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Ep 41 - Wildcard Wednesday - the recent history of the Forest v Arsenal rivalry!
4 Plays1 month ago
Marley and Stuart reminisce over some cup ties that Forest had against Arsenal during the days in the Championship.
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Transcript
Introduction: Forest vs Arsenal Rivalry
00:00:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hello and welcome back to Daily Forest from the Global Sports Podcast Network. I'm Stuart, and joining me to talk about Forest the Arsenal for Wild Card Wednesday, and more specifically, the quite frequent, the frequency we actually played them in Cup Games back in our championship days is Marley. Marley, how are you doing today?
00:00:30
Marley
I'm doing very well, thank you. Loving this new jumper that I picked up for my birthday from the Forest Club shop. It is a ah from the Midnight Navy range, not sponsored, but we seem to be the best merchandise when it comes to jumpers and t-shirts in our essentials ranges.
00:00:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, to definitely. I've purchased many non replica shirts over the years and certainly lots of clothing and other items and accessories for everyone at the, at the Forest Club shop. So Forest, if you are listening, me and Marley were giving you a good shout outs. We'll appreciate any discounts you have on offer.
Premier League Return: Forest vs Arsenal
00:01:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
um So Marley, Forest returned to action this coming Saturday after to the international break. It's fourth versus fifth in the Premier League.
00:01:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
But compared to a lot of the other big teams, there's actually quite a lot of recent history between Forest and Arsenal. So in the years before our promotion, certainly compared to actually we played Chelsea, I think three times in Cup games, but certainly compared to Man United and Man City, who we never seem to play as a bit of a rivalry.
00:01:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
brewing between us and Arsenal. So we're going to chat about four cup ties we had with Arsenal between 2016 and 2022.
Historic Matches: 2016 to 2022
00:01:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
First of all, Marley, were you, and we'll talk about them one by one, but just as an overall, were you at any of these four matches?
00:01:52
Marley
no no i wasn't in fact i was only living in england for one of the four matches
00:01:58
Global Sports Podcast Network
So that's no excuse.
00:01:59
Marley
know
00:02:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
I was only living in England for two of them. Yeah, I was at three of them, which we'll wish we'll come to. Um, but we will start at the start. Um, so on 20th of September, uh, 2016, uh, Forestly Arsenal in the EFL Cup. Uh, do you know, or can you remember, Marley, what the score was in this game?
00:02:22
Marley
uh where we we were away right four two weren't well pretty sure i was in the fa cup no it was four nil wasn't it arsenal but it was four nil sorry i thought that one was at the emirates uh i was about what ten years old living in scotland at the time
00:02:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's at the city ground, September 2016 at the city ground.
00:02:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yes. No, no.
00:02:43
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, so they're very. ah Fair enough, so yeah, it was you certainly didn't. Didn't didn't miss a lot, that's for sure. um So what happened in in in the game or what the game was sort of well known for was Nicholas Bentner. It was called in all the media, the Bentner Derby because rereading that match report now. He actually joined Forrest as a free agent. So after the transfer window had closed, as he'd only joined Forrest just less than two weeks before this game. So the draw had already been made. um So this, we we already knew that we were playing Arsenal when we signed Nicholas Bentner. So before we go into um the match specifically, do you have any memories or any heard about any of the notorious stories about Nicholas Bentner? Or is he slightly booked before your time?
00:03:32
Marley
uh i have one memory of the only memory i believe i have of him is of him getting injured
00:03:39
Global Sports Podcast Network
kind ninji okay um So then before his his forest days, he was building him up himself a reputation as being, we call himself Lord Bentner. That was his self-proclaimed nickname. um I think he was even gifted a tiny patch of land in in Scotland. So he is actually Lord Bentner. And he's basically, he was like a Danish, La Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but without the talent. He went from Arsenal to Juventus to Wolfsburg.
00:04:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
moved around a bit, never really settled. And that's why, when far he came to Forest this September 2016, it seemed like a a good deal. But unfortunately, I think he scored just twice in 17 games and didn't even finish the season. So ahead of this this game in September 2016, he was the headline act, but the person who actually scored all the goals and the 4-0 win was Lucas Perez from Arsenal, who scored Hat-Trick, the other one was from Granite.
00:04:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
I'll stay chained in, sorry. I was the other one. So, considering this was a bit before your time, Marley, it sounds like, do you...
00:04:47
Marley
yeah
00:04:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
I'll read out some of the names from the forest team, and I'll be interested to hear how many of them you remember. Nicholas Demutro.
00:05:00
Marley
i I will keep counted the ones that I do know of.
00:05:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
Okay, so I'll read out the... the 14, so the 11 players in the three subs. Let's see how many you remember. So, Vladimir Strojkovic, Eric Lihai, Michael Mancien, Matt Mills, Hildeberto Pereira, Nicholas Dimitriou, Henry Lansbury, Chris Cohen, Haitim Kasami, Ben Osborne, Nicholas Bentner, and the subs who came on were Lika, Massafakariel, and Apostolos Velios. So what was your internal count of those 14 players?
00:05:37
Marley
twelve
00:05:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
12. Okay, so not not so bad. So it wasn't quite the most obscure forest lineup of all time then.
00:05:44
Marley
A few of my favourite players from going growing up were in that list, namely Henry Lansbury, Eric Lehigh and The Snake.
00:05:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, so that's the thing is this it wasn't a terrible team. I think we went there with some expectation. Interestingly, it's saying here the attendance was 28,567. So it wasn't full. I remember going with my brother and a friend, so it's none of this sharing membership numbers, sharing sharing client references like we we get now. I think it's easy to come by. It just shows how ah disappointing almost the The match was, it was the first time we'd had a big team at the city ground in a cup tie since Spurs in the FA Cup in 2005. And that's if you even count Spurs in 2005 as a big team. The fact is, we just didn't didn't turn up. ah From memory, at 0-0, Benton had Forrest's best chance of the game, dragging it a shot narrowly wide. And apart from that, it was the Arsenal show. And yeah, it just made things look just too easy. I think what was
00:06:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
disappointing that day as well. No, in the next round of the Cup, I think Sheffield Wednesday knocked out Arsenal. Arsenal weren't even taking this tournament seriously, but we somehow lost 4-0 at home to them and never even even challenged.
00:07:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
um So you said you remember
00:07:04
Marley
Yeah, but
Marley's Forest Fandom Journey
00:07:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
this time a bit, Marley.
00:07:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
You remember most of the players. Was a sort of this sort of like your early years at Forest? Why did my dad make me sport this this team type era?
00:07:08
Marley
Yeah No, I've always always been thankful thankful to my dad for being a forest fan and um It's not like I only started supporting them partway through my life I've been a forest fans properly supporting the club as long as I can actually remember but obviously from up until
00:07:32
Marley
I was like 13, 14 years old. My memory just isn't very good in general. like There's not many things I remember. so out And because my mum and stepdad were kind of not into football a lot i and didn't let me have much technology at all, I find found it next to impossible to keep up with football and follow it when I lived with them in Scotland and in Cyprus. So the only real watching forest i got was when i went to visit my dad in the school holidays uh that was the only chance they ever got to go and watch the club um but i do i do still remember all the players i just don't remember any things they did
00:08:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
Fair enough. So you are.
00:08:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
I know so. Yes, I think it's certainly better. it's It's that way round that it was when you were living living away and less involved with with the club and but everything that's happening online. And then as you are now, you you didn't miss much, as I said, from from my point of view, this was disappointing purely because it was the first first big team. We've hosted it in a long time.
00:08:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
The opportunity was there. Arsenal weren't taking it seriously. In fact, I think this is one of M.E.M.T. and S's very first games for Arsenal when he was their third choice keeper. A few other the ne interesting names in their team. ah Granite Jekka, who was a new signing then. Juba Akpom, I think, went on to be on loan, had previously been on loan with us the season before. And of course, we were linked to re-signing him in January of this year.
00:08:58
Global Sports Podcast Network
and a few other random names like Ainslie Maitland-Niles, Rob Holding, Kieran De Gibbs, Mohammed El Nene. So Nick, definitely not the ah first choice Arsenal team, no Erzol, no Alexis Sanchez, who are their star players at the time. The next game then um in this little trip down memory lane is Forest 4, Arsenal 2, Epic Cup January 2018. So what do you remember most about this game? are they
00:09:28
Marley
I remember um either asking my stepdad or my dad what the Forest School was because I knew we were playing, I knew who we were playing, I just had no way of watching it or keeping up with it. I remember asking, oh, what was the Forest School? What was the Forest School? And they told me we'd won 4-2. And I remember just screaming yes, yes, yes around the house because we'd just beaten Arsenal who were an absolutely humongous club, especially compared to was ah Obviously Eric Lehigh scored an absolute worldy.
00:09:58
Marley
It was pretty much the Eric Lehigh show if i were I'm correct um Looking back it wasn't even the weakest Arsenal team.
00:10:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, definite definitely.
00:10:08
Marley
They had some strong strong players in it
00:10:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, certainly compared to or the previous year, because I also went into this, and they weren't No, they hadn't won the previous FA Cup, but they did one, I think three of the past four FA Cups, and this ended up being Arsene Wenger's last ever FA Cup as a manager, FA Cup match as a manager, and Per Mertesakis last ever match as a footballer, full stop, because he was given so much of the run around by Ben Brereton, who we spoke a lot about in our in our previous episode. um So I'll read out the forest team again, because the eras of three subs, not five. So I'll read out the 14 players we used. And again, Marley, let's see how many of them you can remember. So Jordan Smith, Eric Lehigh, Armand Traore, Joe Worrell, Michael Mansian, Ben Osborne, Matty Cash, Kieran Dow, Zach Cluff,
00:11:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
David Vaughan, Ben Barreton, and the suburbs were Matt Mills, Tyler Walker, and Barry McKied. Are we up to 14 there, Molly?
00:11:14
Marley
Yeah, 14. 14 definitely, yeah. David Vaughan, I remember I really used to like him. I thought he was our most underrated player at the time.
00:11:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, I think looking at this list, I'm only surprised to see David Vaughan there. purely because I associated him with Billy Davis' second spell in charge, which was the 13-14 season. I'd forgotten he was still at the club fo four years later. It was one of the the interesting names that there are ah Matty Cash was in in midfield. as This was before he was converted to an exciting attacking right back two years later by Sabri Lemucci.
00:11:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
Joe Worrell was in the heart of the defense. Gary Brazil was the manager here, so there's in between Mark Warburton and Eitor Carranco. Of course, Carranco didn't rate Worrell much, so he loaned him out to Rangers for the following season. There's 14 we've mentioned then, so there's Jordan Smith, Joe Worrell, Osborne, Maddie Cash,
00:12:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
Tyler Walker and Brereton, so five starters and one serve from the Nigel Doughty Academy, which again is a special thing. I think it'll be a very long time before we have six Academy products in our team for a game against Arsenal. I think it's just because we need our Academy to catch up with where we are now. because Before we had to sell players like Cash and Brereton Diaz for ah the championships FFP rules. So our those who are left in our Academy aren't yet Premier League quality.
00:12:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
I think it will take a bit of time for our academy to catch up and be providing those players who can beat Arsenal again.
00:12:48
Marley
yeah yeah but this the ah the academy could be a whole different episode of wildcard wednesday but there are two or three players in the academy currently who i think in the years to come not even far in the future could easily be first choice players or at least bench players for the club
00:12:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
Definitely.
00:13:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah Do you want to name them so we can come back to this episode in in years to come or when we do our Academy Wildcard Wednesday? who who who'd you Who's caught your eye?
00:13:19
Marley
uh two that are currently in their 20s well i think i don't know i think they're all teenagers still around my age there's the obvious one zach abbot centre back there's the thinky the winger uh jamie uh something gardener i think it's james gardener not sure and the third one is an attacker who i watched playing the under 17s cup final uh we got battered by topnan Um, that was because we ended up with eight men on the pitch.
00:13:53
Marley
Well, seven, nine or eight men on the pitch. We just lost our heads. Uh, but Danny and this guy looked very good in that game.
00:13:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yes.
00:14:02
Marley
I also think Delta for stop Delta for supper also, but I don't know if to count him because he's currently out on loan at Robert.
00:14:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yes, I think... of
00:14:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
No, he still counts. I mean, as we said, with both Worrell and Matti Cash, they've both got their starts in life. They both went on loan to Dagenham and Redbridge together, I seem seem to think. So then came back to be part of the team and Esapa Osong is at Robberham this season, I think.
00:14:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
So hopefully he could be yeah a squad option going forward.
00:14:25
Marley
Yeah.
00:14:27
Global Sports Podcast Network
So you're right. I mean, the names are are good. I always think that if we hadn't gone up that year into Cooper and he'd stayed in the Championship 22-23, Players like Tyrese Fauna and Riley Harbottle might have become first team regulars that season. But because we grew so fast, those players went went by the wayside. Alex Myton, of course, being another and another name. um I'm going to go, Molly.
00:14:52
Marley
ah Yeah, Alex Myton was my favourite player for three years straight. I
Career Paths: Alex Myton vs Brennan Johnson
00:14:56
Marley
loved him. I always rated him. I just thought, I think it was a shame that Chris Houghton didn't. And I think that's one of the things that was a sin. Chris Houghton committed a crime he committed and he'll never be forgiven for as he kind of ruined Myton's career. Thinking the latter days under Lemouchy, Myton was growing. He was looking very, very good. Looking like he was going to be everything Brennan turned out to be. Then Houghton came and he just didn't seem to like youth at all. He signed Luke Freeman and Albert Adoma.
00:15:22
Marley
actually you know Albert was there before but he used him more especially the annoyance with Luke Freeman is that he was massively lazy didn't seem to do much on that wing. Myton would have done so much more he's such a flare player so quick he just needed end product and a bit more experience unfortunately because of Hooten not liking youth and then we moved on so quickly after Hooten left We never really managed to get enough to game time into him to get that experience he needed.
00:15:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, that's a really interesting thing about um Alex Martin. I'm actually going to come up to him, come on to him again very shortly. But he was rated so highly internally, not by Houston, but by the club. but In that Sabri running, as we tried to make the playoffs, Myton was always the option used ahead of Brennan Johnson, ahead of Tyler Walker. And because of that, in that summer 2020, Brennan Johnson and Tyler Walker were loaned out to Lincoln. And Myton, ahead of them in the pecking order, stayed in the team. And then in the year in the team, like he's saying to Hughton, he didn't progress at all. So when Brennan Johnson came back from his loan at Lincoln, he was ready go to go to the next level.
00:16:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
because Mike didn't have that confidence of having had a first ah team season under his belt. He'd had how many hip-hop appearances under Hughton that he just yet fell out and now he's had bad loans at Port Vale and Bristol Rovers. He's now at San Diego. So hopefully for him, he he is a USA-born. He wasn't England Youth International, but he is USA-born. So hopefully for him, I moved to the MLS.
00:16:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
would be the best thing for his career. So anything more, Marley from the 4-2 of Arsenal, apart from the fact that it was, again, it was a a rare spotlight in that season, in our first episode or our second episode ever of this show.
00:17:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
I talked about my memories of Forest beating Arsenal 1-0 in the Premier League in May 2023. But before the Steve Cooper years, this game in January 2018 was probably my favourite game because we were...
00:17:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
I haven't seen how bad we were against Arsenal the previous season. We actually beat them this time with all these academy players and in the team and of course a popular player like Eric Lehigh and right back even scoring twice.
00:17:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
So that's why it was previously one of my early, early favourites, Forest matches.
00:17:38
Marley
Yeah, I guess it's just time to brush over the next one very quickly, get it out the way over and done with so we can move on to the one after that.
00:17:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
Definitely. It's the only interesting thing then to say about the final defeat of the Emirates. September 24th, September 2019. This is the one where I flew flew in from um Germany. I was in England for 30 hours, flew in and out of London to see this game. And the only interesting thing is possibly that it was Brendan Johnson's first start alexlec and Alex Myton's debut.
00:18:14
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's probably the only two interesting things you could possibly say about that game where we were thrashed 5-0 by Arsenal. Martinelli was among the scorers. Erzil, one of his last Arsenal appearances. This is still in the dying days of Unai Emery at Arsenal. He was also playing for Arsenal. Rhys Nelson, Emil Sith-Roe, Bakayo Saka, as they were their kids in at the time, but so did we. We made 10 changes from the previous team because Sabri just did not take seriously. um So I think you'll probably will be on on 14, 14 plays you've heard of, although there's maybe one or two very random names in this forest team. So I mean, goal, Orion at Muric, defense of back four of Matty Cash, Tobias Figueiredo, Kemma Rodriguez and Jack Robinson, ah midfield um of, I think this is a 4-6-0 formation.
00:19:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
So the maho field, Mattie Cash, Yauka Valio, Yuri Rivera, Brennan Johnson, Joel Ollie, Tiago Silva, and Albert Adoma. And the servers were Sammy Amiobi, Alex Myton, and another debutant as well as Alex Myton, Jordan Lawrence Gabriel. So any particular thoughts about that set of players, Marley, before we move on?
00:19:29
Marley
ah Just a few nate f throwback names in there, which didn't really seem to go as well as I thought they would at the time. I thought Rodriguez, Cemba Rodriguez would do better than he did.
00:19:42
Marley
Jordan Gabriel was an interesting one. I always thought he would be a great right back for us, ah ah eventually a great replacement for Matty Cash in that beginning of promotion season, I think. And then we loaned him out to Blackpool.
00:19:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, he he started the season for him. And then he yeah loaned to Blackpool, so then Finn Back played a game. And then we got that Jordan Osei, 2-2. And, um, Jez Vence, of course, who's yet another right back.
00:20:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
I remember thinking Jez Vence was already the fifth right back we used in that 21-22 season, but of course by far the best.
00:20:10
Marley
Aussie 2-2.
00:20:17
Marley
Aussie 2-2 was an interesting one. Finback is still a player that I rate mainly because I am a big rugby fan and Finback's dad is a rugby legend.
00:20:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
and Okay.
00:20:27
Marley
But and yeah, Gable I thought would be so much more.
00:20:33
Marley
And that Aussie 2-2 could have been so much more if he didn't pick up the injury.
00:20:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, I mean, I think his head injury was the turning point that it led led to the place for the Jed Spence to make the position his own. But no, I'd say 2-2 had otherwise been been brought in from Arsenal to start the promotion season at right back. In fact, in this 5-0,
00:20:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
um no, in the previous one, sorry, in that 4-2, January 2018, he was already on the bench for Arsenal by then. So he didn't play, but he was early January 2018 on the bench for Arsenal, which just showed that he was someone they did have I hope Swoye was getting that first team experience as early as January 2018.
00:21:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
Finally, Marley, I think it's the one we're all excited to talk about from the promotion season. um The 1-0 victory over Arsenal. So Marley, talk to me about your memories of this game.
00:21:26
Marley
yeah uh so this game i was sat at home watching on the telly obviously um obviously my dad worked weekends he um we didn't get to many games that season we got to as many as we could um my dad didn't trust me going on my own yet so i could only go when he could go and he couldn't get two tickets together unfortunately don't still don't know why i didn't trust me to sit on my own but very well uh but yeah i remember it's possibly at home the most I'd ever celebrated a goal when Graben poked it in. I was petrified handball was going to be given, relieved it wasn't. And I guess that whole game was kind of a bit ebb and flow in emotion. It was like, oh, oh, oh, no, no, come on, come on, come on. Oh, no, come on, come on, come on. Because Arsenal came so close so many times, but we also caught them out a lot. And an interesting one to remember is a player that got subbed off in the 33rd minute for Arsenal through an absolute tantrum.
00:22:24
Marley
and he got subbed off because of how badly he played. Foreigners might recognise the name Nuno Tavares.
00:22:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah the same Nuno Tavares, who is now in the Portugal squad. um He's got his fleeetst at ah flying start to this season. I think he's still owned by Arsenal, because I'm known at Lezio this season. I think he's got eight assists already, so he's in the Portugal team. The things have gone okay for him so far, Nuno Tavares, but no, you're right, that's what we remember it for. I think that's what he had their reputation his entire time at um Forrest, actually, was that everyone just remembered Jez Spence and Brennan tearing him to pieces. So that the thoughts were, why could we possibly have signed sign this guy who we in the championship completely destroyed?
00:23:10
Marley
Yeah, i I guess he was alright. He had a good cross on him, he could defend, and he was good at bursting up the wing. Just a shame that every time he burst up the wing, he decided to put the ball over the roof of the Trent end.
00:23:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, I mean, I think maybe something more could have happened with him to just as he was getting after Cooper didn't rate him at all. And then just as he was playing a few matches under under his namesake, Nuno Espirito Santo, he got injured and then we never, never saw him again for the remainder of the season. And of course, Aina came back from Afghan to Aina, regained his spot at left back towards the end of last season. OK, let's go for um the the team. So I know, of course, you'll be able to remember every single player. So let's go through it and we can reminisce about how much we we love all the players who played play that day for Forrest. So in goal, Bree Samba, hero, icon. Back three of Scott McKenna, Joe Rorle, Steve Cook. Wing backs, Jed Spence, and can you remember who the left wing back was?
00:24:17
Marley
Uh, it was.
00:24:21
Marley
Um, it would have been called back with it because max low would have recently been injured away at ready.
00:24:28
Global Sports Podcast Network
Correct. Jack Corbatic left wing bat, which meant the defensive midfield to Joe Garner and Ryan Yates, and Philip Zinkinagel playing behind Brennan Johnson and the debutant, Keenan Davis, with Lewis Graben coming on for Keenan Davis at minute 67, who then of course got the winner. And then the only other substitute we made was Kathu, who came on for Philip Zinkinagel.
00:24:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
um so yeah Everyone, including Kathu there, you have to call a Horace legend.
00:24:53
Marley
Yeah.
00:24:57
Marley
Yeah, I had to think hard for the left wing back because I know Max Lowe got injured away at Reading. Then he came back from injury and then he got injured at home to Reading. So Reading obviously had something against him.
00:25:08
Marley
I don't know. But I was trying to think was that like just before, I can't remember when that second Reading game was. I can't remember had he just come back from injury or was he still injured at the time. But there is one thing I would like to point out about Forest versus Arsenal.
00:25:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah
00:25:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
go ahead
00:25:25
Marley
obviously Obviously, it's always going to be a very interesting fixture. It always seems to be an interesting fixture. Even if it's low scoring, it's still interesting because it's massive for us. It's an upset. But there's one thing about the game, which I don't believe our many Arsenal fans actually know.
00:25:42
Marley
But I know most Forest fans do because we take massive pride in it. It's the origins of Football Club of Arsenal and their colours.
00:25:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. No, I had
00:25:48
Marley
in
Arsenal's Origins: Nottingham Influence
00:25:49
Marley
that a former forest player had moved down to Woolwich to work in the gun factory formed a football club there called the Woolwich Gunners eventually to be named Arsenal and when they played their first game it was a friendly against Nottingham Forest. Arsenal did not actually have a kit at the time so we wore our away kit and gave them their our home kit and they just kept the colour.
00:26:11
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, it's a ah weird thing about the city of Nottingham and donating football kits, so Forrest directly inspired Arsenal. Knott's County directly its inspired Juventus and AC Milan, red and blue stripes, red and black stripes is a combination of Forest and Knott's County. So there's something in Nottingham, it's the tradition and and the history we have in the city, which means that we're inspiring football clubs, important football clubs to follow what we did first. So between those clubs, Forest, Juventus, AC Milan, Arsenal's County, many, many European Cups between us, although not all all clubs are contributing to
00:26:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's that total number. um So any other thoughts, Marley, on the forest these the set of Forest of the Arsenal Cup games from before we're in the Premier League? I know we've we've spoken about the Premier League era games. Previously, Wirecard Wednesday, when we talked about our memories. And we will, of course, do a preview episode in the next couple of days. But any any final takes on this set of Cup games?
00:27:08
Marley
I feel like it was always weird when we played Arsenal my thoughts on it because when we'd originally drawn against Arsenal like especially later on I thought oh god Arsenal again it's boring at this point we always draw them we're gonna get battered but then when we play when we're playing them and when we finally beat them it it changes to a bit of oh my god we got to play Arsenal a massive club we've beaten a massive club let's party let's celebrate so yeah
00:27:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, I think that's they're definitely true. I mean, the losses we can say, ah it was only Arsenal, it was only the Cup game, but the wins are just about enough in them to be celebrating and certainly that 4-2 was absolutely the highlight of that season.
00:27:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
And luckily, the 1-0 was not the highlight of that season because the highs and highs just kept on coming in that spring of 2022.
00:27:53
Marley
I feel like somehow the 1-0 has kind of been a bit forgotten, if you know what I mean, because the next round, we managed to beat Leicester, the current holders of that tournament, and let's face it, rivals of ours 4-1, which was literally no one would ever have predicted that. I thought we were going to get battered 4-5-0. Then after that, we got a game against Liverpool. We went on a mad run of wins. We got promoted.
00:28:22
Marley
And then we've beaten Arsenal since then as well at the city ground to stay in the Premier League. So that one nil, but being only one nil, we've probably had a more exciting result in that exact tournament and a more exciting game in that tournament. A more exciting thing happened that season and we've beaten them since in a more exciting manner. And it wasn't the highest scoring to that point. I honestly think it's kind of been forgotten, even though it's still exciting to think about, a massive achievement.
00:28:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, definitely. um For all those reasons you mentioned, as you say, it's not our most impressive win against Arsenal in the last three years, and it wasn't our most impressive FA Cup win in that FA Cup run that season.
00:29:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
um But no, it just goes to show that but but back in the day, we had to take all the small comforts we could get, but now we've got so many to choose from. And let's hope as well for another FA Cup run this season.
00:29:19
Marley
Fingers crossed.
00:29:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
Cool. Definitely.
00:29:21
Marley
I would tip
Future Hopes: Forest's FA Cup Ambitions
00:29:22
Marley
us to win it. I would tip us to go all the way and win it, if I'm honest.
00:29:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
Let's hope this whole Zencast clips up this. Claire Fincet has Marley Tips Forest for FA Cup glory in May. Let's certainly hope so.
00:29:33
Marley
Oh, no.
00:29:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
I mean, we're a mid table stroke top half Premier League team. We should be, we know European commitments and yeah, we really should be should be going for the FA Cup, but I look forward to doing.
00:29:39
Marley
Yeah.
00:29:44
Marley
Yeah. The issue with that is, if it comes true and we do win the FA Cup, that qualifies for us the Europa League, doesn't it? And if we qualify for Europe, if you remember the first episode, I think it was that we ever recorded, these Nottingham Forest underpants I have in my hand, which I'm not going to show on camera at the minute, will be on my head for a full episode.
00:29:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:30:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
That's cool. That's something we're definitely definitely looking forward to. um but Finally, on on that point, would you rather Forest qualify for Europe by finishing fifth in the Premier League or by finishing 12th in the Premier League but winning the FA Cup?
00:30:21
Marley
I fake up all day. Honestly, I'd love us to finish fifth in the Premier League, but finishing fifth in the Premier League, we get obviously the party for qualifying for Europe. But if we win the FA Cup, we also get some we get some the party for qualifying Europe. We also get the shiny silverware. We get the day out at Wembley. We get a massive party in the sun after the win. And it's just the whole experience of ah an FA Cup final. It would be such a magical monumentous achievement. So I'd probably rather us win the FA Cup to qualify for the Europa League.
00:30:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
I completely agree. So on that note of mark Marley partying in the Wembley sunshine with his underpants on his head, we will leave you there. Thanks for listening.