2008–09 Nottingham Forest F.C. season
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The 2008–09 season was
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 ...
's first season back in the Football League Championship, following promotion from
League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
in the 2007–08 season, after spending three years in the third tier. Forest finished in 19th place, seven points above the relegation zone, having been involved in the relegation scrap all season, with Billy Davies changing fortunes around to secure Championship status for the 2009–10 season.


Team kit

, , ,


Technical staff


Pre-season and friendlies


Summary

Forest had a busy pre-season, making six promising signings, with seven players leaving as they prepared for the 2008–09 season. The players to come in were Welsh international striker Robert Earnshaw on a three-year deal for £2.65 million,
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
midfielder Paul Anderson on a one-year loan, ex- Manchester United striker Andrew Cole on a 12-month contract, French midfielder Guy Moussi from
Angers SCO Angers Sporting Club de l'Ouest, commonly referred to as Angers SCO or simply Angers (), is a French professional football club based in Angers in Pays de la Loire in western France. The club was founded in 1919 and plays in Ligue 1, the first ...
, striker Mickael Darnet from
AS Cannes Association Sportive de Cannes Football (; commonly referred to as AS Cannes or simply Cannes) is a French association football club based in Cannes. The club was formed 1902 as a sports club and currently plays in the Championnat National 3, t ...
and
Joe Garner Joseph Alan Garner (born 12 April 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Fleetwood Town of EFL League One. Garner started his career with Blackburn Rovers before joining Carlisle United. Garner had a three- ...
from Carlisle United for £1.14 million. Those departing Forest were striker
Grant Holt Grant Holt (born 12 April 1981) is an English former professional footballer who is currently a scout at West Ham United. During his football career, Holt played for a number of non-league and professional clubs, making nearly 100 league appeara ...
to
Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...
,
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
international midfielder
Sammy Clingan Samuel Gary Clingan (born 13 January 1984) is a Northern Irish former international footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Club career Early career Clingan began his career in August 2001 as a youth trainee at Wolverhampton Wanderers ...
to
Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
,
Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
international striker Junior Agogo to Egyptian side
Zamalek Sporting Club Zamalek Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الزمالك للألعاب الرياضية), commonly referred to as Zamalek, is an Egyptian sports club based in Giza. It is one of the most successful football clubs in Africa and the Middle East, and ...
, left-back Matt Lockwood to
Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...
and midfielder
Kris Commons Kristian Arran Commons (born 30 August 1983) is an English-born Scottish professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Commons started his career at Stoke City and made his debut in 2000. After four years with the club, he rej ...
to
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...
. Forest had a reasonably successful pre-season, winning four, drawing one and losing two in their seven pre-season fixtures. Their warm-ups included two games against
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
opposition in Everton and Sunderland. Forest were then asked to partake in a friendly against a second-string
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
side on 9 October during the international break, which Forest lost 2–0.


Results


Coca-Cola Championship


Summary

Forest kicked off the 2008–09 season with a goalless home draw against
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
before suffering their first league defeat in the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
in a 3–1 loss at Swansea City. With four strikers injured, Forest secured the loan signing of Manchester United forward Lee Martin. Martin started the scoring in the 3–2 success over
Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
with a 25-yard curler; the victory was Forest's first of the Championship campaign. Robert Earnshaw netted his first league goal for the club in the victory, with
Nathan Tyson Nathan Tyson (born 4 May 1982) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Grantham Town. He represented the England under-20 team in February 2003. A pacey, left-footed forward, he began his career at Reading, where he ...
, returning from injury, taking just four minutes after stepping off the bench to net the winner to put Forest 14th in the league table. Forest finished the month with a 5–1 defeat to
Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
, who went top of the Championship following the result. This marked Tyson's first start of the season after a hamstring injury. Forest picked up one point in five games during September in a 0–0 home draw against Charlton sandwiched by 2–1 loses to both
Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
and Preston, and losses at Plymouth and
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
. Forest then lost their first two games in October with a 2–0 home loss to
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
and a 2–1 defeat at
QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football, football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home ...
. They won a home point against
Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
but lost again four days later to Cardiff City, with both goals conceded both penalties. This run of poor form saw Forest prop up the Championship. With two away games coming up, it was being touted that manager
Colin Calderwood Colin Calderwood (born 20 January 1965) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is the assistant manager at Northampton Town. As a player, he was a centre-back who notably played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hots ...
faced the sack if they could not record a victory, but they did with a 2–1 away victory at
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
, with goals coming from midfielders
Chris Cohen Christopher David Cohen (born 5 March 1987) is an English former professional footballer and is currently assistant manager at Southampton. Primarily a midfielder, he was able to operate equally in the centre or on the left, but was also emplo ...
and Matt Thornhill. This was Forest's first win in ten games and in more than two months, and saw Forest them off the foot of the league. November started with the East Midlands derby against
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...
at
Pride Park Stadium Pride Park Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Derby, England, that is the home ground of English Football League club Derby County. With a capacity of 33,597, it is the 16th-largest football ground in England and the 20th-largest stad ...
, the first time the two teams had met in a competitive fixture in over three years. The match proved to be controversial, with
Emanuel Villa Emanuel Alejandro Villa (born 24 February 1982) is an Argentine former professional footballer. He is a Mexican naturalized citizen. He previously played for Huracán, Atlético Rafaela and Rosario Central in Argentina; Derby County in England ...
scoring at both ends to make the score 1–1.
Lewis McGugan Lewis Shay McGugan (born 25 October 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. A player with excellent natural stamina, technical skills and mental attributes, he has represented England at under-17 and under-19 lev ...
was given a straight red card, then a 93rd-minute penalty for Derby was saved by former Ram Lee Camp, with manager
Colin Calderwood Colin Calderwood (born 20 January 1965) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is the assistant manager at Northampton Town. As a player, he was a centre-back who notably played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hots ...
commenting after that the save would go down in the folklore. Veteran striker Andrew Cole then had his contract cancelled by "mutual consent" after the ex- Manchester United forward had fallen out with the club, as he was often being left on the bench. Forest followed up the Derby draw with another 1–1 draw at home to promotion-chasing
Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
and then a 2–2 draw away to
Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
; the latter match saw Camp save another injury-time penalty and a point, seeing Forest into a four-game unbeaten run. However, they then lost 2–1 at home to
Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
to return to the bottom of the table. A further 0–0 away draw at relegation rivals
Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
saw mass tabloid speculation that manager
Colin Calderwood Colin Calderwood (born 20 January 1965) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is the assistant manager at Northampton Town. As a player, he was a centre-back who notably played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hots ...
was set to be replaced by Billy Davies. In the next game, at home to Barnsley, Forest won by a 36th-minute header from
Joe Garner Joseph Alan Garner (born 12 April 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Fleetwood Town of EFL League One. Garner started his career with Blackburn Rovers before joining Carlisle United. Garner had a three- ...
, moving off the foot of the table to 23rd. Forest drew 2–2 at
Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...
, twice coming from behind to claim a point, but their poor home form continued with a 1–0 home loss to
Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
and a 0–0 draw against relegation rivals Blackpool. Forest then recorded an important victory away at
Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, with defender
Wes Morgan Westley Nathan Morgan (born 21 January 1984) is a former professional footballer who made over 750 professional appearances as a defender for Nottingham Forest, Leicester City and the Jamaican national team, as well as a brief loan spell at K ...
scoring his first goal of the season and
Joe Garner Joseph Alan Garner (born 12 April 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Fleetwood Town of EFL League One. Garner started his career with Blackburn Rovers before joining Carlisle United. Garner had a three- ...
chipping the goalkeeper from 35 yards. This took Forest to just one point off safety, with their next game at home to bottom-of-the-table Doncaster Rovers, but Forest were 4–0 down within an hour and down to ten men for much of the second half after Julian Bennett came off injured after Forest had used all their substitutions, with a cruciate-ligament injury ruling the left-back out for the rest of the season. Forest replied with two late goals, but immediately after the game the Forest board terminated manager
Colin Calderwood Colin Calderwood (born 20 January 1965) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is the assistant manager at Northampton Town. As a player, he was a centre-back who notably played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hots ...
's contract after two and a half years in charge of the club; assistant manager
David Kerslake David Kerslake (born 19 June 1966) is an English football coach and former player. He was most recently assistant head coach to Michael Appleton at Blackpool. As a player, Kerslake was a right-back who notably played in the Premier League for ...
was also dismissed. Reserve-team manager
John Pemberton John Stith Pemberton (July 8, 1831 – August 16, 1888) was an American pharmacist and Confederate States Army veteran who is best known as the inventor of Coca-Cola. In May 1886, he developed an early version of a beverage that would later bec ...
took caretaker charge at
Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
, which Forest won 3–2 to rise out of the relegation zone for the first time in three months; this game saw the end of Lee Camp's loan spell. On 1 January, Nottingham Forest appointed Billy Davies as their new manager, signing a three-and-a-half-year deal with David Kelly named as his assistant manager. Davies watched the next match, against nouveau-riche Premier League side Manchester City in the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
third round, which saw Forest won 3–0 with goals from strikers
Nathan Tyson Nathan Tyson (born 4 May 1982) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Grantham Town. He represented the England under-20 team in February 2003. A pacey, left-footed forward, he began his career at Reading, where he ...
, Robert Earnshaw and
Joe Garner Joseph Alan Garner (born 12 April 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Fleetwood Town of EFL League One. Garner started his career with Blackburn Rovers before joining Carlisle United. Garner had a three- ...
. Davies' first game in charge saw Forest go to bottom of the table
Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...
and beat the strugglers 2–0, with Tyson and Earnshaw netting for the Reds. Their third victory in a row pushed Forest up to 21st and moved them closer to teams directly above them. A 2–0 home win Plymouth Argyle moved them into 20th before a big rival match in the FA Cup against Derby County at Pride Park, which ended 1–1. There will be a replay on 4 February at the City Ground. This was followed up by a 2–1 home win against
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
, in which Forest came from behind to win. The result put them 17th, four points clear of the relegation zone. February saw just one win for Forest at the end of the month against promotion chasing Reading. Forest lost their opening game of February to local rivals Derby in the FA Cup. Forest then drew 1–1 with QPR before going on a three-game losing streak to Birmingham City, Ipswich Town and Derby this time in the league. After the bitter disappointment of picking up just one victory in February, Forest were looking to get off to the best possible start, and they did against Preston in a 2–1 victory with a brace from Rob Earnshaw sending Forest three places up the table into 18th and looking a lot less likely to face the drop after another good result this time a 1–1 draw to Swansea City. However another three game losing streak to Watford, a 5–0 loss to Burnley and then a 1–0 defeat to Wolves thanks to a Michael Kightly goal saw Forest take another dramatic downturn and they slipped in the league table to the regulation place of 22nd. Forest knew that with just six games left to stay in the Championship they needed something special. After a 1–1 draw against Barnsley following a desperate equaliser from Rob Earnshaw, Forest still sat in the drop zone. Up next were Bristol City, when city went ahead through Ivan Sproule things looked bleak again at the City Ground. Rob Earnshaw again showed his fantastic ability to score vital goals after grabbing an equaliser but with twelve minutes to go Forest went 2–1 down thanks to Dele Adebola. Forest turned things round in a fantastic comeback, Joe Garner making it 2–2 and then in stoppage time on loan Dexter Blackstock grabbed the late winner to give Forest a vital three points and climb themselves out of the drop zone. A midweek match against Sheffield United followed the fantastic win against City but it was a dull affair. After Kelvin Wilson was sent off early on, Forest's best chance fell to Joe Garner who fired over the crossbar and the Red's had to settle for a 0–0 draw that put them back into the drop zone on goal difference with Barnsley. Coventry City was the next opponents Forest had to face. Forest seemed more likely too pick up a result as the match was at the City Ground following the hysterics last week against Bristol City. And the only goal from James Perch after 46 minutes gave Forest a well-deserved win sending them up to 20th and out the drop zone, however they could not be complacent yet as both Norwich City and Barnsley, the two teams behind them had games in hand. Following the draw at Coventry, Forest saw that both Barnsley and Norwich failed to pick up a result that threatened Forest's safety. The early kick off saw on 25 April saw Forest hold Blackpool to a 1–1 draw at Bloomfield Road. Barnsley played Wolves and looked to have won what was a vital game however a late equaliser for Wolves saw Forest with a chance to stay up if Norwich were to lose to Reading. And they did, two goals from Shane Long meant Forest had escaped the drop. On the final day Forest beat already relegated Southampton 3–1 and secure 19th place just behind rivals Derby County.


Results


Results by round


League table


League Cup


Results


FA Cup


Results


Squad statistics


Appearances and goals

The statistics for the following players are for their time during 2008–09 season playing for Nottingham Forest. Any stats from a different club during 2008–09 are not included. * Nottingham Forest have also had four
own-goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...
s scored for them during 2008–09


Top scorers

:''Last updated on 26 October 2008.''


Disciplinary record

:''Last updated on 19 July 2009.'' Includes cards collected whilst at other clubs during 2008–09


Transfers


In


Out


Loans in


Loans out


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 Nottingham Forest F.C. Season Nottingham Forest F.C. seasons
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 ...