Tuesday 27 December 2022 marks the first time that Manchester United and Nottingham Forest will face each other since 1999, when the Reds picked up a massive 8-1 victory.
This extract is from the latest edition of Inside United, for January 2023.
To mark the occasion, we spoke to Daniel Taylor of The Athletic, an adopted Mancunian since 1998 and Forest fan since 1981. When discussing the history between the two historical clubs, Taylor believes the fans have mutual effect for one another for their achievements in the game.
“Even though I missed the European Cup years, I never felt like I’d missed all the fun – growing up watching Forest from 1981 to 1992 was 11 years solid going to every game and thinking, ‘We’ll probably win today.’ We had six trips to Wembley in four years for cup finals – one against United, obviously, which didn’t end well for Forest.
“One thing I’ve always noticed is that United fans of a certain generation have a soft spot for Forest. They like the fact that we knocked Liverpool off their – expletive deleted – perch long before Fergie thought of that quote. They were two-time European champions going for the hat-trick. I think it was Garry Birtles who said whenever he goes to Anfield, he sees those flags on the Kop: ’77, ’78, and a gap to 1981 – that gap is Nottingham Forest, basically.
“Our success [in the 1970s] is the sort of thing that could never happen now. And the game Forest fans remember – apart from the title-clinching draw at Coventry, with a famous Shilton save – was the 4-0 win at Old Trafford [December 1977].
“Type in ‘a football lesson’ on YouTube. It wasn’t one of the great United sides, but even then, teams didn’t go there and do that. And it was a week before Christmas, that point where everyone’s looking at us and thinking: ‘Okay, they’ve had a brilliant start, but will they peter out?’
“A lot of United fans from that generation remember that game – I suppose they got their revenge in 1999 with the 8-1. As Ron Atkinson put it, ‘It’s always nice to be involved in a nine-goal thriller.’
“They have respect for Clough, but they do like the Liverpool thing. When Forest beat Liverpool earlier this season – and this sums it up – I’ve lived in Manchester 20-odd years, and I reckon I got more congratulatory messages from United fans than Forest, and obviously I’ve kept in touch with a lot of people from Nottingham.”
This extract is from the latest edition of Inside United, for January 2023.