1983–84 Nottingham Forest F.C. season

The 1983–84 season was Nottingham Forest's 119th year in existence and seventh consecutive season in the First Division. Also the club competed in the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup.

Nottingham Forest
1983–84 season
ChairmanMaurice Roworth
ManagerBrian Clough
StadiumThe City Ground
First Division3rd
FA CupSecond round
League CupThird round
Top goalscorerLeague: Peter Davenport (15)
All: Davenport (17)

Summary edit

In his ninth season as manager Brian Clough transferred in Dutch midfielder Frans Thijssen from Ipswich Town[1] only to be a flop and he left the club within months. On the contrary of the last three seasons, this campaign the offensive line had a good performance with Davenport, Birtles aimed by a superb midfield with Hodge and Walsh despite club legend John Robertson left the club during summer and signed with Peter Taylor's Derby County. After two early eliminations on FA Cup and League Cup the squad reached the UEFA Cup semifinals against RSC Anderlecht. In the first leg, the team took a 2–0 score in Nottingham and for the second leg the Belgian squad won 3-0 classifying to the 1984 UEFA Cup Final. According to Constant Vanden then Anderlecht club President, the club paid a bribe to Spanish referee Emilio Guruceta Muro before the match.In 1997 the UEFA banned the Belgian club for 1 season for competing in its continental tournaments.[2] In 2016 it was revealed that UEFA had evidence of the match-fixed scandal since 1992.[3][4] Meanwhile, in League the squad finished on a decent third spot only 6 points below of Champions Liverpool and clinching a UEFA Cup spot for the second consecutive campaign.

Squad edit

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK   NED Hans van Breukelen
GK   ENG Steve Sutton
GK   ENG Kevin Hitchcock
DF   ENG Viv Anderson
DF   ENG Bryn Gunn
DF   ENG Chris Fairclough
DF   ENG Colin Todd
DF   ENG Mark Smalley
DF   ENG Paul Hart
DF   ENG Des Walker
DF   ENG Nigel Johnson
DF   ENG Les Robinson
DF   ENG Kenny Swain
MF   ENG Ian Bowyer (c)
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF   NED Frans Thijssen
MF   ENG Gary Mills
MF   ENG Steve Wigley
MF   SCO Colin Walsh
MF   ENG Steve Hodge
MF   ENG Adrian Shaw
FW   SCO Ian Wallace
FW   ENG Peter Davenport
FW   ENG Garry Birtles
MF   NIR Danny Wilson
FW   ENG David Riley
FW   ENG Shaun Finney
FW   ENG David Longhurst

Transfers edit

Winter edit

In
Pos. Name from Type
DF Des Walker
Out
Pos. Name To Type
GK Ronnie Sinclair Wrexham loan
MF Frans Thijssen Vancouver Whitecaps

Results edit

Division One edit

League table edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Liverpool (C) 42 22 14 6 73 32 +41 80 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Southampton 42 22 11 9 66 38 +28 77 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3 Nottingham Forest 42 22 8 12 76 45 +31 74
4 Manchester United 42 20 14 8 71 41 +30 74
5 Queens Park Rangers 42 22 7 13 67 37 +30 73
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions

Results by round edit

Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142
GroundAHHAAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAAHHAHAHAHHA
ResultWLWLLWLWLDWWWDWWLWWWLDDWLLDDDLLLLWWDWWWWDW
Position171015149971081111781176118655443422233333333355542
Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/nottingham-forest/tab/matches/season/1984/
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss;   = Champions, Qualified to 1983–84 European Cup;   = Qualified to 1983–84 UEFA Cup;   = Relegated to Division Two

Manager: Geoff Twentyman

Matches edit

27 August 1983 1 Nottingham Forest 0-1 Southampton Nottingham
  66' Danny Wallace Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 14,690
Referee: G Courtney
29 August 1983 2 Manchester United 1-2 Nottingham Forest Manchester
Kevin Moran   12'   66' Viv Anderson
  85' Peter Davenport
Stadium: Old Trafford
Attendance: 43,005
Referee: R Bridges
3 September 1983 3 Liverpool 1-0 Nottingham Forest Liverpool
Ian Rush   84' Stadium: Anfield
Attendance: 31,376
Referee: J Lovatt
7 September 1983 4 Nottingham Forest 2-2 Aston Villa Nottingham
Peter Davenport   40'
Garry Birtles   86'
  17' Peter Withe
  69' Gary Shaw
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 16,379
Referee: JD Hough
10 September 1983 5 Nottingham Forest 3-2 Queen's Park Rangers Nottingham
Steve Hodge 16'Peter Davenport 33'Bob Hazell 83' (og) Ian Dawes 9' Simon Stainrod 61' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 14,607
Referee: RF Nixon
17 September 1983 6 Norwich City 2-3 Nottingham Forest Norwich
Keith Bertschin   4'
John Deehan   38' (pen)
  23' (pen),   43',   65' Colin Walsh Stadium: Carrow Road
Attendance: 14,605
Referee: EJ Scales
24 September 1983 7 Nottingham Forest 1-0 Luton Town Nottingham
Ian Wallace   58' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 16,296
Referee: JB Worrall
2 October 1983 8 Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Nottingham Forest Tottenham
Gary Stevens   70'
Steve Archibald   85'
  5' Colin Walsh Stadium: White Hart Lane
Attendance: 30,596
Referee: Al. Robinson
16 October 1983 9 Nottingham Forest 3-1 Notts County Nottingham
Ian Wallace   8'
Ian Bowyer   28'
Peter Davenport   40'
  9' (pen) Trevor Christie Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 26,657
Referee: N Midgley
22 October 1983 10 Arsenal 4-1 Nottingham Forest Islington
Alan Sunderland   7'
Colin Hill   24'
Tony Woodcock   67',   77'
  64' (pen) Peter Davenport Stadium: Highbury
Attendance: 22,872
Referee: K Cooper
29 October 1983 11 Nottingham Forest 1-1 Sunderland Nottingham
Frans Thijssen   28'   61' Gary Rowell 61' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 13,968
Referee: NJ Ashley
5 November 1983 12 Nottingham Forest 5-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nottingham
Garry Birtles   6'
Peter Davenport   16' (pen)
Colin Walsh   55'
Steve Hodge   59',   62'
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 13,855
Referee: IJ Borrett
12 November 1983 13 Everton 1-0 Nottingham Forest Liverpool
Adrian Heath   22' Stadium: Goodison Park
Attendance: 17,549
Referee: CN Seel
19 November 1983 14 Nottingham Forest 2-1 Ipswich Town Nottingham
Garry Birtles   70'
Kenny Swain   71'
  58' Terry Butcher Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 14,979
Referee: A Saunders
26 November 1983 15 Stoke City 1-1 Nottingham Forest Stoke-on-Trent
Mark Chamberlain   7'   3' (pen) Colin Walsh Stadium: Victoria Ground
Attendance: 11,661
Referee: DB Allison
4 December 1983 16 Nottingham Forest 3-2 Leicester City Nottingham
Colin Walsh   14'
Ian Bowyer   21'
Frans Thijssen   78'
  46' Robert Jones
  67' Alan Smith 67'
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 23,247
Referee: Art. Robinson
10 December 1983 17 Watford 3-2 Nottingham Forest Watford
Mo Johnston   6'
George Reilly   34'
Nigel Callaghan   36'
  16',   49' Garry Birtles Stadium: Vicarage Road
Attendance: 14,047
Referee: JC Deakin
17 December 1983 18 Nottingham Forest 3-0 West Ham United Nottingham
Steve Hodge   25'
Garry Birtles   75'
Colin Walsh   85' (pen)
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 14,440
Referee: TJ Holbrook
26 December 1983 19 Birmingham City 2-1 Nottingham Forest Birmingham
Kevin Rogers   6'   55' Garry Birtles
  84' Steve Hodge
Stadium: St Andrews
Attendance: 14,482
Referee: D Richardson
28 December 1983 20 Nottingham Forest 3-0 Coventry City Nottingham
Peter Davenport   23'
Garry Birtles   53',   85'
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 22,169
Referee: TA Jones
31 December 1983 21 Nottingham Forest 0-1 Liverpool Nottingham
  29' Ian Rush Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 29,692
Referee: M Dimblebee
2 January 1984 22 Luton Town 2-3 Nottingham Forest Luton
Paul Walsh   9'
Emeka Nwajiobi   62'
Peter Davenport   43'
  37' Garry Birtles
  39' Steve Hodge
Stadium: Kenilworth Road
Attendance: 12,126
Referee: DJ Axcell
21 January 1984 23 Nottingham Forest 3-0 Norwich City Nottingham
Frans Thijssen   6'
Steve Hodge   17'
Viv Anderson   29'
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 13,993
Referee: R Guy
23 January 1984 24 Southampton 0-1 Nottingham Forest Southampton
Garry Birtles   30' Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 17,426
Referee: KG Salmon
4 February 1984 25 Nottingham Forest 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur Nottingham
Steve Hodge   10'
Colin Walsh   66' (pen)
  26' Mark Falco
  90' Chris Hughton
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 21,428
Referee: T Mills
8 February 1984 26 West Bromwich Albion 0-5 Nottingham Forest West Bromwich
  12' (pen) Colin Walsh
  46' (o.g.) Ken McNaught
  53' Ian Bowyer
  79' Garry Birtles
  82' Viv Anderson
Attendance: 11,066
Referee: T Fitzharris
11 February 1984 27 Queens Park Rangers 0-1 Nottingham Forest White City
  41' Garry Birtles Stadium: Loftus Road
Attendance: 16,692
Referee: TD Spencer
18 February 1984 28 Sunderland 1-1 Nottingham Forest Sunderland
Gordon Chisholm   74'   85' Viv Anderson Stadium: Roker Park
Attendance: 15,958
Referee: IA Hendrick
25 February 1984 29 Nottingham Forest 0-1 Arsenal Nottingham
  89' Paul Mariner Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 20,045
Referee: D Owen
3 March 1984 30 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Nottingham Forest Wolverhampton
Paul Hart   89' (o.g.) Stadium: Molineux
Attendance: 10,476
Referee: D Scott
14 March 1984 31 Nottingham Forest 1-0 Everton Nottingham
Steve Hodge   90' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 13,647
Referee: AN Buksh
17 March 1984 32 Aston Villa 1-0 Nottingham Forest Birmingham
Steve McMahon   82' Stadium: Villa Park
Attendance: 16,270
Referee: HW King
31 March 1984 33 Notts County 0-0 Nottingham Forest Nottingham
Stadium: Meadow Lane
Attendance: 18,357
Referee: K Walmsley
7 April 1984 34 Nottingham Forest 3-1 West Bromwich Albion Nottingham
Colin Walsh   23' (pen)
Viv Anderson   45'
Ian Bowyer   83'
  67' Garry Thompson Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 15,245
Referee: GM Tyson
14 April 1984 35 Ipswich Town 2-2 Nottingham Forest Ipswich
Romeo Zondervan   68'
Mich D'Avray   81'
  1' Steve Wigley
  71' Peter Davenport
Attendance: 15,469
Referee: A Gunn
17 April 1984 36 Coventry City 2-1 Nottingham Forest Coventry
Mick Ferguson   8'
Nicky Platnauer   79'
  85' Colin Walsh Attendance: 9,816
Referee: AW Ward
21 April 1984 37 Nottingham Forest 5-1 Birmingham City Nottingham
Peter Davenport   2',   89'
Colin Walsh   5'
Ian Wallace   66'
Ian Bowyer   70'
  88' Mick Harford Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 15,323
Referee: JA Moules
28 April 1984 38 Nottingham Forest 0-0 Stoke City Nottingham
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 13,625
Referee: RS Lewis
5 May 1984 39 Leicester City 2-1 Nottingham Forest Leicester
Steve Lynex   12'
Lineker   35'
  80' Peter Davenport Attendance: 16,600
Referee: DV Reeves
7 May 1984 40 Nottingham Forest 5-1 Watford Nottingham
Paul Atkinson   3' (o.g.)
Steve Hodge   11'
Peter Davenport   23',   55'
Ian Bowyer   61'
  80' Mo Johnston Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 13,732
Referee: PN Willis
12 May 1984 41 West Ham United 1-2 Nottingham Forest Upton Park
Ray Stewart   19' (pen)   21' Garry Birtles
  58' Peter Davenport
Stadium: Boleyn Ground
Attendance: 18,458
Referee: LC Shapter
16 May 1984 42 Nottingham Forest 2-0 Manchester United Nottingham
Garry Birtles   34'
Viv Anderson   47'
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 23,651
Referee: DS Vickers

UEFA Cup edit

First Round edit

14 September 1983 1 Nottingham Forest   2-0  Vorwärts (Frankfurt/Oder) Nottingham
Ian Wallace   15'
Steve Hodge   60'
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 14,994
28 September 1983 1 Vorwärts (Frankfurt/Oder)  1-0
(0-3 agg.)
  Nottingham Forest
  65' Ian Bowyer Attendance: 18,000

Second Round edit

19 October 1983 2 PSV Eindhoven   1-2   Nottingham Forest Eindhoven
Jurrie Koolhof   84' (pen)   84' Peter Davenport
  90' (pen) Colin Walsh
Stadium: Philips Stadion
Attendance: 28,000
2 November 1983 2 Nottingham Forest   1-0
(3-1 agg.)
  PSV Eindhoven Nottingham
Peter Davenport   56' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 16,943

Third Round edit

23 November 1983 Eightfinals Nottingham Forest   0-0   Celtic Glasgow Nottingham
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 32,017
7 December 1983 Eightfinals Celtic Glasgow   1-2
(1-2 agg.)
  Nottingham Forest Glasgow
Murdo MacLeod   79'   53' Steve Hodge
  72' Colin Walsh
Attendance: 66,938

Quarter finals edit

7 March 1984 1st leg Nottingham Forest   1-0   Sturm Graz Nottingham
Paul Hart   70' Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 19,459
21 March 1984 2nd leg Sturm Graz   1-1 (a.e.t.)
(1-2 agg.)
  Nottingham Forest
Bozo Bakota   44' (pen)   115' (pen) Colin Walsh Attendance: 21,000

Semi finals edit

11 April 1984 1st leg Nottingham Forest   2-0   RSC Anderlecht
Steve Hodge   84',  87' Attendance: 22,681
25 April 1984 2nd leg RSC Anderlecht   3-0
(3-2 agg.)
 Nottingham Forest
Enzo Scifo   18'
Kenneth Brylle-Larsen   59' (pen)
Erwin Wandenbergh   88'
Attendance: 36,000

League Cup edit

4 October 1983 2 Wimbledon 2-0 Nottingham Forest
26 October 1983 2 Nottingham Forest 1-1 Wimbledon Nottingham
Stadium: City Ground

FA Cup edit

7 January 1984 3 Nottingham Forest 1-2 Southampton Nottingham
Stadium: City Ground

Statistics edit

Squad statistics edit

No. Pos Nat Player Total Division One FA Cup Other
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   NED Hans van Breukelen 46 0 36 0 1 0 9 0
DF   ENG Viv Anderson 53 6 40 6 1 0 12 0
DF   ENG Chris Fairclough 41 0 31 0 1 0 7+2 0
DF   ENG Paul Hart 48 2 36 0 1 1 11 1
DF   ENG Kenny Swain 54 1 41 1 1 0 12 0
MF   ENG Steve Wigley 47 1 27+8 1 1 0 11 0
MF   ENG Steve Hodge 52 14 39 10 1 0 12 4
MF   ENG Ian Bowyer 55 7 42 6 1 0 12 1
MF   SCO Colin Walsh 51 16 35+3 13 1 0 11+1 3
FW   ENG Garry Birtles 43 15 33+1 15 1 0 6+2 0
FW   ENG Peter Davenport 45 17 32+1 15 1 0 10+1 2
GK   ENG Steve Sutton 9 0 6 0 0 0 3 0
FW   SCO Ian Wallace 35 5 22+5 3 0+1 0 6+1 2
MF   NED Frans Thijssen 19 3 17 3 0 0 2 0
DF   ENG Colin Todd 19 0 13 0 0 0 6 0
MF   ENG Gary Mills 9 0 5+2 0 0 0 2 0
DF   ENG Bryn Gunn 7 0 4 0 0 0 0+3 0
DF   ENG Des Walker 4 0 3+1 0 0 0 0 0
DF   ENG Mark Smalley 1 0 0+1 0 0 0 0 0
FW   ENG David Riley 1 0 0+1 0 0 0 0 0
MF   NIR Danny Wilson 1 0 0 0 0 0 0+1 0
FW   ENG Shaun Finney 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
GK   ENG Kevin Hitchcock 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF   ENG Nigel Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FW   ENG David Longhurst 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF   ENG Les Robinson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MF   ENG Adrian Shaw 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

References edit

  1. ^ King, Elvin (8 July 2008). "Thijssen inducted into Town Hall of Fame". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 3 September 2016.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Daniel Taylor (11 December 2013). "Bribed in Brussels: How Nottingham Forest fell victim to fixing scandal". theguardian.com. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  3. ^ "UEFA had Forest-Anderlecht referee bribe evidence 'for four years'". bbc.com. 25 September 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  4. ^ Jake Brigstock (26 September 2016). "UEFA deny holding Forest v Anderlecht referee bribe evidence for four years". nottstv.com. Retrieved 20 August 2023.