Nottingham Derby - History

History

The two clubs are amongst the oldest football clubs in the World. County were formed in 1862 and are the oldest professional association football club in the world. Forest were formed three years later by a group of men playing the now largely unknown sport of Bandy.

The first game contested between the two clubs was played in March 1866. It was Forest's first match as a football club and the result remains disputed. Some records claim that the game ended with 1-0 victory for Forest while others record a 0-0 draw.

The first competitive meeting in the FA Cup came on November 16, 1878 and resulted in a 3-1 victory for Nottingham Forest. The first league game occurred on October 18, 1892 and resulted in a 3-1 victory for Notts County.

The biggest victory in derbies between the two clubs was 5-0, which was achieved by Forest on November 21, 1901 and again on October 10, 1953. County's biggest win was 4-1, which last occurred on February 12, 1953.

Nottingham derbies were a fairly regular occurrence until the mid 1950s. Since then, games between the two clubs have become extremely rare with results between the clubs becoming more savoured by supporters, particularly those of Notts County. Nowadays, the two sides rarely meet because they are in different divisions.

The last league Nottingham derby occurred on February 12, 1994 and resulted in a 2-1 victory for Notts County. Charlie Palmer (or 'Sir' Charlie Palmer as he has been dubbed by Notts County fans) scored with just four minutes remaining and only ninety seconds after Forest had equalised. The last Forest league win was a few months prior, when Stan Collymore scored late on at the City Ground to secure victory for the Reds.

Today, Forest and Notts County matches usually occur as pre-season matches at Meadow Lane. Forest won 2-1 on 30 July 2007 and 3-2 on 2 August 2008, but Notts County won 2-1 in a pre-season friendly on 25 July 2009. The final pre-season friendly to date was on 7 August 2012 ending in a 2-2 draw.

The rivalry was resurrected on 9 August 2011, when the clubs met in the first round of the Football League Cup at the City Ground. It was a thriller, with Forest winning a penalty shootout after the match had ended 3-3. Lee Hughes had missed a penalty which would have sent Notts through.

Today, rivalry is largely one-sided. Notts County fans see the supporters of Forest and the club in general as condescending and arrogant towards them. Furthermore, Notts fans have accused local media of being biased towards Forest, a claim that had some credibility after BBC Radio Nottingham attempted to drop live coverage of their games in 2001 in favour of the Reds.

Forest fans consider Derby County to be a more serious rival with matches between Derby and Forest being called the East Midlands derby. Many Forest fans believe that Notts County supporters are 'bitter' and are jealous of their larger fanbase and more successful past.

Despite all this, relations between the fans is largely good natured and driven by the banter and gloating seen in most intra-city derby games. The fact that family members, friends, work colleagues and school mates support the respective sides means that even if rivalry is largely dormant, any Nottingham derby is taken incredibly seriously by both sets of supporters.

Forest fans like to taunt Notts County as 'our little brothers' in reference to the sheer gulf in support and success between the two clubs and often refer to Notts fans as 'the Bitters' or 'Sadpies', in reference to often one-sided nature of the rivalry. Meadow Lane is often called 'Legoland'.

The rivalry however is friendly, when Notts County went into administration Forest staff, fans and players donated generously to help their 'little brothers'.

But despite this, a 'friendly' match between the two sides in July 2007 at Notts County's Meadow Lane ground was marred by fighting on the pitch involving both sets of supporters after the final whistle.

The trouble led to arrests several months later and criminal convictions and bans for those involved.

For their part, Notts County supporters refer to Forest as 'the F word', a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that the word 'Forest' is ineffable or as Florist. Many Notts fans also avoid wearing red ('the bad colour') and refer to the City Ground as the 'Shitty Ground'.

As in the Manchester derby, an element of territorial technicality may come into play, since Meadow Lane is within the boundary of Nottingham city, while the City Ground, despite its name, lies beyond the city boundary at the Trent in West Bridgford (though this boundary is rather strangely drawn).