Football matches held between Derby County F.C. and Nottingham Forest F.C. are often referred to as an 'East Midlands Derby' and are the focus of a lengthy and intense rivalry. According to an unofficial survey on 'football rivalries' the 'East Midlands Derby' is the sixth fiercest rivalry in English football, with 9 out of 10 fans from the two clubs naming the other as their "fiercest rival".
Since 2007, the winning team of a Derby vs Forest match has been awarded the Brian Clough Trophy, in memory of Brian Clough, who managed both clubs during his long and successful football career. The inaugural match for the trophy was held at Derby's Pride Park Stadium on 31 July 2007, in which the host team won 2–0. Forest are the current holders, having retained the trophy after a 2–1 win at Nottingham's City Ground on 22 January 2022. Since the inauguration of the Brian Clough Trophy, fans from both sides have nicknamed the fixture El Cloughico, in reference to the El Clásico rivalry between Spanish football teams FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF.
The fixture is seen as one of the biggest rivalries in English football, spanning back over 100 years. Hooliganism and violence is a common occurrence at the fixture.
History
The first meeting of Derby County and Nottingham Forest came in the 1892–93 First Division. Derby, founder members of the Football League in 1888, had finished in 10th place in the previous campaign, whereas Forest had been competing in the rival Football Alliance, and had won the title in the competition's final year. Following the absorption of the Alliance by the Football League in 1892, Forest were invited to join the newly expanded Football League First Division due to being one of the alliance's three strongest clubs. The first competitive fixture between the two teams was duly held on 1 October 1892 at the Racecourse Ground in the Football League Division One, which Nottingham Forest won 3–2. The return fixture in January 1893 also ended in victory for Nottingham Forest, this time 1–0. It was not until the 1894–95 season that Derby secured a first win over their future rivals, coming out on top 4–2 in September 1894.
Although the clubs are rivals because of their geographical proximity, the rivalry intensified towards the late 1970s when Brian Clough was appointed Forest manager, much to the dismay of the Derby support – in fact Duncan Hamilton, writing in The Times, has remarked that the rivalry is as much about which club owns Clough's heart as about the proximity of the clubs geographically.
On 2 November 2008, referee Stuart Attwell became the centre of attention when he disallowed two Derby goals in the final few minutes and booked eight players and issued a straight red card to Forest midfielder Lewis McGugan. Derby boss Paul Jewell was especially vocal in his dismay at Attwell's performance, accusing the 25-year-old official of 'losing control' of the game and 'robbing' the Rams of a victory. The press furore around his display led to Attwell being called in for a meeting with Referee's Chief Keith Hackett and he was consequently axed from the following week's fixture list. Days after the game, Jewell said that a member of the Football Association had contacted him and told him that the second goal should have stood.
Animosity between the clubs grew even further with the appointment of former Derby manager Billy Davies at Forest in December 2009, along with the signing of several former Derby players in Lee Camp, Robert Earnshaw and Dexter Blackstock, and the appointment of Nigel Clough as Derby manager, along with the signing of former Forest favourite Kris Commons at Pride Park. Two fractious FA Cup ties, including one in which Derby came from 2–0 down to win 3–2 and win at the City Ground for the first time since 1971, did not help matters and Robbie Savage's post-match scarf waving did not endear him to the Forest support. Following a match on 29 August 2009, in which Forest won 3–2 to secure their first victory over Derby in 6 years, a post-match scuffle broke out between the Derby and Forest players after Nathan Tyson, in reaction to Savage's scarf waving the previous season, celebrated in front of the Derby County fans with a corner flag that had the Nottingham Forest logo on it, an incident the FA said it would investigate with some 'urgency' the result of which saw both clubs fined for failing to control their players and Tyson charged with improper conduct. Derby were fined £20,000, of which £10,000 was suspended, and ordered to pay £400 costs; Nottingham Forest were fined £25,000, of which £10,000 was suspended, and ordered to pay £1,200 costs; and Tyson was fined £5,000. A second brawl broke out during the return fixture in January 2010 after Chris Gunter and Jay McEveley clashed when the latter refused to give up the ball for a Forest throw-in. The FA announced it would investigate the brawl whilst former Derby manager Billy Davies claimed that Nigel Clough had "attacked" him during the melee and made a formal complaint to the League Managers' Association. The fixture also saw players sent off in four consecutive meetings from January 2011; two for Derby (Dean Moxey and Frank Fielding) and two for Forest (Marcus Tudgay and Dexter Blackstock, both former Derby players).
In the 2011–12 season, Derby claimed a first league double in the fixture since 1972 on their way to winning the League title. At the City Ground meeting, Derby recovered from being a man and goal down after five minutes, to winning 2–1 at the City Ground before Jake Buxton's stoppage timer own goal earned a 1–0 loss in the second match. Derby's success in the fixture continued into the 2012–13 season with yet another City Ground victory, their fourth in six trips to the stadium. Both teams claimed a home victory in the 2013–14 season: Forest won 1–0 at the City Ground in September, but Derby then won 5–0 at Pride Park in March 2014, equalling the record margin of victory in the fixture's history. The next meeting ended in a 1–1 draw at the City Ground in September 2014, followed by a 2–1 victory for Nottingham Forest at Pride Park in January 2015. In March 2017, the match held at the City Ground was drawn 2–2, with Derby winning 2–0 at Pride Park in October. Having spent thirteen years together in the EFL Championship, at the end of the 2021-22 season Forest were promoted to the Premier League while Derby were relegated to EFL League One.
Head to head record Last updated on 22 January 2022.
Major competitions CompetitionPlayedDerby CountyDrawNottingham ForestDerby County GoalsNottingham Forest GoalsLeague99332739146143FA Cup8422128League Cup200215Totals109372943158155
Minor competitions There have been a further 25 meetings in various minor competitions of varying importance. The majority of these have come in Wartime competitions, such as the Wartime Cup and the regionalised Football Leagues, set up during World War I and World War II to keep football running during the conflicts. There was also one meeting in the Anglo-Italian Cup.
CompetitionPlayedDerby CountyDrawNottingham ForestDerby County GoalsNottingham Forest GoalsAnglo-Italian Cup110032Football League (N)63121512Football League (S)211043Midland Section4103713United Central League421162VE Celebration Match101022VJ Celebration Match110041Football League War Cup6321108Totals2512675143
All competitions CompetitionPlayedDerby CountyDrawNottingham ForestDerby County GoalsNottingham Forest GoalsMajor Competitions108372943158155Minor Competitions2512675343Totals133493550211198
Honours
The following list of honours contains only major trophies.
Derby CompetitionForestDomestic 2First Division/Premier League11FA Cup20EFL Cup41Community Shield1European and Worldwide0UEFA Champions League20UEFA Super Cup14Total11
Crossing the divide Since World War II, some 30 players have played for both clubs, the majority of these moves coming in the 1970s and 1980s. The most famous individual to have represented both clubs, however, is unquestionably the man regarded as the greatest manager in the history of both: Brian Clough.
Management
The first man to be involved in management at both clubs was Harold Wightman. A player with Derby between 1919 and 1927, Wightman was assistant at Derby under George Jobey and was later appointed Forest manager between 1936 and 1939. Peter Taylor followed a similar path, he was assistant manager at both Derby and Forest, becoming Derby's full manager in 1982.
The first man to manage both clubs was Dave Mackay, who managed Forest between 1972 and 1973 before joining Derby in 1973 as the replacement for Brian Clough, the man who would eventually become the second man to manage both clubs. Mackay won the First Division title for Derby in 1974–75, which was Derby's second First Division title in four seasons.
Clough managed Derby County between June 1967 and October 1973, winning the Second Division title to gain promotion in 1968–69, and winning the First Division title in 1971–72. This was followed up by a controversial European Cup semi final loss to Juventus during the 1972–73 season. Clough joined Nottingham Forest in January 1975, following spells with Brighton and the famous 44 days in charge at Leeds Utd. Clough took over from Mackay's initial replacement Allan Brown, with Forest struggling in the Second Division. In 1977–78, Forest won the First Division title in their first season after gaining promotion from the Second Division, having won the League Cup earlier in the 1977–78 season. In 1978–79, Forest retained the League Cup and won the European Cup. In 1979–80, Forest narrowly missed out on winning a third League Cup in a row, as they lost to Wolves in the final, but they did retain the European Cup. Forest won 2 more League Cups later on in Clough's managerial reign. Clough won the First Division with both Forest and Derby, becoming the first man to win it with two different clubs since Herbert Chapman. He left the club in 1993.
On 31 December 2008, it was announced that Billy Davies was to become the new manager at Forest. Davies had been out of work following his dismissal at Derby in November 2007, making him the third man to manage both clubs. Steve McClaren became the fourth man to manage both sides when he took the role of Head Coach at Derby in October 2013. He had previously managed Nottingham Forest for 112 days in 2011.
Players
Since the Second World War, some 30 different players have represented both Derby and Forest. The majority of these movements came in the 1970s and 1980s, when Clough signed many of his former Derby players for his new club Forest. However, the first notable move was Scottish left winger Stewart Imlach who, after an unsuccessful spell at Derby in the 1954–55 season, signed for Forest for a fee of £5,000 in 1955. He went on to play in the Forest side that beat Luton Town in the 1959 FA Cup Final.
The next direct transfer between the two clubs was Roy Patrick in 1959, followed by Alan Hinton. Hinton spent four years at Forest between 1963 and 1967 before Clough signed him for £30,000. Forest had seen Hinton as a fairly uninspiring player and a number of Forest directors were known to have smugly put it about that Derby would, "soon be asking for their money back". They were proved wrong when Hinton played 253 times for the Rams over the next 8 years, scoring 63 goals and winning two League Titles. Other Forest to Derby transfers in the late 60s/early 70s saw Terry Hennessey join Derby directly from Forest and Henry Newton and Frank Wignall make the move after spells with Everton and Wolves respectively in between. All of these players made telling contributions to Derby's regular triumphs from 1969 to 1975.