Nottingham Forest are releasing a book to celebrate the club’s 150th anniversary.Club historian Don Wright’s book ‘Forever Forest – the official 150th anniversary history of the original Reds’ tells our unique story largely through the lives of the exceptional individuals – officials, players and fans - who formed and shaped it.
“Historians are tellers of stories and what a fund of them the history of Forest provides,” said Don, a retired newspaper editor.
“I have a passion for the game and love for this club, which I’ve supported for more than sixty years. So you can imagine that I was chuffed to be appointed its honorary historian in the autumn of 2009. As well as writing about the club’s history, I’m tasked with identifying and gathering together artefacts and documents with the ultimate aim of displaying them in a museum open to all supporters and the general public.
“Meeting people, especially descendants of early Forest families, has been most rewarding. I learned so much about Walter Roe Lymbery, who I conclude is the true ‘father’ of Forest, from his great-grandson Nick Clifford, who lives in the York area but is a season ticket holder with a seat in the Brian Clough Stand. Walter was known as ‘the grand old man of Nottingham sport’. He played football until he was 33, cricket until 73 and golf until aged 80.
“I also had the pleasure of talking to Mrs Marian Bestwick who, as a teenager with her friend, Margaret, captured the headlines as ‘the Nottingham glamour girls’ when they were picked out of the Wembley crowd at the 1959 FA Cup Final to be photographed in front of supporters at the Forest end of the ground for what has become an iconic fan picture.
“Another contact I made was with a surprising Forest fan His Excellency Mr Pekka Huhtaniemi, the Finnish ambassador, whose interest stems from our former player ‘Tucker’ Johnson taking up a coaching engagement in the late 1940s with the Finnish team Myllykosken Pallo-47.”
Priced £20, ‘Forever Forest’ is being published by Amberley Books and will be available to purchase at the City Ground Megastore and via other retailers including Amazon from mid-August.
Quelle: nottinghamforest.co.uk
