During the 1995–96 English football season, Nottingham Forest competed in the FA Premier League.
Season summary Despite the sale of striker Stan Collymore, Nottingham Forest performed reasonably well throughout the season and were comfortably in the top half. They were unbeaten in their first 12 league games, although they drew too many games to be considered serious title challengers, before they ran into a 7–0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers, who had just signed Forest midfielder Lars Bohinen.
The biggest success of the season was Forest's UEFA Cup exploits. In arguably the worst season for English clubs in European competitions in the era of three European trophies, they were the only English side with European action to look forward to after Christmas, and in March their adventure resumed with the first leg of the quarter-final – against Bayern Munich at the Olympiastadion. Forest lost 2–1, and any remaining hopes of a semi-final place were crushed in the second leg when the Bavarians thrashed Frank Clark's men 5–1 at the City Ground.
A ninth-place finish in the final table was not quite enough to secure another European campaign, and Clark's summer signing, Dean Saunders, was captured in hope that he could be the man to score the goals which would bring more success to the club.
Final league table
Results summary
Results by round
Results Nottingham Forest's score comes first
Legend WinDrawLoss
FA Premier League DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 19 August 1995 SouthamptonA4–315,164Cooper, Woan, Roy (2) 23 August 1995 ChelseaH0–027,007 26 August 1995 West Ham UnitedH1–126,645Pearce (pen) 29 August 1995 ArsenalA1–138,248Campbell 9 September 1995 Coventry CityA1–117,219Roy 17 September 1995 EvertonH3–224,786Watson (own goal), Lee, Woan 23 September 1995 Aston VillaA1–133,972Lyttle 30 September 1995 Manchester CityH3–025,620Lee (2), Stone 14 October 1995 Tottenham HotspurA1–032,876Stone 21 October 1995 Bolton WanderersH3–225,426Roy, Lee, Cooper 28 October 1995 Queens Park RangersA1–117,549Lee 6 November 1995 WimbledonH4–120,810Roy, Pearce, Lee, Gemmill 18 November 1995 Blackburn RoversA0–727,660 27 November 1995 Manchester UnitedH1–129,263McGregor 2 December 1995 Bolton WanderersA1–117,342Cooper 10 December 1995 Aston VillaH1–125,790Stone 18 December 1995 Manchester CityA1–125,660Campbell 23 December 1995 Newcastle UnitedA1–336,531Woan 26 December 1995 Sheffield WednesdayH1–027,810Lee 30 December 1995 MiddlesbroughH1–027,027Pearce (pen) 1 January 1996 LiverpoolA2–439,206Stone, Woan 13 January 1996 SouthamptonH1–023,321Cooper 20 January 1996 ChelseaA0–124,482 31 January 1996 Leeds UnitedH2–124,465Campbell, Roy (pen) 3 February 1996 West Ham UnitedA0–121,257 10 February 1996 ArsenalH0–127,222 24 February 1996 EvertonA0–333,163 2 March 1996 Sheffield WednesdayA3–121,930Howe, McGregor, Roy 16 March 1996 MiddlesbroughA1–129,392Allen 23 March 1996 LiverpoolH1–029,058Stone 30 March 1996 WimbledonA0–19,807 6 April 1996 Tottenham HotspurH2–127,053Stone, Woan 8 April 1996 Leeds UnitedA3–129,220Cooper, Woan, Lee 13 April 1996 Blackburn RoversH1–525,273Woan 17 April 1996 Coventry CityH0–024,629 28 April 1996 Manchester UnitedA0–553,926 2 May 1996 Newcastle UnitedH1–128,280Woan 5 May 1996 Queens Park RangersH3–022,910Stone, Roy, Howe
FA Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR36 January 1996 Stoke CityA1–118,000PearceR3R17 January 1996 Stoke CityH2–017,372Campbell, Pearce (pen)R47 February 1996 Oxford UnitedH1–115,050CampbellR4R13 February 1996 Oxford UnitedA3–08,022Campbell, Woan (pen), SilenziR528 February 1996 Tottenham HotspurH2–218,600Woan (2)R5R9 March 1996 Tottenham HotspurA1–1 (won 3–1 on pens)31,055RoyQF13 March 1996 Aston VillaH0–121,067
League Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR2 1st Leg 19 September 1995 Bradford CityA2–39,288Bohinen (2)R2 2nd Leg 4 October 1995 Bradford CityH2–2 (lost 4–5 on agg)15,231Pearce, Silenzi
UEFA Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR1 1st Leg 12 September 1995 Malmö FFA1–212,486WoanR1 2nd Leg 26 September 1995 Malmö FFH1–0 (won on away goals)23,817RoyR2 1st Leg 17 October 1995 AuxerreA1–020,000StoneR2 2nd Leg 31 October 1995 AuxerreH0–0 (won 1–0 on agg)28,064R3 1st Leg 21 November 1995 LyonH1–022,141McGregorR3 2nd Leg 5 December 1995 LyonA0–0 (won 1–0 on agg)35,000QF 1st Leg 5 March 1996 Bayern Munich A1–238,000ChettleQF 2nd Leg 19 March 1996 Bayern Munich H1–5 (lost 2–7 on agg)28,844Stone
Squad
Left club during season
Reserve squad
Transfers
In DatePosNameFromFee1 July 1995MFChris Bart-WilliamsSheffield Wednesday£2,500,0001 July 1995FWKevin CampbellArsenal£2,800,00019 July 1995FWRichard IrvingManchester United£75,00016 August 1995FWAndrea SilenziTorino£1,800,00013 January 1996GKAlan FettisHull City£250,000
Out DatePosNameToFee1 July 1995FWStan CollymoreLiverpool£8,500,0002 August 1995DFGary BowyerRotherham UnitedFree transfer14 October 1995MFLars BohinenBlackburn Rovers£750,00028 October 1995DFCarl TilerAston Villa£750,00029 December 1995FWGary BullBirmingham CityFree transfer28 February 1996DFDanny HinshelwoodPortsmouthFree transfer
Transfers in: £7,425,000 Transfers out: £10,000,000 Total spending: £2,575,000
Statistics Starting 11 Only considering appearances in FA Premier League and League Cup
References