17 January 1920 - A Good Day To Stay At Home

On 17 January 1920, the home teams went undefeated in all 20 matches in England's Football League, as well as the day's two FA Cup games.

At the time, the Football League consisted of only two divisions (though a separate Southern League existed, with two divisions of of its own). While each division consisted of 22 teams, two games were not played, so there were only 20 games total across both divisions.

The results in Division One consisted of eight wins and two draws, including 21st-place Oldham Athletic's 1-0 upset victory of second-place Newcastle. The largest margins were Manchester City's 4-1 win over Arsenal and league-leader West Brom's 5-2 win over Blackburn.

In Division Two, there were nine wins and only one draw, a 1-1 result between Bury and Nottingham Forest, while Lincoln City's 4-0 win over Wolves set the day's largest margin of victory.

There were also two first-round FA Cup matches played that day, with Bradford City beating Portsmouth 2-0 and West Stanley beating Gillingham 3-1.

26 November 1977 - Run For The Forest

On 26 November 1977, Nottingham Forest drew 0-0 with West Brom to start a club-record streak of 42 unbeaten league matches.

Forest were in the third full season under the managerial duo of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, who took charge of the club in January 1975. They were in Division Two at the time, but won promotion to the top flight for the 1977-78 season.

They started off well in the First Division, winning ten and drawing two of their first thirteen matches and claiming the table's top spot in week nine. They remained there for the duration of the season, even after losing two of their first three games in November. Those two losses, to Chelsea and Leeds, joined an earlier one to Arsenal as their only losses on the season.

Their next match was the home draw against West Brom, followed by another 25 undefeated matches in the league to lift them seven points clear of runners-up Liverpool in the final table (Forest had also beaten Liverpool in that season's League Cup final).

The next season started with another 16 straight undefeated matches to take the total to 42 before Forest finally lost to Liverpool on 9 December 1978. They finished the season as runners-up to Liverpool in the league, but took some consolation by winning the first of two consecutive European Cups that year.

4 October 1990 - The Passing Of Peter Taylor

On 4 October 1990, Peter Taylor, who won a league title and two European Cups as an assistant to Brian Clough, passed away while on holiday in Spain. He was 62.

Although best known for his abilities as a manager and scout, Taylor enjoyed a lengthy playing career with Coventry City (1950-55), Middlesbrough (1955-61), and Port Vale (1961-62). Then, in 1962, he took his first managerial job as player-manager for Burton Albion and spent two seasons there before leaving to join Hartlepool as an assistant to his former Middlesbrough teammate, Brian Clough.

Taylor and Clough spent ten of the next twelve seasons together, including six and a half years at Derby County where they won the league title in 1972. Their only time apart was from 1974 to 1976, when Taylor took charge of Brighton & Hove after Clough left for his ill-fated spell at Leeds United. They reunited in 1976, when Taylor joined Clough at Nottingham Forest and the pair proceeded to win two European Cups (1979, 1980).

In 1982, Taylor left Clough and returned to Derby County, managing them for two seasons before retiring in 1984. During that second spell at Derby, Taylor signed winger John Robertson from Derby without telling Clough in advance. The signing created a rift between the two men, who never spoke to one another afterward, a fact deeply regretted by Clough after Taylor's death.

In 2010, Derby County commemorated Taylor and Clough with a statue of the pair outside the ground.

28 May 1980 - Forest Climbs To The Top (Again)

On 28 May 1980, Nottingham Forest repeated as European Cup champions, making them the first team to win the tournament more times than their domestic league.

Forest won the previous tournament over Malmö, while Hamburg were making their first appearance in the final. Both had ousted prior champions in the semifinals, with Forest beating three-time winners Ajax 2-1 on aggregate and Hamburg eliminating six-time winners Real Madrid 5-3. The latter was particularly poignant, as the final was played at Madrid's home ground, the Bernabéu.

Forest's Trevor Francis, who scored the winning goal in 1979, was out injured, but they found another hero in winger John Robertson (pictured). In the 20th minute, Robertson played the ball to forward Garry Birtles, who held it up under pressure, then sent it back to a charging Robertson, who fired it low to the keeper's left, just edging it inside the post. It turned out to be the winner as the game ended 1-0.

It was part of a period of English dominance in the tournament, with Liverpool winning it in 1977 and 1978, Forest in 1979 and 1980, then Liverpool again in 1981 and Aston Villa in 1982 for six straight English wins. Hamburg broke the streak in 1983 when they returned to the final and beat Juventus 1-0.

2 May 1998 - The Death Of Justin Fashanu

On 2 May 1998, Justin Fashanu, Britain's first openly gay professional footballer, killed himself after being accused of sexual assault. He was 37 years old.

The London-born forward started his professional career in 1978 with Norwich and scored 35 goals for them in 90 league appearances, including one against Liverpool that was named the BBC Goal of the Season in 1980. In 1981, he moved to Nottingham Forest, who made him the first black player to command a £1 million transfer fee. He failed to settle at Forest, however, and left after one season, starting a journey that saw him at nineteen different clubs over the next fifteen years.

In 1990, he become the first (and, to date, only) professional footballer to openly identify himself as homosexual. Although his brother John--who was also a professional footballer--immediately disowned him, Fashanu said that his teammates were more accepting.

He retired in 1997 and, one year later, was in the United States to interview for a coaching position. In March 1998, a 17-year old accused Fashanu of sexually assaulting him after a party at Fashanu's rented Maryland apartment. After being questioned by police, Fashanu fled back to England and, on 2 May 1998, hanged himself in a garage. In a note, he claimed that his actions had been consensual and that his accuser was trying to blackmail him. He also said that he "had already been presumed guilty" and did "not want to give any more embarrassment to" his friends and family.

Fashanu was the inspiration for the Justin Campaign, formed in 2009 to combat homophobia in football.

22 April 1978 - Forest Grows Into The Title

On 22 April 1978, Nottingham Forest won the league with a scoreless draw at Coventry City. They were the fifth (and to date last) team to win the English top flight as a newly-promoted team.

The rise was orchestrated by the managerial team of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, who took charge of the club in January 1975. At the time, Forest were a mid-table Division Two team whose only major honors were the 1898 and 1959 FA Cups. Although they finished sixteenth out of twenty-two teams that first season under Clough and Taylor, they ended the 1975-76 season in eighth, then claimed the last promotion spot the following year with a third-place finish.

They got a strong start on their return to the top flight, winning seven of their first nine matches to take a firm grip on first place. They remained there for the rest of the season.

By the time they visited Coventry City, Forest were six points clear of second-place Everton, who had only three matches left to play (Forest had five remaining). At the time, teams earned two points for a win, so even a draw with Coventry would have put Forest out of Everton's reach. And a draw is what they got, as the match finished 0-0 to secure Forest's first top-flight title with four games left.

Before that, Liverpool (in 1906), Everton (1932), Tottenham (1951), and Ipswich Town (1962) each had won the league as newly-promoted teams, but Forest remain the last to do it. They were also the first to do it without being promoted as Division Two champions.

Their success continued under Clough and Taylor, with back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980.

11 February 1981 - No Little Victory For Victorino

On 11 February 1981, Nacional edged Nottingham Forest in the Toyota Cup to claim a 1-0 win.

Established in 1960, the Toyota Cup/Intercontinental Cup paired the reigning Copa Libertadores champions against the current European Cup winners. Originally played as a home-and-away two-legged tie, the 1980 edition (played in February 1981) was the first to decide the winner with a single match and the first to be played at the neutral location of Tokyo's National Stadium.

Forest entered the match on an unbeaten run of 42 matches and had collected international honors at a rapid pace, winning the 1979 and 1980 European Cups as well as the 1979 UEFA Super Cup. Nacional, meanwhile, had won the 1979 Uruguay Primera División along with that year's Copa Libertadores.

Playing before a crowd of 62,000, Nacional took an early lead with a 10th-minute goal from forward Waldemar Victorino (pictured at right). The attack was started near the midfield line by right back José Hermes Moreira, who passed the ball, then charged down the right side, got the ball back, and sent in a cross. Victorino received it in front of the goal, avoided a tackled, then drove the ball into the roof of the net.

It was Nacional's only real chance of the match, but it was enough. Nottingham Forest came close a couple of times, once sending the ball just wide of goal and then heading it off the post, but could not crack the Nacional defense. The day ended 1-0, with Victorino as the man of the match.

10 August 1971 - The Coming Of Keane

On 10 August 1971, former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland captain Roy Keane was born in Cork. A tenacious central midfielder, he was known for his competitive spirit both on and off the pitch. 

He began his career with Cobh Ramblers (1989-90) and Nottingham Forest (1990-93), but spent the majority of his career at Manchester United where he played from 1993 to 2005. United paid a then-record British transfer fee of £3.75 million to sign him from Forest and Keane delivered instantly, scoring a brace in his Old Trafford debut, a 3-0 victory over Sheffield United. That first season, United went on their first league and FA Cup double. 

He would go on to win seven league titles, four FA Cups, and the Champions League with United, but his success on the pitch was often overshadowed by his temper, with Keane receiving a total of 11 red cards during his time with United, often for violent conduct. In a 2001 match against Manchester City, Keane was ejected for brutally tackling Alf-Inge Haaland. He later revealed in his autobiography that the challenge had been an intentional retaliation for a dust-up the two had had in a previous match. The admission resulted in a further 5-match ban and a fine of £150,000. 

Keane left United in 2005 after several public disagreements with his teammates and manager Alex Ferguson. He moved to Celtic, but made only 13 appearances for them before retiring in 2006. 

He turned to management later that year and has helmed Sunderland (2006-08) and Ipswich Town (2009-11). In 2013, he became an assistant with the Republic of Ireland. 

12 April 1992 - A League Cup Of Their Own

On 12 April 1992, Manchester United defeated Nottingham Forest in the League Cup Final. It was the first League Cup for the club and the first piece of silverware for Ryan Giggs, who later became the most decorated British player in history.

It was United's second consecutive appearance in the Final after losing to Sheffield Wednesday the year before. Forest, meanwhile, had won it in 1990, the last of four League Cups won by the club under manager Brian Clough.

Played before a crowd of almost 77,000 at Wembley Stadium, it was closely-fought affair, with Giggs (pictured) providing the assist for the day's only goal, scored in the 14th minute by United forward Brian McClair. It was only the third domestic trophy for manager Alex Ferguson, after the 1990 FA Cup and the 1990 FA Charity Shield (the latter shared with Liverpool), but he had also won the Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Super Cup in 1991. He and Giggs would go on to win a multitude of additional silverware with United, including 13 league titles, 4 FA Cups, 3 League Cups, and 2 Champions League trophies. Two of Forest's starting XI that day, Roy Keane and Teddy Sheringham, would themselves later win trophies with United as well.

It was the last cup final for Clough, who had already won 2 league titles and 2 European Cups. He retired in 1993.

9 February 2010 - Gray And Keys Just Hadn't Been Paying Attention

On 9 February 2010, Amy Fearn became the first woman to referee an English Football League match when she took charge of the last 20 minutes of Coventry City's contest against Nottingham Forest.

Despite the recent controversy that saw Sky Sports analysts Andy Gray and Richard Keys lose their jobs after making sexist remarks against Premier League assistant referee Sian Massey, England's Football League has used female officials since 1991, when Wendy Toms served as a reserve official for a Third Division match. Toms later worked as an assistant referee in both the Football League and the Premier League, and also refereed matches in the non-League Football Conference starting in 1996.

But no woman had ever been the primary official in England's top four divisions until Fearn. A financial analyst for Rolls Royce who has worked as an official since she was 14, Fearn had worked League matches as a referee's assistant since 2006. And she was again filling that role for the Coventry-Forest match when, with 20 minutes left, the match's originally-assigned referee, Tony Bates, left the pitch with a leg injury. Fearn then took the whistle and her place in history.

The match ended as a 1-0 win for Coventry. Although Fearn heard a few taunts, she shrugged them off, saying afterward "I just laugh and take it with a pinch of salt." Coventry striker Clinton Morrison praised Fearn, saying "There was no dissent when she was in charge and no bad language. It would have been interesting if there had been any controversy but there wasn’t because she did a very good job. There is only one thing that matters about the person in charge and that is how good a referee they are."

1 January 2008 - A Sound In The Forest

On 1 January 2008, Nottingham Forest hosted Huddersfield Town in a League One match that delivered controversy before the opening whistle.

Several clubs across the UK started their matches that day with a moment of silence for Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell, who collapsed during a match three days earlier and died. Forest manager Colin Calderwood, a former teammate of O'Donnell's, elected not to join them, however, saying "The fact that it was a boy in Scotland, does that make it any different to a boy in Colombia?"

Forest proceeded to win the match, 2-1, and subsequently earned promotion to the Championship for the 2008-09 season.

Calderwood later had cause to regret his comments. In October 2010, he became manager of Hibernian less than a month before Motherwell were scheduled to visit. Before that match, played on 13 November, the Motherwell supporters demanded an apology from Calderwood. He duly obliged, saying "It's something that has caused offense and for that I can only apologize."

30 May 1979 - The Ultimate Cinderella Story

On 30 May 1979, Nottingham Forest won their first European trophy, beating Malmö FF in the European Cup Final before a crowd of 57,000 at the Olympiastadion in Munich. It was an incredible accomplishment for Forest, who became only the third English side - after Manchester United and Liverpool - to claim Europe's biggest prize.

Forest were riding a wave of success under manager Brian Clough, who had taken Derby County to the European Cup semifinals six years earlier. After leaving Derby and suffering through a brief spell at Leeds, Clough moved to Forest in January 1975. Though they were in the Second Division at the time, Clough steered them to promotion in 1977, then to the League title in 1978.

In the European Cup, Forest advanced with wins over Liverpool, AEK Athens, Grasshopper, and Köln. Malmö, who were also playing in their first European Cup Final, reached it by beating Monaco, Dynamo Kiev, Wisła Kraków, and Austria Vienna.

Despite the participation of two relative Cinderella teams, the match itself was anticlimactic. Malmö, dealing with the loss of key players to injury, played a defensive game to slow the English attack. But Forest secured the match's only goal near the end of the first half, as their £1 million signing Trevor Francis - making his first European appearance for Forest - scored a 45th-minute header (pictured) that turned out to be the match-winner.

Forest successfully defended their title the next season, beating Hamburg 1-0.

9 February 1979 - Meet The Million-Pound Man

On 9 February 1979, Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough introduced the press to his newest signing, English striker Trevor Francis--the first player in England to break the £1 million transfer fee barrier. Clough added to the spectacle by showing up at the press conference in a bright red leather jacket with his squash racket in hand.

When Clough signed Francis from Birmingham City, he was careful to set the transfer fee at £999,999 in order to prevent the "million pound" mark from going to the striker's head. But taxes pushed the total fee over £1.1 million, more than doubling the previous record of £495,000, paid by Manchester United to Middlesbrough for defender Gordon McQueen in February 1978.

With Francis in the side, Forest lost only one league match for the remainder of the season, finishing second in the Division One table, and won the League Cup. The crown jewel in their season, however, was their 1-0 win over over Swedish side Malmö in the 1979 European Cup Final, with Francis heading in the winning goal.

That proved to be the highlight of Francis' career. Injuries hampered his time at Forest, preventing him from playing in their win in the 1980 European Cup Final, and he moved to Manchester City in 1981 for £1.2 million.

11 December 1886 - Arsenal Dials It In

On 11 December 1886, Arsenal, then known as Dial Square FC, played their first match, defeating Eastern Wanderers 6-0. The match was played in an open field in London's Isle of Dogs.

Dial Square were founded earlier that year by a group of workers from the Dial Square workshop at the Royal Arsenal, located at Woolwich in southeast London. The club's founding members included Scotsman David Danskin (who captained the side for the match against Eastern Wanderers and had also purchased the club's first football) and Englishmen Jack Humble, Fred Beardsley, and Morris Bates.

The club played in red shirts obtained from Nottingham Forest. Both Beardsley and Bates had previously played for Forest and convinced their former club to donate the shirts.

On Christmas Day 1886, Dial Square changed their name to Royal Arsenal, then changed it again in 1891 to Woolwich Arsenal. In 1913, they moved to Highbury in north London and changed their name once more, this time dropping the "Woolwich" to be known simply as Arsenal. They have since become one of the most successful clubs in football, winning 13 top flight titles and 10 FA Cups.

28 October 1998 - He's A One-Club Man

On 28 October 1998, 17-year old center back John Terry made his first appearance for Chelsea's senior team, coming on as a second-half substitute in a League Cup match against Aston Villa. Chelsea won 4-1.

Terry was born in London on 7 December 1980 and played for the Chelsea youth team from 1995 to 1998. He signed his professional contract with the Blues for the 1998-99 season, making 6 appearances.

In 2004, new manager Jose Mourinho handed the captain's armband to Terry, who rewarded the decision by leading Chelsea to back to back league titles in 2005 and 2006.

Apart from a brief loan spell with Nottingham Forest in the 1999-2000 season, Terry has spent his entire club career with Chelsea. Through the 2008-09 season, he had made 404 appearances for the London club. He added a third league title in 2010 and has also won the Champions League (2012), five FA Cups (2000, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012), two League Cups (2005, 2007), and two Community Shields (2005, 2009).

20 September 2004 - The Passing Of Brian Clough

On 20 September 2004, Brian Clough, a manager who was equal parts controversial and successful, passed away at the age of 69.

A prolific striker in his playing days with Middlesbrough and Sunderland, his career was cut short by a knee injury when he was 29. The following year, he became the manager at Division Four club Hartlepool, where he was joined by assistant Peter Taylor. The two formed a very successful partnership--they moved to Second Division Derby County in 1967, earned promotion in 1969 and won the league in 1972.

In 1974, after feuding with the Derby directors, Clough and Taylor resigned and moved to Brighton, back in Division Three, but Clough left after less than a year to replace Don Revie at Leeds United. The move created a rift with Taylor, who remained at Brighton while Clough lasted only 44 days at Leeds.

He then took charge of Nottingham Forest in 1975 and reconciled with Taylor, who joined him there in 1976. They won the league in 1978 and followed that success with two consecutive European Cups. By 1982, however, the pair fell out again, in part over Taylor's return to Derby, and never spoke again. Clough remained at Forest until his retirement in 1993.

In 2003, he successfully recovered from liver transplant surgery, but lost his life to stomach cancer a year later.

17 January 1920 - A Good Day To Stay At Home

On 17 January 1920, the home teams went undefeated in all 20 matches in England's Football League, as well as the day's two FA Cup games.

At the time, the Football League consisted of only two divisions (though a separate Southern League existed, with two divisions of of its own). While each division consisted of 22 teams, two games were not played, so there were only 20 games total across both divisions.

The results in Division One consisted of eight wins and two draws, including 21st-place Oldham Athletic's 1-0 upset victory of second-place Newcastle. The largest margins were Manchester City's 4-1 win over Arsenal and league-leader West Brom's 5-2 win over Blackburn.

In Division Two, there were nine wins and only one draw, a 1-1 result between Bury and Nottingham Forest, while Lincoln City's 4-0 win over Wolves set the day's largest margin of victory.

There were also two first-round FA Cup matches played that day, with Bradford City beating Portsmouth 2-0 and West Stanley beating Gillingham 3-1.

26 November 1977 - Run For The Forest

On 26 November 1977, Nottingham Forest drew 0-0 with West Brom to start a club-record streak of 42 unbeaten league matches.

Forest were in the third full season under the managerial duo of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, who took charge of the club in January 1975. They were in Division Two at the time, but won promotion to the top flight for the 1977-78 season.

They started off well in the First Division, winning ten and drawing two of their first thirteen matches and claiming the table's top spot in week nine. They remained there for the duration of the season, even after losing two of their first three games in November. Those two losses, to Chelsea and Leeds, joined an earlier one to Arsenal as their only losses on the season.

Their next match was the home draw against West Brom, followed by another 25 undefeated matches in the league to lift them seven points clear of runners-up Liverpool in the final table (Forest had also beaten Liverpool in that season's League Cup final).

The next season started with another 16 straight undefeated matches to take the total to 42 before Forest finally lost to Liverpool on 9 December 1978. They finished the season as runners-up to Liverpool in the league, but took some consolation by winning the first of two consecutive European Cups that year.

4 October 1990 - The Death Of Peter Taylor

On 4 October 1990, Peter Taylor, who won a league title and two European Cups as an assistant to Brian Clough, passed away while on holiday in Spain. He was 62.

Although best known for his abilities as a manager and scout, Taylor enjoyed a lengthy playing career with Coventry City (1950-55), Middlesbrough (1955-61), and Port Vale (1961-62). Then, in 1962, he took his first managerial job as player-manager for Burton Albion and spent two seasons there before leaving to join Hartlepool as an assistant to his former Middlesbrough teammate, Brian Clough.

Taylor and Clough spent ten of the next twelve seasons together, including six and a half years at Derby County where they won the league title in 1972. Their only time apart was from 1974 to 1976, when Taylor took charge of Brighton & Hove after Clough left for his ill-fated spell at Leeds United. They reunited in 1976, when Taylor joined Clough at Nottingham Forest and the pair proceeded to win two European Cups (1979, 1980).

In 1982, Taylor left Clough and returned to Derby County, managing them for two seasons before retiring in 1984. During that second spell at Derby, Taylor signed winger John Robertson from Derby without telling Clough in advance. The signing created a rift between the two men, who never spoke to one another afterward, a fact deeply regretted by Clough after Taylor's death.

In 2010, Derby County commemorated Taylor and Clough with a statue of the pair outside the ground.

28 May 1980 - Forest Climbs To The Top (Again)

On 28 May 1980, Nottingham Forest repeated as European Cup champions, making them the first team to win the tournament more times than their domestic league.

Forest won the previous tournament over Malmö, while Hamburg were making their first appearance in the final. Both had ousted prior champions in the semifinals, with Forest beating three-time winners Ajax 2-1 on aggregate and Hamburg eliminating six-time winners Real Madrid 5-3. The latter was particularly poignant, as the final was played at Madrid's home ground, the Bernabéu.

Forest's Trevor Francis, who scored the winning goal in 1979, was out injured, but they found another hero in winger John Robertson (pictured). In the 20th minute, Robertson played the ball to forward Garry Birtles, who held it up under pressure, then sent it back to a charging Robertson, who fired it low to the keeper's left, just edging it inside the post. It turned out to be the winner as the game ended 1-0.

It was part of a period of English dominance in the tournament, with Liverpool winning it in 1977 and 1978, Forest in 1979 and 1980, then Liverpool again in 1981 and Aston Villa in 1982 for six straight English wins. Hamburg broke the streak in 1983 when they returned to the final and beat Juventus 1-0.