Nottingham Forest FC

Brian Clough's appointment as Nottingham Forest manager in January 1975, alongside his inseparable assistant Peter Taylor, began the most remarkable managerial reign in English football history. Forest were a modest Second Division club when Clough arrived. Within four years, they were champions of Europe.

Promotion in 1977 was followed immediately by the First Division title in 1977-78 - Forest's only league championship, won in their first season back in the top flight. The squad, built on Clough's eye for talent and Taylor's scouting genius, was a collection of players others had overlooked: Peter Shilton, Kenny Burns, John McGovern, and the incomparable John Robertson. They played with a discipline and efficiency that belied their humble origins.

The European Cup campaigns of 1979 and 1980 cemented Clough's legend. Forest beat Malmo 1-0 in the 1979 final in Munich, with Trevor Francis scoring the winner. The following year, they retained the trophy by defeating Hamburg 1-0 in Madrid, with Robertson scoring. No English club has won back-to-back European Cups since. Clough remained manager until 1993, but the club could never quite recapture those dizzying heights. His departure coincided with relegation, ending an era unlike any other.

Clough's departure and relegation in 1993 began the longest, most painful chapter in Forest's history. The club bounced back to the Premier League three times but were relegated each time, in 1997, 1999, and most damagingly in 2005 when they dropped to League One - the third tier of English football for the first time in their history.

The years in the Championship were largely characterised by managerial instability, underachievement, and the frustration of a fanbase that remembered European glory. The purchase of the club by Evangelos Marinakis, the Greek shipping magnate who also owns Olympiacos, in 2017 brought resources but initially struggled for direction.

The appointment of Steve Cooper in September 2021, with the club bottom of the Championship, proved the spark. Cooper transformed Forest's fortunes, guiding them to the play-off final at Wembley in May 2022 where they beat Huddersfield Town 1-0 to earn promotion to the Premier League. The City Ground erupted - Forest were back in the top flight for the first time in 23 years.