The Nottingham derby is the name given to
football matches contested between
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
and
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...
.
History
The two clubs are amongst the oldest football clubs in the World. County were formed in 1862 and are the oldest professional association football club in the world. Forest were formed three years later by a group of men playing the now largely unknown sport of
bandy.
The first meeting between the two clubs was a friendly on 22 March 1866. The match was a 0–0 draw and was probably on the
Forest Recreation Ground
The Forest Recreation Ground is an open space and recreation ground in Nottingham, England, approximately one mile north of the city centre. This urban space is bounded by the neighbourhoods of Forest Fields to the north, Mapperley Park to the ...
.
The first competitive meeting in the FA Cup came on 16 November 1878 and resulted in a 3–1 victory for Nottingham Forest. The first league game occurred on 8 October 1892 and resulted in a 3–1 victory for Notts County.
The last league Nottingham derby occurred on 12 February 1994 and resulted in a 2–1 victory for Notts County.
Charlie Palmer (or 'Sir' Charlie Palmer as he has been dubbed by Notts County fans) scored with just four minutes remaining and only ninety seconds after Forest had equalised. The date, 12 February, is now known to local fans as Charlie Palmer Day.
![Trentside Derby Performance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Trentside_Derby_Performance.svg)
The rivalry was resurrected on 9 August 2011, when the clubs met in the first round of the
Football League Cup at the City Ground, with Forest winning a
penalty shootout
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
after the match had ended 3–3.
![Nottingham](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Nottingham.jpg)
The two clubs rarely meet as they are in different tiers of the league system and supporters generally view other regional clubs as more prominent rivals. However, recent years have seen incidents of trouble between supporters. In 2007, a 'friendly' match between the clubs saw violence erupt after the final whistle. And in 2017, several followers of both sides were convicted of taking part in a prearranged mass brawl in a pub in Nottingham. Another friendly match the previous summer also saw four arrests. Trouble broke out once again at a pre-season 'friendly' in July 2022, with fighting between fans and stewards in the stands spilling on to the pitch.
The game ended in a 2–2 draw.
Statistics
The two clubs have met a total of 94 times in the League, FA Cup and
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
. The two sides have contested games in a number of other competitions including the
Nottinghamshire County Senior Cup and the
Anglo-Italian Cup. The results and statistics from those games are not included below.
League
Notts County in the league at home
Nottingham Forest in the league at home
Cup matches
References
External links
Violence mars 'friendly' match between city rivalsNottingham derby head-to-headBritish Pathé footage from a Nottingham derby, 1953
{{United Kingdom Football Derbies
England football derbies
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Notts County F.C.
Sport in Nottingham