Always Glad To Be A Red

My first Forest v. Derby memory is listening to the radio aged 8 – it was April 1994 and a Gary Charles inspired Forest stormed to a 2-0 win at the Baseball Ground. Incidentally that game at Peterborough happened just a few days later. What a week that was.

I’d frequented a few games by then, including a win against Notts earlier that same season, but I hadn’t experienced a Forest Derby clash as yet. That was still a few years away. And the new millennium had arrived by the time I stepped into the home of our rivals down the 52.

Don’t worry – I don’t intend to take you step by step through every game but I felt compelled to share a few thoughts with another of those trips along the Brian Clough Way now imminent.

I hate Derby County.  As much as you can truly hate anything in sport. It’s an irrational hatred stemming from simple hereditary; something passed on through generations of Forest fans but the intensity has grown in recent years. Quite honestly a little part of it is possibly down to them having the upper hand for a chunk of the recent past but this is one of numerous, perhaps endless reasons.

I should point out at this point that I happen to know a few Derby fans and they’re decent types. Regular enough people – almost human. I don’t hate these people you understand. But I do hate the collective; I think it’s important to stress that point.

I often think we’re fortunate to have them as our rivals. They’re a funny, often stupid bunch. Who else would throw Armistice Day t-shirts (handed out by their own club) at their own players after a defeat? And who else would organise a plane to fly over their local rivals only for the banner to be so small that, to this day, I still don’t know what it said. And, my personal favourite, who else would wear those ram masks with such enthusiasm in a bizarre attempt at intimidating 4,500 Forest in the away end? How we laughed at that. And still do.

There are many others examples of course. If I could offer some constructive criticism it would simply be that they lack soul. They can sell out their ground with all the free tickets and mobile phone contracts they can issue but for their biggest game of the season once again their club are organising the atmosphere. They’ll be proudly waving those black & white bin liners as the players step onto the pitch and they’ll all sing in unison to their silly Steve Bloomer song. It’s the worst side of football on view for us all.

Since last week their club’s official Twitter account has been pleading for volunteers to help place flags on seats in some bizarre rallying cry demanding a ‘sea of black and white’ and another ‘electric atmosphere’. If the roles were reversed and that was a tweet from NFFC I would be embarrassed.

Even the flags they seemingly have had made themselves are templated shit – we’ll no doubt be greeted by that ridiculous ‘The East Midlands is Black & White’ flag on Sunday. Jesus Christ. Where’s the imagination? Still, it beats that one that says: ‘Derbyshire is a footballing town, Nottingham never has been’. I gather it’s a Clough quote although Clough, of course, had the intelligence to distinguish between a county and a town. Clough knew the score. Let’s do a survey of which city is more synonymous with football history and we all know the winner. We shouldn’t forget that in the doomed World Cup 2018 bid Nottingham’s host city bid consisted of an artistic impression of a new stadium. That was all; a bit of paper. And it still beat Derby as the East Midlands representative.

It’s pathetic that a football club goes down the road of manufacturing an atmosphere themselves. Isn’t that where the fans should be stepping up? When we met the Forest Chairman over the summer we stressed the importance of fans retaining the right to create the atmosphere and engineer displays. Thankfully Mr Randall agreed entirely and understood how important it was that the club did not interfere. We are now in a position where the club are there to help FG but we have autonomy to operate independently too. For fans like ourselves who care deeply about football atmospheres being done right this was great to hear. For us it’s vital that support remains natural and powerful – driven by passionate supporters alone. Contrast this with what you’ll see from the home sections this Sunday.

We should keep in mind though that this is a bunch of fans who have shown they are totally incapable of creating anything original for themselves – their ‘Legends’ display for our visit a few years back looked pretty enough but was hot on the heels of the Lower Bridgford doing the exact same thing. And poor old Sheffield Wednesday; going to the effort of crafting their own songs only for the majority of them to be pilfered by our mutual friends from Derbyshire. I have never heard Derby sing a song that is truly theirs – like a Mull of Kintyre, or a LTLF or countless other uniquely ‘Forest’ songs – they are song stealing specialists.

There was of course the infamous moment when they decided that they needed more rehearsal time to sing their latest batch of songs they had heard others singing. Who can ever forget their top boys huddled together in a dimly lit pub swaying along to their latest tragic material? Shadows conveniently covering their faces, almost as if they knew it would be best not to be recognised. I can still vividly remember the glee that spread like wildfire through the Forest fans online when those glorious videos were posted. ‘We are Derby, we are Derby! Hey! Hey!’ Oh the marvellous horror! The videos were deleted in double quick time never to rear their heads ever again, unfortunately.

I personally think we should always be mindful of not going down this road. Taking song ideas and influences from others clubs is part of the deal but we at Forest should always stay ahead of the likes of Derby. We shouldn’t be singing the same old crap they resort to; think bigger and better. And most of all think differently. I can assure you that in every decision made within FG somewhere is a tiny thought just making sure we aren’t doing something Derby would do. Not because we care what they think or because they consume our thoughts but because they are the most local and most perfect example of how not to be.

If you are there at the retail park stadium on Sunday then you shouldn’t need me to crank up the anticipation but keep on supporting and keep on singing. Whatever comes our way. Let them have their gimmicks and their fake atmosphere. Show them once again what it means to follow a proper football club and to be part of a proper support. And always remember this quote:

No disrespect to Derby, but I have to say I could never work for that club in any capacity. And I mean never. People might say I’m being ridiculous but that’s just the way it is. Even if I was desperate and they were the only club around, I couldn’t do it. I’d rather go on the dole and take my chances.

Away at Derby used to be the highlight of the season for me. I used to walk out at the Baseball Ground and give their fans a girly wave. Then it would be over to the Forest fans to give them a proper salute. I’d do the same in front of the Kop at Anfield as well – just to stoke up that little extra bit of ill feeling, you understand? There would be old women at Derby shouting and screaming at me, coins landing round my feet and people spitting at me whenever I turned my back to take a throw-in. Christ, they bloody hated me. But, for me, that’s what football’s all about. I would think: ‘Yeah, that’s right, give me as good as you can – I’m representing that lot in the corner over there.’

Honestly, I used to love nothing more than walking out at a ground when you knew everyone hated your guts.

Stuart Pearce

And so, no matter what happens in this game and no matter what happens this season and beyond I am always glad to be a Red. And I’m oh so grateful that I am not one of them.

Come on You Garibaldi’s.