Death threats, Roy Keane's roly-poly and Gazza's madness – Forest's last great Cup run

Telegraph

27-04-2025

Under the legendary Brian Clough, trips to Wembley once felt like annual events for Nottingham Forest. Clough guided them to the national stadium on 10 separate occasions, winning four of six League Cup finals, the Charity Shield and two Full Members' Cups.
The FA Cup, however, was the one trophy that always eluded him. Clough never got closer to ending the curse than in 1991, and the memories have been flooding back for past Forest players.
Ahead of their clash with Manchester City – the club's first semi-final in the competition for 34 years – those players remember the 4-0 thrashing of West Ham and the dramatic final against Tottenham Hotspur.
FA Cup semi-final, April 14, 1991, Villa Park
Nottingham Forest 4 West Ham 0
Forest: Crossley; Charles, Walker, Chettle, Pearce; Keane, Parker, Crosby, Woan; Glover, Clough (Laws).
West Ham: Miklosko; Potts, Gale, Foster, Parris; Hughton, Bishop, Slater, Allen (Stewart); Keen, Morley (Quinn).
Goals: Crosby (50), Keane (60), Pearce (72), Charles (83).
Referee: Keith Hackett (South Yorkshire).
Nigel Clough, forward: 'We were just thanking our lucky stars that we hadn't drawn Liverpool. We'd played Liverpool twice in the semi-finals two years running, so it was a huge relief to have got West Ham.'
Mark Crossley, goalkeeper: 'We all knew it was the only cup Cloughie had never won. It was always a big thing whenever we got into the semi-finals, on TV and in the newspapers. Brian never mentioned it but we all wanted to repay the gaffer with the FA Cup as he'd won everything else. By beating West Ham we knew we'd get a step closer to delivering what he always wanted.'
Ian Woan, winger: 'It was a super-sunny day at Villa Park and my whole family was there. I could even see them on the terraces. I'd come from non-League with Runcorn and had only just broken through. It was only about my seventh appearance. Wow! I'd made my full debut on the plastic pitch at Luton a few weeks before. We lost 1-0 and I remember Brian Clough saying to Archie Gemmill: 'You told me this kid was ready.' That was his way of bringing me back down to earth, but just to be picked by him was the ultimate compliment.'
With the game goalless after 20 minutes, West Ham defender Tony Gale is controversially sent off by referee Keith Hackett for a foul on Gary Crosby.
Clough: 'Whenever I see Tony Gale he always says: 'Where's that little b------ Crosby?' That's two people who are out to get him, along with Andy Dibble [the Manchester City goalkeeper who was embarrassed when Crosby headed the ball out of his hands and scored]. He still works with me at Mansfield, actually. The red card was the pivotal moment. It was possibly a 50/50 call and I'm not sure how you'd interpret it in today's rules but it obviously changed the game.'
Crossley: 'It was the year the professional foul had come in. It was all about denying a goalscoring opportunity so, in the season before, Tony would probably have stayed on the pitch.'
Keith Hackett, referee: 'The look of amazement on Gale's face will always stay with me. That one decision impacted on the game and the lack of communication by the FA on this change of interpretation resulted in abuse, including the odd death threat. On reflection, the decision frankly ruined the game. I was expected to apply the law and that is what I did. Many years later I did a show with Gale explaining my decision. We were asked on air to shake hands, something Tony refused to do. However, afterwards he did and we went our separate ways.'
Forest take the lead through Crosby in the second half, before adding a second goal through an emerging 19-year-old midfielder called Roy Keane.
Crossley: 'Roy had scored in the quarter-final at Norwich and got into a bit of trouble with Cloughie. He celebrated with this little forward roll and after the game Cloughie said: 'If you do that again I will personally put you in the circus'. I don't think he ever did it again. We could tell from Roy's first training session that he was going to be special. We were all amazed at how good he was. What a brilliant piece of recruitment, £47,000 from Cobh Ramblers.'
Forest coast to victory against West Ham's 10 men with further goals from Stuart Pearce and Gary Charles. A trip to Wembley, and the chance to end Clough's FA Cup hoodoo, was ahead.
Clough: 'I don't care what people say, playing the semi-finals at Wembley has really devalued the competition. It has taken a bit of a battering. Wembley is a special place and should be the ultimate prize. I understand it's all around capacity but to get there was always the incentive.'
Woan: 'The FA Cup isn't what it used to be. In those days it was the Holy Grail. It used to be the only live game on TV all year. Our whole household would go quiet on Cup final day. From the cameras on the team bus, to arriving at Wembley, it was something special.'
FA Cup final, 18 May, 1991, Wembley Stadium
Nottingham Forest 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2
Forest: Crossley; Charles, Walker, Chettle, Pearce; Crosby, Parker, Keane, Woan (Hodge 62); Clough, Glover (Laws 108).
Tottenham: Thorstvedt; Edinburgh, Mabbutt, Sedgley, Van Den Hauwe; Allen, Stewart, Howells, Gascoigne (Nayim 17), Samways (Walsh 82); Lineker.
Goals: Pearce (16); Stewart (55), Walker og (94).
Referee: Roger Milford (Bristol).
Forest would face Tottenham in the final, with Terry Venables's FA Cup campaign driven by midfield genius Paul Gascoigne. Few could have predicted what the afternoon had in store for Gazza.
Crossley: 'He was hyper even in the tunnel before the match. He was really revved up.'
Woan: 'I've never seen anything like it. He was bouncing around the place, borderline uncontrollable. He was on a whole different level. He just couldn't control his emotions.'
Within the opening 15 minutes, Gascoigne makes two horrific lunges on Forest midfielder Garry Parker and then Charles. Gascoigne escapes a booking but has to be taken off on a stretcher with what later emerged as torn cruciate ligaments.
Clough: 'In any era of football the first challenge was a red card. Roger Milford was more interested in the occasion and how he looked, instead of getting on with his job. If he had sent Gazza off he'd probably have saved his career. He smashed into Gary Charles and got that knee injury. He never really recovered, so if he had been sent off it might have made a massive difference to his career. The second challenge wasn't too clever either. For Gazza to actually leave the field without even a yellow card, after those two challenges, was quite unbelievable.'
Forest's hopes of glory appear on course after taking the lead with a stunning free-kick from Stuart Pearce. Crossley then writes his name into FA Cup folklore by saving a penalty from Tottenham's Gary Lineker.
Crossley: 'People have forgotten about it because we ended up on the losing side. Dave Beasant was the first and everyone remembers that because Wimbledon won the game against Liverpool. I must admit that at half-time I was dreaming about the headlines. We were winning 1-0 and I'd saved a penalty. I had a good reputation for saving penalties. Stuart Pearce always used to take 10 penalties at me after training. My tactic was always to delay the taker as long as possible. I was a big believer in going off instinct. I'd be lying if I said I studied them. There were no video replays, so in those days we had to go off watching Match Of The Day.'
Forest's FA Cup mission sustains damage when substitute Paul Stewart, who rose to the occasion in the absence of the injured Gascoigne, equalises for Tottenham.
Woan: 'The enormity of the occasion got to us. I didn't play at all well in the second half. Sadly, we didn't turn up.'
Extra-time follows and Forest defender Des Walker suffers heartbreak with an own goal in the 94th minute. Tottenham are crowned FA Cup winners and Clough's final chance of winning it is gone.
Crossley: 'In the dressing room there was just silence. We didn't need to say anything to Des. He was our Rolls Royce, a top-class defender. He just lost sight of the ball and it hit him. It went in the top corner like a postage stamp.'
Clough: 'There is no way Des deserved that. He never scored many goals and then when he does it goes into his own net!'
Now, nearly three-and-a-half decades later, Forest are back at Wembley to face Pep Guardiola's City. Can Forest continue their stirring season under Nuno Espirito Santo?
Woan: 'I've watched Forest a lot this year and they are so difficult to break down. You can't come out against them, they want you to get impatient. It's a very unique style of football. In my time there, if we'd had 30 per cent possession at home the fans would have let you know about it! Winning masks everything though, doesn't it? It's been an incredible season and they have taken the fans on a hell of a journey.'
Crossley: 'Forest soak up pressure and then have fantastic pace on the counter-attack. Wembley is a big, big pitch and it should suit them. They beat Man City a few weeks ago so know they can do it. I think they've got a great chance.'