When Blackburn Rovers famously pipped Man Utd to the league title in 1994-95, they memorably lost 2-1 at Liverpool on the last day of the season, leaving their fate to West Ham, whose 1-1 draw proved enough to prevent Man Utd overhauling their local rivals on the final day of the campaign. Few, however, remember the team that finished third that year. Here is the story of Nottingham Forest’s last great season.
Forest had enjoyed a fairly good end to the ’80s, having reached their third League Cup final in four seasons in 1992, although they lost to Manchester United. Brian Clough’s 18-year reign as manager ended in less than ideal circumstances in May, 1993 when Forest were relegated from the Premier League after 16 illustrious years of top flight football which had seen one league title, two European Cups and four League Cups.
The bounce back up to the top flight was immediate and impressive. New coach Frank Clark, who had been a left-back in Forest’s 1979 European Cup winning team, had returned to the club to succeed Brian Clough in May 1993 . His management career had previously offered little of note, (a highlight was when he had won the Fourth Division playoffs with Leyton Orient in 1989).
Having inherited most of the squad from the Clough era, Clark achieved an instant return to the Premiership when the club finished Division One runners-up at the end of the 1993-94 season. Clark looked to be well on the way to re-establishing Forest as a top side with a fine return to the Premiership; they not only finished third in 1994-95 but also qualified for the still meaningful UEFA Cup, meaning a first return to European competition in the post-Heysel era.
1994-95: Sheffield Wednesday 1 – 7 Nottingham Forest
The 1994-95 season would prove a glorious one as far as Forest were concerned. History would show that just about every team promoted into the Premier League are hot favourites to be relegated the following season. Even way back in the middle of the ’90s many promoted teams were the division’s whipping boys.
One of the many highlights of the 1994-95 season was a memorable victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford, with a young and extremely promising Stan Collymore and Stuart Pearce scoring the goals, a game still fondly remembered by Forest fans. The likes of Collymore, Pearce and the Dutch international Bryan Roy were among the most feared players in the Premiership and Steve Stone was about to establish himself on the England right wing (injury to Stone would offer an opportunity to the young David Beckham and you know what happened next).
So, what went wrong? Collymore was sold to Liverpool in June, 1995 for a then English record fee of £8.4 million, and his £2 million Italian successor Andrea Silenzi was a disappointing replacement to say the least. With Collymore gone, Forest’s goals dried up in the Premiership during 1995-96 and they finished ninth – although they did reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, making them the only English team to reach the last eight of any European competition that season. A 5-1 home pummeling by eventual winners Bayern put some perspective on things, though.
Clark added Welsh striker Dean Saunders to bolster Forest’s squad for the 1996-97 season, but they started badly and it quickly became became a battle to avoid relegation. With no signs of that battle being won, Clark was sacked in December and 34-year-old captain Stuart Pearce was installed as player-manager on a temporary basis.
1994-95: Tottenham 1 – 4 Nottingham Forest
The inexperienced Pearce inspired a brief revival, even being voted Premiership manager for the month for January, 1997 after a turn around in form lifted the club off the bottom of the division. He was tipped to become manager on a permanent basis, but the Forest directors wanted someone more experienced, so in March, 1997 they turned to Dave Bassett.
Despite the quality addition of Celtic’s Dutch striker Pierre van Hooijdonk, Forest were unable to avoid relegation and finished the season in bottom place. As in 1993-94, they immediately won promotion back to the Premiership, being crowned Division One champions in 1997-98. However, another prolific Forest strike-partnership of Kevin Campbell and Pierre van Hooijdonk was soon broken up: Campbell going to Trabzonspor and van Hooijdonk refusing to play because his strike partner was sold. Van Hooijdonk later returned to the club but it was too late to save Bassett, who was sacked in January, 1999 after a woeful start to the Premiership campaign, encapsulated by an 8-1 home defeat to treble chasing Man Utd that eased them on their way to relegation.
1994-95: Nottingham Forest 4 – 1 Ipswich Town
Since Brian Clough’s departure at the end of the 1992-93 campaign, Nottingham Forest have had eight different managers and spent just four more seasons in the Premier League, none of those being since 1999. The current team remain in the shadow not only of the giants of the ’70s but also the promising side of the mid ’90s.
Increasingly middle-aged and increasingly disillusioned by modern football, I want to share with you how good football used to be before it was ruined by money. 
Never would have guessed it was Forest who finished 3rd that year.