We Won The League In Coventry – Part 1

April 22nd 1978.  James Callaghan is Prime Minister; a pint will set you back around 25 pence and Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs by Brian & Michael is top of the UK charts. A certain Mull of Kintyre had been No.1 earlier that year.

On this bright and sunny day thousands of people left Nottingham and descended on Coventry of all places for what would be the day that Forest became league champions. The previous year, May 1977, we had slipped out of Division 2 due to an unexpected Wolves victory at Bolton; the management and squad apparently learning of their promotion while flying out for an end of season break. The years that followed are still rather hard to fathom out for someone such as myself. I wasn’t even born but that doesn’t make this period any less important to me. The staggering rise from promotion to a defended European title in Madrid within three years is an achievement that is without parallel in British football. Perhaps anywhere.

The richest period in the history of Nottingham Forest is clearly well documented and continues to make fascinating reading. Considering what would follow it is understandable that the extraordinary feat of securing the league title is somewhat overshadowed. Yet it remains an April afternoon in Coventry that opened the door to those glorious European nights. To mark the 40th anniversary we asked a number of Forest supporters to tell us their tales of being at Highfield Road that day…

Part 1 – ‘This is no fluke’

Jeff Edwards & Johnny Beardsley stepped inside a rented van early in Kimberley that Saturday morning. ‘It was cracking weather’ says Johnny. There were twelve people all together on board and only three seats, including one for Dave, their designated driver. Jeff was 33 and Johnny, as a 19 year old, was in a confident mood. ‘We never felt like losing’ he says.

For a teenager like Johnny these were heady days but the same can be said for fans of all ages. Christopher (Pip) Matthews was 23 and says the rise from promotion to being on the verge of the league title was ‘like a fairytale’. ‘We just got better game after game’ adds Glenn Green. Glenn was just 17 and recalls being aboard a convoy of coaches that snaked down to Coventry: ‘I vividly remember the local residents watching from their windows and gardens as we passed’ he says.

The Bethell brothers – Bryan (21) and Anthony (18) were sinking cans in the car for the short journey. Anthony was another who wasn’t short of belief in his team: ‘We were always nervous about the games at the beginning but for some reason not at Coventry. We thought we’d win the league. When the season started we actually thought we’d struggle to win a game. It was just going to be a good day out… and night!’

There appears to be a shared belief amongst all that the championship would be secured at Highfield Road. It wasn’t arrogance, just a belief that had been built up as the season had progressed, mixed with some defiance over what some interpret as an unfair assumption that our quest for the title could not be sustained against far more illustrious rivals. Johnny sums it up nicely saying: ‘Wherever we went it never felt like we were getting beat’. Jeff points to numerous comments from the BBC’s Bob Wilson who insisted that the Forest juggernaut would eventually fail after an early season charge. ‘He kept telling us that we should wait for the bubble to burst. But then there was a game against Man City not too long into the season and at that point I thought, bloody hell, this is no fluke. We’ve definitely got a chance here’.

Les Pownall, who was 28 at the time, believes Forest being written off helped to keep the pressure off the players. He refers to a win against Aston Villa a few games before the Coventry trip as a moment when the league title became firmly in our grasp and that nerves became more of a factor. Chris Carr also points to the ‘weekly’ negative commentary from Wilson and believes the team were further inspired by such coverage in the press. Chris was 24 and travelled to Highfield Road with friends:

‘It was a warm sunny day and five of us set off in my mates’ car from Nottingham. I had a massive Forest flag which was my pride and joy and just managed to squeeze it in the car; a Hillman Hunter. Red, of course. My mate was a mad driver and it must have only taken us 45 minutes to get to Coventry.’

Upon arriving Chris points out the sheer volume of Forest who were in town that day: ‘It was clear there were many more fans than had been allocated tickets. We didn’t get near a pub as we thought it best to get in the ground. The police would not let me in with my flag so I popped it in a garden.’

The estimates of how many Forest were inside the ground varies but it’s clear that it was several thousand. Les describes the following as ‘phenomenal’. He and his friends had been regulars at most games that season and blames that for not remembering exactly how they made their way to Coventry that day but believes they were on a football special train. Having decided against trying to get into one of the pubs around they ground they opted to get straight through the turnstile. He carries on: ‘We had the whole kop and we were packed in like sardines but there were Forest fans in every stand’.

Part of the enormous following was 12 year old Jitz Jani, attending his first ever away game. Jitz was a pupil at Farnborough Comprehensive and was one of only a few in his school year that went regularly to Forest matches.

‘I was asked to go along with my mate Steve Donaghue and his dad. I had the hardest job convincing my parents to let me go. It was much harder in those days and especially being from an Indian family who didn’t really understand the fascination with football or Forest.’

Paul James was a 20 year old student and was another that had made the journey on a football special train: ‘We were quietly confident’ he says. ‘My main memory is that I took with me into the ground a miniature bottle of Moet & Chandon.’

He was joined by Nigel Turner who says: ‘We all wanted to be there when it was won. As a 19 year old supporting a perennially crap football team it was, at the time, one of the happiest football years of my life.’ Nigel has a recollection of being escorted from the station by the police and into the away end. ‘The terraces were absolutely packed… Lots of pushing and shoving to hold your place on the terrace’ he recalls.

The van from Kimberley containing a dozen Forest fans including Jeff and Johnny parked up around 10:30am at the Rose & Crown pub a mile or so from the ground. ‘There weren’t many Forest fans in there’ says Jeff but they began to see more and more Reds as they ventured closer towards Highfield Road in search of more pre-match beer. By 2pm they were stood on the kop shoulder to shoulder with thousands of excited Forest fans. ‘It was rammed’ explains Johnny.

‘We were very tightly squeezed into the terracing behind the goal’ adds Jitz. ‘There were loads of flags and banners and everyone seemed to have at least two scarves’.

Pip noted the lack of nerves amongst the Forest contingent. ‘We were super confident…We hadn’t been beaten for six months’ adds Nigel. Jeff continues: ‘We just didn’t concede goals and we always felt we’d get the result we needed that day’. Jitz agrees: ‘Everyone was confident we would be champions’.

They all stood in anticipation. A single point would bring the league title to Nottingham.

 

The story continues on Sunday. 40 years exactly since the day when the league was won in Coventry.