Nottingham Forest Under 18s took to the Old Trafford pitch in front of a sell-out crowd for the club’s first ever appearance in the prestigious FA Youth Cup final.

The Reds fielded nine local Nottingham lads, with eight of the squad young enough to be eligible for next season’s competition. 

Detlef Esapa Osong, who scored two late goals in the semi-final comeback against Chelsea, started up front alongside full Northern Ireland international Dale Taylor, who also scored in that memorable 3-1 semi-final victory. The youngest player in the Forest side was defender Zach Abbott who is only 16 on Friday.

It was a fantastic occasion on a perfect playing surface with more than 5,700 Forest supporters in good voice on a sunny evening in the north-west.

Playing in the luminous yellow and orange third kit, The Reds kicked off towards the Stretford End but it was United who forced the finest corner within 30 seconds which eventually fell to Robbie Mainoo who forced an early save from Aaron Bott in the Forest goal.

Captain Jamie McDonnell then nearly broke through for Forest down the right and, from the resulting throw in, The Reds won their first corner of the contest. From Taylor’s corner, McDonnell diverted a firm header just wide of Radek Vitek’s right post.

A foul by McDonnell on Isak Hansen gave the hosts a free-kick 35 yards out and, from Sam Murray’s left footed inswinging ball, United captain Rhys Bennett headed firmly past Aaron Bott from near the penalty spot to give Man United the lead.

Forest responded immediately and Josh Powell had a shot blocked inside the area and, immediately afterwards, from Powell’s right wing cross, Taylor acrobatically steered a volley on target that Vitek saved.

The Reds won another corner on 18 minutes and from Powell’s delivery, Justin Hanks headed over the crossbar. Powell then won a free-kick after good play on the right but United cleared. 

Forest had responded positively to the early setback and continued to push United back, with Head Coach Steve Cooper and his backroom staff watching on from the stands.

Another Powell free=kick midway through the half caused problems in the United box before a clever ball by Esapa Osong created more pressure but United managed to clear.

A fantastic cross-field pass by Abbott found Powell on the right as the Reds youngsters continued to play with confidence.

Ten minutes before the break, Alejandro Garnacho, United’s player of the year, had a cross-shot from onside the box but it went harmlessly wide for a throw-in but, moments later, the Argentinian’s curling shot from the edge of the box went just wide of Aaron Bott’s goal.

Then, a minute before the break, Forest deservedly drew level. Sam Collins and Josh Powell combined well down the right, as they had all half, with Powell’s low shot from the edge of the box slipping under Radek Vitek in the United goal.

After a minute’s injury time, referee Josh Smith below for half-time after an enjoyable first period with a 1-1 score the least Forest youngsters merited.

HALF-TIME: Manchester United 1-1 Nottingham Forest 

Forest were immediately back on the attack at the start of the second half and excellent control by Dale Taylor in the box set up a chance for Kyle McAdam on the edge of the six yard box but Radek Vitek managed to smoother his effort, getting injured in the process. The Reds then won a free kick on the right which caused more problems for United.

The hosts finally got out of their own half and had a number of shots blocked by Reds defenders before Aaron Bott saved from Charlie McNeill and then again from Marc Jurado. United forced successive corners which Forest dealt with before Powell won Forest a corner at the other end in front of the travelling fans.

More Forest pressure resulted in Esapa Osong creating a shooting opportunity inside the box but United again blocked the effort.

Sam Murray then flattened Taylor with a heavy challenge that drew a talking to from referee Josh Smith. 

The match was delicately poised as the hour mark was reached with Forest winning another corner that the hosts cleared.

With the match continuing to be played largely in the United half, the hosts Head Coach Travis Binnion made a double substitution on 64 minutes with Maximillian Oyedele replacing Isak Hansen and Joe Hugill replacing Charlie McNeill upfront.

However, it was Forest still pushing forward and, after being released down the right, Powell’s cross was intercepted by Vitek before it could reach Esapa Osong.

With twenty minutes to play United won a corner from which Rhys Bennett again connected with a header but the effort was blocked to safety.

Forest Head Coach Warren Joyce made his first substitution with Ben Perry replacing Sam Collins who appeared to suffer cramp after an energetic display.

Esapa Osong then won the ball back in midfield and when the ball was fed to Powell, his left foot pile-driver was blocked for a throw-in.

On 77 minutes, United controversially won a penalty when Abbott was unable to control a pass from Pharrell Johnson and Alejandro Garnacho nipped in. The young defender brought the Argentinian down seemingly outside the box but referee Smith ruled otherwise and Garnacho sent Aaron Bott the wrong way to put United 2-1 up.

Joe Gardner replaced Justin Hanks and Rhys Bennett then became the first player booked for up-ending Esapa Osong from behind.

Sonny Aljofree replaced Sam Mather for the hosts as the match moved into the last five minutes.

The referee signalled eight minutes of added time as Jamie McDonnell was replaced by Aaron Korpal in The Reds final change of the evening.

Garnacho then ran from deep before firing over Bott’s crossbar, and then four minutes into added on time, another mazy run by the wide man ended with a shot that was unfortunately deflected into his own net by Pharrell Johnson.

It was a cruel outcome on Warren Joyce’s youngsters who had put in a spirited and skilful display that could easily have brought the silverware back to Nottingham at the end of a memorable cup run.

FULL-TIME: Manchester United 3-1 Nottingham Forest 

MATCH STATISTICS

Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Radek Vitek; Marc Jurado, Rhys Bennett (c), Louis Jackson, Sam Murray; Robbie Mainoo, Dan Gore; Sam Mather (Sonny Aljofree 86’), Isak Hansen (Maximillian Oywdele 64’), Alejandro Garnacho; Charlie McNeill (Joe Hugill 64’)

Substitutes not used: Tom Wooster (gk), Logan Pye, Omari Forson, Ethan Ennis 

Bookings: Bennett (82’), Garnacho (90+4’)

Goals: Bennett (13’), Garnacho (pen, 77’), Johnson (go, 90+4’)

Nottingham Forest (3-5-2): Aaron Bott; Ben Hammond, Zach Abbott, Pharrell Johnson; Josh Powell, Justin Hanks (Joe Gardner 81’), Jamie McDonnell (c) (Aaron Korpal 90+1’), Sam Collins (Ben Perry 73’), Kyle McAdam; Detlef Osong, Dale Taylor  

Substitutes not used: Alex Akers (gk), Jack Perkins, Jack Thompson, Jack Nadin

Goals: Powell (44’)

Referee: Josh Smith

Attendance: 67,492

As the team hit the month of November there was a lot of expectancy after the previous two results in the League and the F.A Trophy where we ran out six-nil victors over Soham and where we also gained a victory on penalties over Kidsgrove.

Carlton Town 0-0 Histon
Our first fixture of the month was at home against bottom of the league Histon and as we all know these type of games always seem to be the toughest of them all. For sure the visitors on the day came with a plan and an agenda and to be fair to them enacted it out very well as time and time again Carlton were frustrated. The game was fairly even throughout and the opposition defended stoutly as The Millers didn’t hold back in pursuit of the points. Histon didn’t look like a team that were bottom of the league and all credit must go to them on their application in this one.

Carlton Town 1-2 Stourbridge
Our next visitors at Stoke Lane were Stourbridge and here were opposition that were sitting in a lowly position in their division and a real opportunity for us to progress into the next round of the F.A.Trophy. The opposition were off the back off two defeats in three days the week before and not having won a fixture for the whole of October. Carlton started well as we always do and were rewarded with a strike from Aaron Opoku five minutes before the break to give us the lead at half-time. Stourbridge immediately at the start of the second-half set about reducing the arrears and Montel Gibson immediately levelled the score-line. This didn’t deflate The Millers it just inspired us to maintain our good work-rate and to keep ploughing away at the opposition as we did. The game would be a real end to end affair and it was only five minutes from time before it would be decided when Gibson for the visitors would tie it up leaving The Millers faithful deflated but not too upset as the performance had warranted a better result.

Chasetown 2-2 Carlton Town
Next on the agenda was a visit to the West Midlands and to a fixture that always produces a good game for the spectators. This one was no different from any other fixture in the past and the game was an absolute joy to be involved in. The game had passion, skill and excitement and for the most was a real pulsating affair as both teams went at it like raging bulls. Martin Ball opened the scoring just under fifteen minutes in with a fine header after his long lay off from injury before a nice move seven minutes later and a sharp header from Butlin brought the home side level.Khyle sergeant in his second spell for the club would finally get off the mark three minutes before half-time and take The Millers into half-time with the lead.The second-half would play out pretty much the same as the first and with twenty minutes to go the home side would draw level again when Taylor was left unmarked at the far post. All in this one was a real cracker and a draw was a fair result against a very good side. It was also good to catch up with the fans who included fellow columnist Steve Corry at the end of the game to get their views which were very complimentary.

Carlton town 4-2 CorbyTown
Another home fixture and this time Gary Mills the former Nottingham Forest European Cup winner would bring his team to the Lane. Corby were sitting mid-division in the table and their form had been very indifferent but again at this level of the game or any level to be fair these things cannot be taken for granted. The Millers went at it straight from the start to set the tone but they would take half an hour before Nat Watson would open the scoring. Corby would equalise seven minutes later through Furey before loanee signing from Basford United Alex Howes would increase the lead on the stroke of half-time leaving ‘The Steelmen’ wrought.

That man Howes again with another good finish would further increase the lead in the second period fifteen minutes in before Toby Moore with a header increased the advantage further. Corby tried to rally late on and would reduce the deficit in the last few minutes but by this stage the game was well and truly long behind them. So we have now hit December and probably one of the most important periods of the season where we can further establish ourselves in the title chase as we head to the halfway mark. We still have a lot of football to play against a lot of tough opposition that will be trying to halt our pursuit of glory and no doubt there will be a lot of times where our opposition will be frustrating to play. However, with the standards that we have set so far and the quality and calibre of this squad this season we have placed ourselves in a very good position to march on during the second half of the season.

Forthcoming Fixtures:
4th December Stamford(h)
7th December
Sporting Khalsa(a)
11th December
Bedworth United(a)
18th December
Shepshed Dynamo(h)
27th December
Spalding United(a)
1st January
Daventry Town(h)

Nottingham Forest may well have been outside the Premier League for 22 years but thanks to the Serbia supporters branch they are still winning trophies in Europe. I caught up with their Captain and Chairman Milan Milenovi
who regaled upon the fascinating story of how it all happened. Milan is 42 years of age and comes from Niš in south Serbia, commonly known as the Electronic City in former Yugoslavia. He describes it as a very welcoming place and now the proud home of NFFC Serbia Branch. I asked Milan how his love for Forest began? “When Forest played Bayern Munich in 1996, it was a special day despite losing 2-1, the likes of Bryan Roy and Stuart Pearce really caught my eye.” Milan explained the difficulty in watching the Reds after this due to the lack of TV coverage at the time, however, his penchant for the two-time European Cup winners was suitably assisted by the internet which helped him to stay in the loop regarding all things NFFC.

I was intrigued by the formation of his 5-a-side team, despite the fact there are many Forest supporters clubs in England and worldwide, only a handful wear the famous club crest on the field of play. The only others that sprung to mind were the New York branch, but I don’t think the competitiveness was at the level of the Serbs, that said, NYC have a better kit than the official first team! How did the formation of the Serbia Forest Supporters club team come about? “Officially, it began in 2016,” said Milan. “We inspired some friends to form similar clubs like Fulham, Millwall and unbelievably, Basford United, Ilkeston Town and Sheffield FC! Because of this, my hometown of Niš is quite the footballing town.”

I was curious to learn if there were more Nottingham Forest supporters in Serbia. Again, Milan explained in detail; “It’s hard to tell, I try to find them in each City across Serbia and know there are some from Belgrade. People know of Forest here for sure, in fact there’s a unique saying here, that Nottingham Forest belong in the Premier League!” We reverted to the playing side of things where Milan acknowledged the progression of supporters club teams all around the world, he said “I was stunned to see just how many sides existed.” He referred to a fans club tournament on Facebook, telling himself the following “we must organise something like this.” Then came Milan’s next idea. “I noticed that the Bulgarian capital of Sofia housed the Bulgaria Newcastle United supporters club. We met with them and different clubs, friendly people with a passion for football, so, we travelled 110km to Sofia for our first tournament in 2017 and from that moment we made such good friends. It’s like a brotherhood of fans clubs and from here onwards we played against each other in similar tournaments in this part of Europe.”

As the Serbia Forest boys amassed more time on the pitch, they began to see their results fluctuate, competing in two to three international tournaments a year as well as friendlies. From third place in their inaugural tournament, they matched this in Dimitrovgrad before fourth and fifth place finishes next time around in Sofia. But, as all Forest supporters are aware, it took three years for Brian Clough to win his first major trophy, this was mirrored by the Serbian boys as they lifted their first trophy in 2019. Milan described it as “our brightest year” as they defeated Burnley (Bulgarian supporters) on penalties, Ivica Stojanović with the winning kick. Ironically, like Clough’s most successful side, Serbia Forest matched their achievements by winning back-to-back European trophies after beating Liverpool (Bulgaria Supporters) once again by virtue of the penalty shoot-out. Since then, they picked up another third-place tournament finish and landed a local fans club league title before the outbreak of Covid-19. Milan was pragmatic as always in his assessment of the situation, “due to the pandemic we’ve had a very long break from such events, but we WILL be back!”

As the interview neared the end, I learned that Milan is yet to visit England and his beloved City Ground to watch Nottingham Forest in action. “This is painful for me, but I hope someday I can make the journey.” Despite this, he spoke with real enthusiasm regarding his favourite players both past and present; he waxed lyrical about Bryan Roy, Stuart Pearce, and Chris Cohen before acknowledging the new breed such as Brennan Johnson, Joe Worrall, and Joe Lolley.

Finally, I asked for his musings on the new manager and the prospects for the first team this season? Milan replied, “I was unsure about Steve Cooper at first but after listening to his press conference I soon changed my mind. I like managers who are willing to take risks and play football, NFFC have certainly changed their ethos on the pitch. The team certainly looks good and is playing better, Johnson has pace and creates many chances, like Zinckernagel also, Grabb’s has started scoring again and I really like Spence and Lowe. Lolley must return to the form he’s capable of, but I do believe Carvalho will be sold! Colback is solid and in my opinion Mbe Soh is better than Figueiredo, as for Garner, he may play a role but he’s not our player at the end of the day. It doesn’t matter what I think, or others in fact, the onus is on the players to perform to a high level each game and the results will come.”

Milan Milenović beautifully summed up the mantra of the Serbia Forest supporters club football team, “We want to share nice moments together, we realise that football is more than just a game, we aim to erase every border and boundary and meet with many more people, it’s a wonderful game!” The Serbia Forest Supporters Club team members: Milan Milenović, Dimitrije Mišić, Nikola Đukić, Marko Božinović, Bojan Panev (GK & player of the tournament), Boris Zdravković, Milan Popović (Tournament top scorer), Andrija Jovanović & Ivica Stojanović.

Nottingham Forest’s procurement of Steve Cooper as manager is the most positive news for years at City Ground. His appointment ends a long list of aging, household names that invariably relied on the 4-2-3-1 formation and a worryingly familiar mantra of “avoid defeat rather than attempt to win a football match.” Seven points from his first three games in charge certainly constitutes an immediate effect and more importantly the goals for column looks wonderful in comparison.

Chris Hughton’s last game in charge prompted some furious fan reaction across the social media platforms which is no surprise these days, let’s face it, the vitriol and distain sometimes expressed after a solitary defeat is enough to break the resolve of the most ardent of manager and supporter alike.

The comments alluding to his playing style and the results it manifested were completely justified in my opinion, but as usual, the necessity to target certain players for hate wasn’t too far behind. Perhaps the most controversial angle of attack from the fan base was that channelled toward the Greek owners of the club. It’s fair to say that the tenure of Evangelos Marinakis and Sokratis Kominakis hasn’t been a bed of roses. Since taking over at Nottingham Forest, which was in a horrendous state, on and off the field of play, they have failed to win over the NFFC supporters by relying on a perpetual string of average, overseas imports, and an unconvincing link to Marinakis’s main club Olympiacos. So, when things reached rock bottom following the defeat to Middlesbrough, I wasn’t surprised to see Twitter erupt like the volcano on La Palma. I read several comments requesting a protest against the owners, to hopefully be spearheaded by a flag and banner brigade of the Forest supporters. Whilst I sympathized with a handful of valid points, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons between our rivals down the A52. Derby County are in an unbelievable mess and face a realistic possibility of going out of business like Bury FC; a situation which certainly puts things into perspective when our owners, despite their misgivings, are pumping around twenty million pounds a year into the club.

In an article I wrote shortly after the capitulation versus Middlesbrough I asked for change as opposed to replacement.
I used the term insanity to describe the Modus Operandi of our club given the regurgitation of the same behaviours time after time. But as I alluded to, I pleaded for change of direction as opposed to a Bolshevik revolution. In layman’s terms, end the baffling transfers of highly paid nobodies and hire a manager who wants to attack the opposition and who will dare to deviate from the monotony of 4-2-3-1!

Well, it seems to all and sundry that the hierarchy at Nottingham Forest are willing to adapt and throw caution to the wind having appointed Steve Cooper. Interestingly too, the club have retained the services of Steven Reid on the coaching staff, another indication that communication between the players, staff and owners is positive. Reid gave Forest their first Championship win of the season when he deployed a 3-4-3 formation and humbled Huddersfield Town in their own back yard; interestingly, that very formation has been the preferred choice of Cooper since his arrival, coincidence? One can only assume, and I use the word assume carefully, that the employment of Dane Murphy has impacted things behind the scenes prior to the arrival of Steve Cooper. Much has been made of the loan recruitment of both Max Lowe and Djed Spence in the last transfer window, whilst Hughton was still in charge.
Many NFFC supporters were quick to notice the potential for wing back duties by the aforementioned players should we ever dare to change the shape.

At this point it would be easy to get carried away, seven points from three games and lots of goals to regale upon. However, as the new gaffer touched upon, there is still a lot of work to be done, especially at the back, comments he made shortly after the Birmingham victory in which we could well have conceded as many as we scored to be honest. I speak for thousands when I say that I’m delighted to have Steve Cooper at Forest, a man who knows how to attack, a man who’s achieved back-to-back play-off qualification and a man who’s won a World Cup with England; quite simply, a breath of fresh air.