophy, in memory of Brian Clough, the man who had great success at both clubs. The inaugural match was held at Pride Park in July 2007 which Derby won 2–0.
Read more about East Midlands Derby: History, Post 2000, Crossing The Divide, Records, League Doubles, Notable Matches, Brian Clough Trophy, Hooliganism
Famous quotes containing the words east and/or midlands:
“Though the words Canada East on the map stretch over many rivers and lakes and unexplored wildernesses, the actual Canada, which might be the colored portion of the map, is but a little clearing on the banks of the river, which one of those syllables would more than cover.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Sunday night meant, in the dark, wintry, rainy Midlands ... anywhere where two creatures might stand and squeeze together and spoon.... Spooning was a fine art, whereas kissing and cuddling are calf-processes.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)