Being a Forest fan born in the 90's

It’s 1994, Forest start the season back in the Premiership after a year in the old First Division. The Unfinished Business team have been born into Forest loving families, hoping their little boys will see the success of their dad’s and watch Forest going from strength to strength back in the Premier League after relegation and the departure in 1993 of club legend, Brian Clough.

Being in the Premier League is something us 90’s kids can only dream of. We’ve been close a number of times, but in typical Forest style we’ve choked before the final hurdle. ‘King Billy’ brought us plenty of success in the ‘golden years’ for anyone in their mid-twenties. Paul Hart took us close in 2003 with an immensely talented squad, with a mixture of seasoned campaigners as well as a few stars of the future including Andy Reid and Michael Dawson, a team also featuring a friend of the podcast, Craig Westcarr.

When looking back on my time as a Forest fan, there are obviously lots of fond memories, including that match day excitement as a kid, getting a bottle of pop and a chicken balti pie at half time whilst my old man sups a pint of Carlsberg, before we rush back to our seats just in case Danny Sonner somehow scores a screamer.

One thing my Dad always reminds me of is when I used to take my Pokemon cards down to the City Ground, and spend most of the game looking at them instead of watching the mighty Scunthorpe United beat us at home during our League One days.

Talking of our League One days, is the highlight for me as a Forest Fan watching us get promoted into the Championship? We didn’t even finish top and only just pipped Donny to the second automatic place.

But that sums it up doesn’t it? There is no real moment to look back and think “I was there”. If my fondest moment is having a packet of Cheese and Onion crisps at half time, then it leads you to wonder ‘what if’?

What if Des Walker didn’t score that own goal vs Sheffield United? What if we had more strike partnerships where both forwards could score 20+, just like Harewood and Johnson. It’s bleak to compare that to this season where Grabban, Taylor and Murray combined have scored a mere 10 goals.

It’s such a shame to think of all the success we once had compared to where we are now. I mean, we’ve not even been to the new Wembley. Even Notts County have been there before we have.

27 years later and there’s nothing to write home about, we’re probably just about safe for another year, let’s hope next year we have something to celebrate.

Come on you reds.