Scottish influence on Nottingham Forest’s two previous FA Cup triumphs ran deep. There was a powerful Caledonian spine to both teams who claimed an elevated place in the club’s history by lifting the trophy.
John McPherson, who scored the goal which sealed a 3-1 triumph over Derby County in the 1898 final, was one of four Scots in their line-up at Crystal Palace that day.
When Forest defeated Luton Town 2-1 in the 1959 showpiece, five Scottish players — including revered centre-half Bob McKinlay and winger Stewart Imlach — were in their side at Wembley.
There will be no Scots on the pitch for Forest at English football’s spiritual home this afternoon when they continue their current tilt at FA Cup glory with an intriguing semi-final against Manchester City.
Many of those players who are carrying their hopes, however, have been brought together under the administration of a 41-year-old from Falkirk who has helped engineer a remarkable and potentially historic season for the club. Not many Rangers fans lamented the departure of Ross Wilson when he quit his sporting director role at Ibrox two years ago to become chief football officer at Nottingham Forest.
Despite Wilson’s involvement in assembling the squad which won the Scottish Premiership in 2021 under Steven Gerrard, and then reached the Europa League final on Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s watch the following season, his approval rating among the Ibrox fans had tanked by the time he departed for the City Ground.
Nuno has taken Forest to the brink of Champions League qualification and an FA Cup semi-final
Ross Wilson was held accountable for Rangers’ failure to build on their title success but now he’s finding success at Forest
Along with managing director Stewart Robertson, Wilson found himself regarded as culpable for Rangers’ failure to build on Gerrard’s title success as Celtic reimposed their dominance of Scottish football.
Less than a year into Wilson’s tenure at Forest, there was every chance he might find himself in the firing line again as Steve Cooper was sacked with the club embroiled in a relegation dogfight.
But their revival since then under Nuno Espirito Santo has been remarkable. Not only did the Portuguese coach save them from the drop last season despite a four-point penalty for the club breaching profit and sustainability rules, he now has them in contention for a top-five Premier League finish and a place in next season’s Champions League.
Player recruitment since then has been shrewd and hugely successful in every department of the first-team squad, while keeping within the financial parameters set by the English authorities.
Matz Sels was a snip at £7million and the Belgian international has arguably been goalkeeper of the season in the Premier League behind a strong central defensive partnership of Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo, who cost around £12m each.
Further up the pitch, Callum Hudson-Odoi (£3m) and Anthony Elanga (£13.5m) have also been influential performers, providing Wilson with a share of reflected glory as part of the senior management team.
‘Ross has come in and done his part,’ observes John McGovern, Forest’s legendary double European Cup-winning captain and now club ambassador.
‘I don’t know how you can measure his contribution in terms of percentages or whatever, but he can be pleased with his part in bringing in some of the players who are bringing us success this season. There are a lot more people involved in recruitment now, because the squads are bigger and drawn together from all over the world. Everyone has to do their job at a club to bring success and it has been a combined effort.
Club legend McGovern has been impressed particularly by Forest’s recruitment
‘Nuno has people around him, including Ross, who play a part in who he eventually signs. I don’t know the inside details of exactly how it works, but the players have all bonded really well under Nuno.
‘They agree with his philosophy, their commitment on the pitch is total and that is showing in the results. Before the season started, I don’t think anyone would have given us any hope at all of being in the position we are now.
‘It’s been a magnificent effort from Nuno and the players. You can see they all believe in him.
‘I watch them training most days and I can tell the players are what I would call “at it”, which is great to see.
‘They are all enjoying their football. For me, that’s the be all and end all of why you become a professional player in the first place. You have to love the game and that will never change. We now have a team who look as if they enjoy what they do and that’s bringing results.’
Wilson has extended Scottish involvement behind the scenes at Forest, bringing Craig Mulholland from Rangers’ academy to become head of football development and appointing Owen Coyle junior, who worked under his dad at Queen’s Park, as a youth coach.
If Steve Clarke had his way, Elliot Anderson would currently be performing for Forest on the field of play as a Scotland international. The former Newcastle midfielder, who represented the country of his Glaswegian grandmother up to Under-21 level, has since opted to commit himself to England after pulling out of Clarke’s senior squad in 2023.
How Montrose-born McGovern, now 75, would have loved just one call-up from Scotland during his outstanding playing career as the go-to lieutenant for peerless manager Brian Clough.
Along with compatriots John Robertson, Kenny Burns, Archie Gemmill, John O’Hare and Frank Gray, he was a key part of Forest’s golden age under Clough and now relishes his current role at the club.
‘I’m still living the dream, as I did as a player,’ says McGovern, who was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2017. ‘I was one of the lucky ones who had a long career under Mr Clough. He was asked once at a press conference why he kept signing me and he said: “Because he’s cheap” — and I have the contracts to prove he was right!
Anthony Elanga has been one of the stars of the season at the City Ground
‘I’ve got them all in a file from when I was at Hartlepool in 1966 and my wages were £17 a week, to winning European Cups with Forest on £250 a week.
‘So an average Premier League player — and I mean an average player, not a top one — now earns more in a week than I earned in about 13 years.
‘But I loved every minute of it. I went from being a starry-eyed schoolboy to playing against my idols like Denis Law and Jimmy Greaves. It was wonderful.’
The FA Cup was the only major domestic trophy to elude Clough. The closest he came was in 1991, Forest’s last appearance in the final, when they lost 2-1 to Tottenham in extra-time.
McGovern insists any disappointment Clough felt at that omission from his CV was more than compensated for by Forest’s other achievements during his tenure.
Jota and Milenkovic were both brought in for modest fees and have shone
‘We reached three consecutive League Cup finals and two consecutive European Cup finals in an era when we played 42 league games a season with a far smaller squad than clubs carry now,’ he reflects. We weren’t in a position to rest players and, who knows, maybe a successful FA Cup run might have cost us in one of the other competitions we did win during that period.
‘We were always told by Brian Clough that the league was the most important thing, because there was no luck involved in it. We deserved to win it.
‘To win cups, you often need a rub of the green. One bad refereeing decision or an unlucky deflection can be the difference.’
That said, McGovern will take his seat at Wembley tomorrow in little doubt as to what now tops the wish list of a re-energised Forest fan base.
‘If the fans were asked if they’d rather qualify for the Champions League through finishing fifth in the league or win a trophy at Wembley, I’m sure they would go for
winning a trophy,’ he says. ‘Those are the things you remember.’
