User:Malpass93/Nottingham Forest F.C. in European football

Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham. The club was founded in 1865 and has competed in the English football league system since 1892. Since their first qualification to major European cup competition in 1961, they have participated in the European Cup competition three times, winning it twice. They also undertook three UEFA Cup and two Inter-Cities Fairs Cup campaigns. Forest have also competed in the Texaco Cup, the Anglo-Italian Cup and have also won the Anglo-Scottish Cup in 1976–77. However, they have not competed in European cup competition since 1996.

Early years (1865–1898)
Forest's first match against a non-English side was a 4–2 friendly loss at home to Rangers of Glasgow on 16 February 1878. A pair of matches in Scotland followed in April 1878 where Forest lost 2–0 to Rangers before Forest registered their first win over non-English opposition, when Forest beat Ayr Thistle 3–0. Friendlies against Edinburgh University in 1879, Vale of Leven and Alexandra Athletic in 1881, and Dumbarton in 1883 and 1884 followed before Forest faced their first non-English club in tournament play. That team was Queen's Park, in the semi-final of the FA Cup in 1884–85. Queen's Park were the first Scottish club to take part in the FA Cup, eight years after Druids of Wales had become the first side from outside England to play in the tournament. Forest held Queen's Park to a 1–1 draw at the Racecourse Ground in Derby, however lost the replay at Merchiston Castle School 3–0. The semi-final replay made Forest the only team to have competed in a semi-final match in Scotland. The 1886–87 FA Cup was the first edition to feature clubs from all four of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland's countries when Cliftonville entered for the first time, reaching the third round before being beaten 11–0 by Partick Thistle in one of two ties in that season's third round to feature no English sides. Scottish clubs were barred from entering the FA Cup by the Scottish Football Association in 1887. In the first round of the 1888–89 FA Cup, Forest faced Irish club Linfield Athletic and drew 2–2. A replay was not forthcoming because Linfield withdrew from the tournament, however Forest had already left for Belfast by this point, so a friendly at Linfield followed a week later, which Linfield won 3–1. Forest played their first games against Hearts and Clyde in 1890, before Forest moved to the Town Ground.

Their first opposition at the Town Ground were Queen's Park, and the home team won 4–2. Forest visited Celtic in April 1892 before facing Dundee in 1896 and 1897; both Dundee ties were held at The Crystal Palace. Also in 1897, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the first European international club tournament–titled the Challenge Cup–was held, invented by Englishman John Gramlick. For the Nottingham side, two of their most important moments in their history occurred in 1898: they won the FA Cup Final on 16 April, and moved to the City Ground on the West Bridgford side of the River Trent on 3 September.

The City Ground (1898–19??)
More international club football tournament play was held in Paris at the 1900 Summer Olympics. In the first year that football was played at the modern Olympic Games, Great Britain, France and Belgium were represented by Upton Park, a USFSA XI and the Université de Bruxelles respectively. The following Olympiad, two American clubs and one Canadian team played each other. This was the last Olympic Games to feature club football, as the 1908 Games in London starred national sides, setting the template that would follow for all future Olympic men's football tournaments until 1992 when an under-23 age limit was introduced (from 1996 squads could feature three over-age players): the gold medal-winning Great Britain squad of 1908 featured ex-Forester Frederick Chapman. Having won 6–3 on 12 October 1899 in a friendly with a South African side called Kaffirs, the day before the start of the Second Boer War. Forest would also meet Irish clubs in the 1900s: Cliftonville in 1903 and Distillery of Belfast in 1904 would follow.

Forest toured Uruguay and Argentina in 1905, playing matches against Peñarol, Rosario Central, Belgrano, Alumni, Argentinos Juniors, as well as a "British residents team" known as Britanicos, and a Liga Argentina de Fútbol representative team. The tour inspired Independiente to adopt red as their club colour, after the Argentine club's President Arístides Langone described the tourists as looking like diabolos rojos ("red devils"), which would become Independiente's nickname. In 1909, the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy was created, gaining the nickname "the first World Cup", despite coming a year after the Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva featuring clubs from France, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland. It was won by West Auckland F.C. of County Durham, who went on to retain it in 1911.

After Forest returned from South America, they did not play another non-English team until March 1910, when they played their first match against Welsh opposition: Forest drew 0–0 with Merthyr Town–then of the Southern Football League–in a friendly match. The 1910s would not be kind to the Forest, as they slid from the First Division. Not even a visit from Queen's Park–two days after the end of the 1910–11 relegation league campaign, a far cry from the first time these clubs met–and a fixture on New Year's Day 1912 in Belfast, playing against Linfield Athletic once more–could rouse them from a slump that culminated with a finish of dead last in the Second Division in 1914. The suspension of the League and introduction of local wartime competitions in 1915 had a positive impact on the Reds on the pitch as they topped both their regional tables in 1915–16, however it restricted the distance that clubs could travel: their only non-English opposition during the Great War was a friendly fixture away at Cardiff City on 22 April 1915. Mid Rhondda were the first in the interwar years on 9 September 1919, two years and three days before Forest faced Aberdare Athletic for the first and only time. Of these Welsh sides, only the club from the capital still exists, after joining the League in 1920, facing Forest in the 1921–22 FA Cup and the First Division in 1922–23.

In 1927 Hugo Meisl instituted two continental tournaments in Central Europe: one for national teams called the Central European International Cup, and a club competition officially titled the Coupe de l'Europe Centrale though better known as the Mitropa Cup.

Forest played a friendly match against a Netherlands XI at the home of Sparta Rotterdam in May 1931, winning 3–1.

The first post-war match against non-English opposition was a friendly at Mürwik Stadion in Flensburg on 24 October 1945, against a "Combined Services XI". In the 1945–46 Forest faced Welsh sides Swansea Town and Wrexham.

In 1949 the Latin Cup was founded for clubs in Latin Europe, one of a number of regional international club tournaments. Similar competitions popped up across Europe in the years that followed, including the European Railways Cup which became a club tournament in 1959, and the Alpine Cup and the Balkans Cup, which both started in 1960.

In 1955 Forest played two matches away at East Fife. Both games were held under the floodlights at Bayview Park. The first tie, held in March 1955, finished 5–1 to Forest. In the latter match, in November of the same year, Forest lost 3–2. Playing floodlit matches was in vogue in the mid-1950s, especially in Scotland, as some 18 matches featuring English clubs were played under Scottish floodlights in the opening four months of the 1955–56 season. In England, this innovation sparked the formation of the Southern Professional Floodlit Cup, which started in 1955. These matches were indicative of an incoming change as before the season was out, the first floodlit full England international and Football League match would be played. The developments of floodlights coupled with the success of earlier continental competitions encouraged the creation of the European Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, both of which started their inaugural tournaments in 1955. By 1956, a British floodlit championship was pitched, initially backed by six clubs. By the time of a Scottish Football League (SFL) meeting in May 1957, ten Scottish clubs agreed to participate in a tournament that was open to teams from the Football League (of England), the SFL, the League of Ireland (for clubs of the Republic of Ireland) and the Irish Football League (made up of Northern Irish teams). This was halted at the SFL's annual general meeting on 31 May 1957, when the motion to allow Scottish clubs to join was defeated by one vote.

The first notable attempt at a world championship for clubs was the Tournoi de Paris, inaugurated in 1957.

After Forest won the 1959 FA Cup Final, they embarked upon a tour of Iberia, starting in Portugal by visiting Lisbon side Sporting Club before heading to Spain to play Real Oviedo, Valencia–the Andalusian contest in front of 75,000 spectactors–and Atlético Madrid before finishing at Bilbao outfit Athletic Club.

In 1960 the European Cup Winners' Cup, organised initially by the Mitropa Cup committee before UEFA took control in 1961, was the next European tournament to be introduced. That same year the International Football Cup (IFC) was established. The IFC was renamed to the Intertoto Cup in 1962.

1961–62 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Forest's maiden European camapign came in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1961–62, with fellow English clubs Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday. The Wednesday club were also making their European début, while the West Midlanders were Fairs Cup ever-presents, having never failed to reach the final four at this point.

For Forest, it would only be a brief excursion, as Forest drew Valencia in the first round, who won 7–1 on aggregate. Billy Cobb gained the honour of being the first European goalscorer for Forest, with what a 1995 retrospective by The Independent described as "a free-kick intended as a cross" in the second leg, which was held at the City Ground. Waldo Machado bagged a brace in both legs, while Héctor Núñez scored a hat-trick in England. Valencia went on to win the tournament, beating FC Barcelona in the Final.

Valencia would face Forest again twice before the decade was out; first in 1965 at the City Ground in a match celebrating Forest's centenary, which finished 1–1 and again in 1967 as Forest visited Valencia and Barcelona.

1967–68 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Forest's second and last Fairs Cup campaign came in the 1967–68 tournament, after finishing runners-up in the First Division to Manchester United the season before. Forest competed alongside Liverpool and eventual winners Leeds United. In the first round, Forest faced Eintracht Frankfurt. Joe Baker scored the only goal in a 1–0 away win in the first leg. In the second leg, a 4–0 rout in Nottingham–a Joe Baker brace inside 35 minutes was followed by strikes from Bob Chapman and Barry Lyons–saw the Reds progress.

In the second round, Forest faced an FC Zürich side featuring Köbi Kuhn, who was described as "the greatest Swiss player of all time" in a 2014 retrospective. In the home leg, Henry Newton–a boyhood Forest fan –opened the scoring, before Fritz Künzli equalized, however an Ian Storey-Moore converted penalty ensured a 2–1 victory for Forest. Forest lost 1–0 in the away leg through a Christian Winiger goal, eliminating them. However, the team appeared unaware of the away goals rule and stayed on the pitch after full-time, awaiting extra time.

The Fairs Cup was taken over by UEFA in 1971, and rebranded as the UEFA Cup, complete with a new trophy.

1970–71 Texaco Cup
Nottingham Forest entered the Texaco Cup, organised by the International Football Association Board and sponsored by Texaco, in the tournament's debut season: the 1970–71 season. The competition, featuring clubs from England, Scotland and all-Ireland, was initially referred to as "the British Isles Cup" or "the British Cup". This was despite never featuring a Welsh club.

In a draw geared to initially keep the Irish clubs together, Forest faced Scottish club Airdrieonians in the first round. In the first leg held at home, the match finished 2–2, with the Forest goals from Peter Cormack and Ian Storey-Moore and Airdrie's two goals both from Drew Busby. After a 2–2 draw in the second leg and extra time unable to divide the teams, a penalty shoot-out was required to decide the winner. The Lanarkshire side won 5–4, and Forest were eliminated. This was the first time a Scottish club had been involved in a penalty shoot-out.

The Irish contingent left the tournament after the 1971–72 edition, due to political pressure. Instead, they established their own version in 1973–74 and 1974–75. The 1974–75 event was also the last Texaco Cup in England and Scotland, as following Texaco's withdrawal of sponsorship in 1975, the competition was replaced by the Anglo-Scottish Cup for the 1975–76 season.

1976–77 Anglo-Scottish Cup
Forest's 1976–77 campaign started with a 0–0 draw against Notts County at Meadow Lane in the 1976–77 Anglo-Scottish Cup in front of 11,258. This marked the first time that the Nottingham derby was held in European competition - it would not happen again until 1993. Four days later came a 3–2 victory over West Bromwich Albion at the City Ground through two goals from Terry Curran (one a penalty) and one from Barry Butlin. Butlin would make it three goals in three days with his brace against Bristol City as Forest won 4–2, John O'Hare also scoring twice. These two home wins led to Forest progressing from their group.

In the two-legged quarter-final, Forest were to face Kilmarnock: their first Scottish opposition of the tournament and first non-English opponents in competitive football during the Brian Clough era. Killie took the lead with a penalty scored by Gordon Smith however John Robertson and club captain Bob Chapman both scored to secure Forest a 2–1 home win. Forest then lost the away leg by the same scoreline, and needed a goal from Curran in extra time to seal the tie. Ayr United were the semifinal opposition, and Forest beat them home and away to set up an all-England final with Orient. The second leg versus Ayr was the first time that goalscorers Peter Withe and Tony Woodcock would play together for the first-team; this combination would be vital in the League the following seasons.

The first leg at Brisbane Road finished 1–1, and Forest registered a 4–0 win at home to win the tournament. This was Brian Clough's first trophy as Forest manager. Clough would later state that Forest's future success came from winning this tournament as it taught his team "how to win". The Anglo-Scottish Cup win features in Forest's honours list, under 'Minor honours'.

1978–79 European Cup
Forest won the Football League Cup on 22 March 1978, after winning the Final 1–0 against Liverpool after a replay. This secured them a place in the 1978–79 UEFA Cup. However, Forest went on to win their solitary top-flight championship in the 1977–78 season, leading to their first campaign in the European Cup.

In preparation for this, all of Forest's pre-season friendlies were against European opposition. Forest played against Red Star Belgrade, Dinamo Zagreb, NK Osijek, AEK Athens, Celta Vigo and F.C. Porto. Forest failed to win a single pre-season friendly, registering draws in all but the matches against Red Star and Porto.

In an unseeded draw, Forest were matched with 1977–78 European champions Liverpool in the first round, setting up the first all-English tie in European Cup history and the first all-UK European Cup clash since Liverpool faced Crusaders of Belfast in 1976–77. Goals from Garry Birtles and Colin Barrett saw Forest overcome their English opposition, much to the surprise of the media. The result has continued to be viewed favourably in retrospect: Forest had the honour of "eliminating what many remember as Anfield's best-ever lineup" according to Richard Williams of The Guardian in 2015.

In the second round Forest were drawn against AEK Athens, Forest's pre-season opponents. Goals from John McGovern and Garry Birtles preceeded a second-half penalty scored by Tasos Konstantinou, resulting in a 2–1 first-leg away win. In the second leg, Forest won 5–1, thanks to two goals from Garry Birtles and one each from David Needham, Tony Woodcock and Viv Anderson, while Dušan Bajević scored for the visitors, resulting in talk of Forest returning with the trophy.

Victory against the Athenian club put Forest in a quarter-final round where not one of the eight remaining clubs were European Cup winners or finalists; only one (Rangers, in 1959–60) was a former last-four participant. In the first leg against Grasshopper, leading goalscorer and law student Claudio Sulser scored his tenth European Cup goal of the season for the Swiss side, however goals from Birtles, John Robertson, Archie Gemmill and Larry Lloyd secured a 4–1 win for Forest. In the second leg, Sulser again opened the scoring, this time from a penalty given for a foul by Viv Anderson; that was cancelled out by Martin O'Neill's goal, meaning Grasshopper went out 5–2 on aggregate. Despite going out at the quarter-final stage, Sulser finished as 1978–79 European Cup top scorer, five clear of second-placed Birtles' haul of six.

Forest met 1. FC Köln in the semi-finals. The tie at Forest finished 3–3. Köln gained a 2–0 lead with goals from Roger Van Gool and Dieter Müller, then Forest battled back to 3–2 with Birtles, Ian Bowyer and Robertson getting onto the scoresheet, before Yasuhiko Okudera bagged the equalizer for Köln. The equaliser led the press to predict Forest's exit. Clough dismissed the negativity, responding that Forest were "still capable of scoring more than [Köln] the next we meet" and ended by saying "I hope no-one’s stupid enough to write us off", adding In the second leg, a headed goal from Ian Bowyer led to a 1–0 win for Forest saw them secure their place in the Final. This line would become an integral part of club lore: in 201? I Believe in Miracles director Jonny Owen produced a pre-match video for the City Ground's jumbotron, this comment was the final frame.

Trevor Francis, who had signed for the club prior to their tie in Zurich, made his European début, having been ineligible to appear in the quarter-finals or semi-finals owing to UEFA rules on registration. Match report.

Forest's triumph meant they were one of a small number of clubs to win the European Cup at the first attempt, after Real Madrid in the inaugural tournament, Forest were also only the third club to win the trophy unbeaten. Inter Milan in 1963–64,, and Celtic in 1966–67.

1979 pre-season; Trofeo Villa de Bilbao
For the second season running, all pre-season fixtures were played against foreign opposition. Forest started with a trip to Holstebro, and after the Reds went into the half-time interval 4–0 up, Peter Shilton went in goal for the Danes, who scored one and conceded one in the second half. Next, Forest returned to the Olympiastadion just two months after their victory against Malmö, only to be beaten 5–0 by hosts FC Bayern Munich. Their next port of call was Spain.

In August 1979, Athletic Bilbao held the sixth edition of an invitational tournament at their San Mamés Stadium home stadium called the Trofeo Villa de Bilbao. As well as the home team, the teams to take part were Dinamo București, Botafogo and Forest. In the semi-final against Botafogo, Forest won 2–1, with goals from Garry Birtles and Tony Woodcock. In the final, Forest again won 2–1, John Robertson scoring both Forest goals. The Reds were the first English winners of the tournament, after Queens Park Rangers (in 1975), Derby (in 1976) and Aston Villa (in 1977) had tried before them, and the only English winners. The competition was last held in 1982.

1979 European Super Cup
Forest's European Cup victory saw them face 1978–79 European Cup Winners' Cup winners Barcelona in the European Super Cup. The 1979 Super Cup was actually held in early 1980, owing to problems with arranging dates for the matches to be held on. The first leg was held at the City Ground, and Charlie George scored the only goal of the game. In the second leg at the Nou Camp, a penalty kick converted by Roberto Dinamite levelled the agreggate score, however Kenny Burns scored to settle the match in Forest's favour, and the Barcelonistas applauded off the victorious Reds. The clash in Catalonia was watched by 80,000, no subsequent final has overtaken this figure and only the 1975 second leg posted a higher attendance. victory in the Super Cup tie gives Forest the second-best European record of an English club against Barcelona.

1979–80 European Cup
The Reds successfully retained the League Cup on 17 March 1979, winning the Final 1–0 against Southampton. This meant that Forest were guaranteed European football the following season with a place in the 1979–80 UEFA Cup. However, thanks to winning the European Cup the previous year, they did not take up the UEFA Cup place. Liverpool would qualify as English champions.

In the first round against Öster, a brace from Ian Bowyer secured a 2–0 home win. A 1–1 draw away was enough to ensure safe passage to the second round; Tony Woodcock was the Forest goalscorer, cancelling out Mats Nordgren's goal.

Argeș Pitești were the second round opposition. For the first leg the Reds had two "key players" sidelined, one of whom was Trevor Francis, who returned late from his loan spell with the Detroit Express of the North American Soccer League. Forest won the first leg 2–0 with goals from Tony Woodcock and Garry Birtles. In the second leg at Stadionul 1. Mai, Forest won 2–1 through goals scored by Ian Bowyer and Garry Birtles, with John Robertson's performance credited as "great" by the Evening Times. This match was watched by 22,000: this broke the attendance record for that stadium, and that record still stands to this day.

The draw then set Forest up with East German side Dynamo Berlin. The only goal of the first leg was scored by Dynamo's Hans-Jürgen Riediger. Following a 16th minute goal from Ian Bowyer, a two-goal blast in as many minutes from Trevor Francis and a John Robertson penalty set Forest up to take the second leg match 3–1 and the tie 3–2 on aggregate, despite Berlin captain Frank Terletzki's penalty early in the second half.

In the semi-final, Forest were drawn against AFC Ajax. Goals from Trevor Francis and another John Robertson penalty saw Forest win the home leg 2–0. Even though Ajax's Søren Lerby scored the only goal to win the Dutch team the match, it was not enough for them to progress and Forest went through to their second European Cup Final. Lerby finished as 1979–80 European Cup top scorer with ten goals.

Forest were to face Hamburger SV, who had beaten Real Madrid to deprive them of a home final, at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Forest won 1–0 thanks to a goal from John Robertson that went in off the post. Forest's performance was described as "unspectactular" and defensive" by Reuters. Some criticism went further than that: German journalist Uli Hesse remarked in a 2015 retrospective that the champions were "a dour and defensive but well-organised Nottingham Forest team", while La Gazzetta dello Sport joked that "Forest showed how English teams can implement Catenaccio", a sentiment echoed by Glasgow Herald reporter Ian Paul. The Guardian however stated that with Trevor Francis sidelined, such tactics were necessary. Several sources picked out Peter Shilton as deserving of praise, with United Press International stating that Hamburg "would surely have scored twice in the first half and again in the second but for acrobatic saves from Shilton". The goalkeeper was also honoured by L'Equipe in 2016, who put him in their list of the 100 greatest players to play in the European Cup; he was the only Forester to make the cut.

The win made Forest the second English team (after Liverpool) to retain the European Cup. It also made them the only club to win the European Cup more times than their domestic top-level league championship.

1980 European Super Cup
The 1980 European Super Cup was held between Forest and the 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup winners Valencia. Argentinian international forward Darío Felman opened the scoring by bagging a crucial away goal, before Ian Bowyer scored two to see Forest win the home leg 2–1, in front of 12,000 people. However, the leg at the Luis Casanova Stadium finished 1–0 to the home team, enough to win the tournament for them on away goals; Fernando Morena was the goalscorer after tapping in an Enrique Saura shot that rebounded from the crossbar. This marked the first occassion that the European Super Cup was decided in this way.

1980 Intercontinental Cup
The Intercontinental Cup was created in 1960, to be competed for over two legs by the European champions and the winners of the Copa Libertadores, South America's continental cup. Forest elected not to enter the 1979 edition, which was won by Club Olimpia of Paraguay when they defeated Malmö, Forest's replacements.

After the 1979 event, sweeping changes were brought in for the 1980 tournament. Toyota became title sponsors, added a secondary Toyota Cup trophy, made withdrawals more difficult, scrapped the two-legged format and instituted a grand final held in the neutral venue of the National Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Forest duly signed up, becoming participants in the first tournament under the new conditions.

However, the fixture was not of utmost importance with Forest high command, as it came in between a league clash with Manchester City the Saturday beforehand and an FA Cup fifth round tie against Bristol City on the following Saturday. Peter Taylor admitted to United Press International that "The Intercontinental Cup, in terms of priority to Nottingham, is below the League Championship and [FA] Cup". Only fourteen players were in the travelling pack, though Forest stated that as they were in Asia for a "lightning" visit, the tournament demanded only a small contingent.

They faced the 1980 Copa Libertadores winners Club Nacional de Football. Despite Forest having the better of the play, Nacional won the second of their three Intercontinental Cup titles. Waldemar Victorino was the sole goalscorer, and was also awared the man of the match accolade. The Japanese pitch was described as "bare and bumpy" in a 1989 retrospective, slated by Brian Clough at the post-match press conference, and Peter Taylor branded it a "disgrace". The match ball, an Adidas Tango Durlast similar to that used during the 1978 FIFA World Cup, reportedly ended up in the possession of Abraham Klein–the match referee –who put it up for sale in 2016.

After failed attempts in the 1970s and 1980s to create a tournament to decide the true world champion club with representatives from all continents, the FIFA Club World Championship was conceived in Las Vegas in December 1993 and first played in 2000 with eight clubs from six confederations. This new tournament, renamed as the FIFA Club World Cup in time for the 2006 instalment, would be seen as replacing the Intercontinental Cup, with the final edition being held in 2004.

1980–81 European Cup
Forest's victory in Madrid saw them guaranteed a place in the 1980–81 European Cup. Liverpool would again qualify as English champions. Both clubs were highly rated contenders at the start of the tournament; indeed, a third consecutive title would have allowed Forest to retain the trophy in perpetuity, under the rules of the time.

In pre-season, Forest embarked upon a tour of the "United States, Canada and South America". Whilst there, Forest played out a goalless draw with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in front of 21,857. The Rowdies returned the favour, dropping by the City Ground during a tour of the British Isles in autumn 1980, facing Luton Town, Birmingham City, Linfield and an Irish League XI before visiting Nottingham.

Forest were drawn with CSKA Sofia, and were favoured to overcome them and progress. However, Forest lost 1–0 in the first leg away at the Vasil Levski National Stadium, described by The Canadian Press as a 'faltering start' and by The Palm Beach Post as an 'upset'. Forest lost by the same scoreline at home, and their run of 11 consecutive European Cup rounds was finally over.

1982 Trofeo Colombino
On the weekend on 21 and 22 August 1982, Recreativo de Huelva held the 1982 edition of an invitational tournament at their Estadio Colombino home stadium called the Trofeo Colombino. As well as the home team, the teams to take part were Athletic Bilbao, Sevilla and Forest. Clough had taken his former club Derby County to Spain for this tournament in 1973. In the semi-final against Athletic Bilbao, Forest won 3–1, with two goals from Mark Proctor and one from Ian Wallace. In the final, the Reds won 1–0, Ian Bowyer scoring an 82nd-minute winner. Forest were the first English winners of the tournament, after Derby (in 1973) and Manchester City (in 1976) had tried before them, and, the only English winners. Like the Anglo-Scottish Cup win in 1976, Forest include this in their honours list, in the "Minor honours" section.

1983 pre-season; Joan Gamper Trophy
After beating Notts County in the Nottinghamshire County Cup final four days after the end of their league programme, Forest did not play a single English club in pre-season. Instead, they visited Canadian outfits Montreal Manic and Toronto Blizzard, FC Utrecht, a Romania XI, FC Groningen, Club Brugge, Real Zaragoza, and Swansea City. Of these fixtures, Forest won against Le Manic, the Romania XI and Swansea, registering a 1–1 draw in the game with Brugge.

On the weekend on 23 and 24 August 1983, Barcelona held the 1983 edition of an invitational tournament at their Camp Nou home stadium called the Joan Gamper Trophy. As well as the home team, the teams to take part were Borussia Dortmund, Anderlecht and Forest. The Reds were the third English entry, after Ipswich Town and Manchester City had competed in the previous two events. Forest lost both the semi-final to the home side, and the third place match to the Belgians. Barcelona would win in the final, winning the title for only the second time in the 1980s. Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur would play in the 1984 and 1986 tournaments with little success before the tournament was reduced to two clubs starting with the 1997 edition, and the first English team to win the Trophy were Manchester City in 2009.

1983–84 UEFA Cup
A fifth-placed finish in the 1982–83 season was sealed by a 3–0 win at Swansea City, which earnt Forest their first UEFA Cup entry. English clubs Aston Villa, Watford, and Tottenham Hotspur also qualified for the 1983–84 tournament, the latter of which would go on to win the tournament.

Against Vorwärts Frankfurt in the first leg of the first round, Ian Wallace and Steve Hodge scored to give Forest a 2–0 win.

Next up for Forest were Dutch club PSV Eindhoven. In the first leg in the Netherlands Forest won 2–1 with goals from Peter Davenport and Colin Walsh.

The draw for the third round paired Forest with Scottish club Celtic in what was described by Glaswegian newspaper Evening Times as a "plum tie", and by the Daily Mirror as a "battle of Britain". The first leg in Nottingham finished 0–0, with Forest manager Brian Clough and Celtic manager David Hay agreeing that the away side were the better team. The second leg at Celtic Park was a 2–1 win for Forest thanks to goals from Steve Hodge and Colin Walsh. The victory was described as "the biggest upset", while Forest's defensive performance praised as "disciplined". This made Forest the first English team to win a European tie at Celtic Park.

The quarter-final draw matched Forest up with Sturm Graz. In the first leg of the quarter-final, Forest won 1–0 thanks to a goal from Paul Hart. A Božo Bakota penalty meant that the second leg in Austria ended 1–0 to Sturm after ninety minutes, and Forest needed a goal in extra time from a penalty of their own, scored by Colin Walsh, to progress.

In the semi-final, Forest drew their final pre-season opposition: Anderlecht. The Reds won the home leg 2–0, with both Forest goals coming from Steve Hodge. In the second leg Anderlecht won 3–0, with goals from Enzo Scifo, Kenneth Brylle Larsen and Erwin Vandenbergh. Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo criticised the English club as "ultra-conservative", adding that they showed little attacking intent until the latter stages of the match.

It later emerged that the Belgian club had bribed referee Emilio Guruceta Muro, with estimated sums ranging from £18,000 to £20,000. In the match, a penalty to Anderlecht was unjustly awarded and a Paul Hart headed goal at the end which would have won the match for Forest was unfairly disallowed. According to Inside Out, the Royal Belgian Football Association received intelligence on the bribery in the early-1990s, and being unable to investigate corruption, passed it on to UEFA. They opened an investigation into the affair in 1991, finding no wrongdoing. However, in February 1997, UEFA banned Anderlecht from "the next European competition they qualify for", reportedly in relation to both the Forest scandal and misconduct in the second round tie with Banik Ostrava of Czechoslovakia. Though Anderlecht elected not to file a lawsuit against UEFA, the issue did come before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in May 1998, who overturned the decision. Muro died in a car accident in 1987, and was hence not able to be held accountable. In December 1997, the club as well as sixteen Forest players, including Steve Hodge and Paul Hart, took Anderlecht to court. The case was still alive at the time of the CAS decision in May 1998, however the case was eventually "lost in the annals of Belgian law".

1984 World Soccer Series
Forest played in the World Soccer Series in May and June 1984, held in Australia. The Series pitched the club, Manchester United, Thessaloniki side Iralklis, Juventus of Turin and Glasgow's Rangers club against two home national representative teams: designated Australia A and Australia B. Forest were without manager Brian Clough, who had remained in England, while United brought a weakened side, receiving the wrath of the tournament organiser in the local press in response.

The tour for Forest was opened with a 4–1 win over Western Australia in a warm-up game at the Lake Monger Velodrome in Perth. The Australian A team were Forest's first opposition in the Series proper, in a 1–1 draw on 30 May at the Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide. 21,099 supporters watched a 1–0 defeat for Forest in the all-English match in Melbourne on 3 June. In Brisbane on 7 June, a 2–2 draw between the Socceroos and the Reds. On 11 June Forest played out their last match of the tour, a goalless draw with the Australian B team in front of 1,000 in the "crater-like" Sydney Cricket Ground; the match had a police presence despite poor ticket sales.

Socceroo Alan Davidson–given Man of the Match for the Forest fixture by The Sydney Morning Herald and later awarded the player of the Series accolade by Soccer Action magazine for his performances in the Australian side–signed for Forest soon after. Forest coach Ron Fenton was quoted as saying "That boy Davidson could play in any team in England". Robbie Slater was also offered a Forest contract, after the Australia B match in Sydney, but was unable to agree terms.

1984–85 UEFA Cup
A finish of third in the 1983–84 season earnt Forest a second consecutive UEFA Cup campaign. English clubs Manchester United, Queens Park Rangers, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur also qualified for the 1984–85 tournament.

Just as in the previous year, a Belgian club would end Forest's European adventure - this time it was Club Brugge, who knocked Forest out with a 1–0 win at their Olympiastadion after the first leg at the City Ground finished scoreless.

1985–91
English clubs were banned from taking part in European competition in the aftermath of the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985. This affected Forest when they won the League Cup in the 1988–89 and 1989–90 tournaments, feats that would ordinarily have seen Forest qualify for the 1989–90 and 1990–91 UEFA Cups, respectively. The ban was in place until 1990–91, and England did not regain their pre-1985 allocation of clubs to send to UEFA-sanctioned European cup competition until 1995–96.

Forest did, however, enter the Tennents' Sixes tournament in 1988, which was a six-a-side indoor football tournament held at the Scottish Exhibition Centre. The Tennents' Sixes was normally an all-Scottish affair, however after Rangers pulled out of the competition, Forest were invited to take their place, as reigning English sixes champions. For the group stage, Forest competed in Group Four, against Dundee United and Falkirk. The Reds triumphed over both, 3–1 and 2–1 respectively. After being seen as favourites to win the competition after Celtic and Hearts were knocked out on the first day of the tournament, Forest were knocked out on penalties by Aberdeen - Tennents' Sixes title holders two years running - in the quarter-finals. Dundee won the tournament, beating Motherwell 3–2.

Though the first-teams of England were banned from Europe, Forest's youth team travelled to Zurich to play in the 1989 Blue Stars Cup at the home of FC Blue Stars Zürich. The Reds were victorious in Switzerland, finishing ahead of runners-up AC Varese, third-placed Vitesse and fourth-placed FC Zürich. The Blue Stars Cup was taken over by FIFA in 1991 and became the Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup in 1995.

1992 Wembley International Tournament
The Wembley International Tournament was a friendly competition held in England from 1988 to 1994. The 1992 iteration was held at Elland Road and featured home club Leeds United, Forest, German club VfB Stuttgart and Sampdoria of Italy: victors in the 1990 and 1991 editions. Both continental clubs beat Forest – Sampdoria in the semi-final and Stuttgart in the third place match – and Forest failed to score a goal. The Italians won their third consecutive championship by beating Leeds in the final.

1993–94 Anglo-Italian Cup
In Forest's only Anglo-Italian Cup entry, they were placed in Group 3, with 1992–93 finalists Derby County and cross-city rivals Notts County. In the only occassion that the East Midlands derby has been contested in European tournament football, Forest lost 3–2 to Derby, with Forest's goals coming from Scot Gemmill and Lee Glover. The Notts County match finished 1–1; Forest's goal came from Stan Collymore, while Notts' was scored by Gary Lund. Forest finished bottom of the group; it was Notts who would progress from Group 3. Notts eventually lost in the final to Brescia. The tournament itself was scrapped after the 1995–96 tournament because the two leagues could not agree on dates for fixtures, and due to increasing violence at matches.

1995–96 UEFA Cup
Under Frank Clark, Forest finished third in the 1994–95 FA Premier League, having only been promoted the previous season. This led to Forest competing in the 1995–96 UEFA Cup, along with English clubs Leeds United, Liverpool, and Manchester United.

Pre-season: Andrea Silenzi's début versus Skjetten

The first round draw matched the Reds up with their 1979 European Cup Final opposition Malmö. Forest's first UEFA Cup goal in eleven years was scored by Ian Woan, however, a goal each for Malmö's Joakim Persson and Anders Andersson saw the Swedish team win the first leg. In the second leg, Bryan Roy's left-footed volley saw Forest win 1–0, which was enough to see them through on away goals.

In the second round Forest were drawn against AJ Auxerre. Forest won 1–0 in the first leg, with a goal from Steve Stone; his performance was credited as "match-winning" by the Nottingham Evening Post. The second leg was scoreless, and Forest progressed on.

Next, Forest would again face French opposition, this time in the shape of Olympique Lyonnais. In the home leg, Forest won 1–0, with substitute Paul McGregor scoring his first goal at the City Ground after a Stuart Pearce penalty was saved. The second leg finished goalless, thanks to a Forest defence praised as "invincible".

Forest next faced Bayern Munich in a tie featuring two of five European Cup winners remaining at the quarter-final stage. Agence France-Presse favoured Munich to progress, opining that the Tricky Trees were "due their come-uppance after squeezing through the earlier rounds". The leg in Bavaria finished 2–1 to the home team; goals from Jürgen Klinsmann and Mehmet Scholl came either side of a Steve Chettle headed goal for Forest. However, having missed early opportunities to get into a winning position, the English club suffered what the Daily Mirror described as "complete humiliation" in the return fixture as Bayern won 5–1, while manager Frank Clark called the match "an object lesson in counter-attacking". Thomas Strunz got two goals while Klinsmann, Christian Ziege and Jean-Pierre Papin also got onto the scoresheet; Steve Stone got a late consolation for Forest. Klinsmann left the pitch wearing a Forest shirt. The German club, branded FC Hollywood in the media around this time, sealed their place in the Final by beating Barcelona in the semi-final. They went on to win the tournament, beating 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup graduates FC Girondins de Bordeaux 5–1 on aggregate.

1996 Umbro International Tournament
In August 1996, the Umbro International Tournament was held at Forest's City Ground. In addition to Forest, the other teams involved were Chelsea, English Double winners Manchester United and AFC Ajax: 1996 UEFA Champions League Finalists and Eredivisie winners. All of the participant clubs had their kit manufactured by tournament sponsors Umbro.

In the semi-final held on 3 August, Forest drew 0–0 with Chelsea, but lost 4–3 on penalties. This led to them being pitted against Manchester United, who had lost to Ajax in their semi-final, in the third place playoff match. Kevin Campbell scored to give Forest the lead, however late goals from David Beckham, Brian McClair and Phil Neville saw United win. Chelsea won the tournament, beating Ajax 2–0 in the final. The tournament would be held once more, the following year at Goodison Park.

Wilderness years
Forest have not been involved in international club competition since 1996, but despite this Forest have still faced teams from other nations in friendly matches in the intervening years, starting with a friendly with Shelbourne in August 1996.

1997 tour of Finland, Pallo-Iirot, FC Haka, FinnPa.

2000: Major League Soccer side Miami Fusion. Harbour View of Jamaica.

2001: DVS '33, Heracles Almelo.

In May 2002 Forest faced French sdes Le Mans and Le Havre, the latter fixture something of a homecoming for French full-back Matthieu Louis-Jean.

In July 2002 and July 2003, Forest played against Saint-Medard and FC Libourne-Saint-Seurin.

2004 tour of the United States. The tour began with a clash with MLS' D.C. United. Ezra Hendrickson's early opener for the Washington, D.C. club was cancelled out by Andy Reid in the 32nd minute. With no further goals, the match was settled by a penalty shoot-out, won 4–3 by the Black-and-Red: fourteen-year-old Freddy Adu one of United's successful takers, while former Forester Ben Olsen–a fan favourite during his time on Trentside –scored the decisive spot-kick. Richmond Kickers. University of Richmond Stadium. Virginia Beach Mariners. The Kickers match was held on the same day as the Forest Ladies' match against the Washington Freedom. The decision to go on the USA tour was criticised by Al Needham in the February 2005 issue of When Saturday Comes, who stated that the tour was "incredibly ill-advised", adding that it "knackered up pre-season training and led to Forest not winning any of their first nine league games" in a season that would end with Forest relegated to League One, becoming the first European Cup-winner to be relegated to their domestic third tier, and remain the only club to have done so.

2005 tour of Denmark. The tour began with a goalless draw against Silkeborg IF, in which native Dane trialist Rune Pedersen kept goal for the Reds. Odense, Despite David Friio's goal giving Forest the lead against Slagelse B&I, Forest were defeated 2–1. Upon Forest's return, Pedersen signed permanently.

2007: Kilmarnock.

2008: Kickers Offenbach. In 2009, a visit to the Estadio Municipal de Albufeira in which Forest won 1–0 against Sporting Club with a Paul Anderson goal. This was followed by a five day "training camp".

2010: These include a 2–0 win at Portguese side S.C. Olhanense, before Olympique Lyonnais returned to the City Ground for the first time since their UEFA Cup meeting back in 1995. The Ligue 1 runners-up and 2009–10 UEFA Champions League semi-finalists won 3–1 with a goal from Jimmy Briand and a Bafétimbi Gomis brace; Forest's Dele Adebola beat France No.1 Hugo Lloris in the 34th minute. BBC Sport's view of the match was that Lyon "showed their class to ease to victory".

2011: Stuttgart. PSV Eindhoven.

2013: Tour of Portugal: included a match against Hibernian, Home tie with Royal Antwerp, Motherwell.

2014: Revisited Portugal. Based in Braga, beat F.C. Porto B 3–2 and lost 1–0 to Rio Ave.

2022: Hertha BSC before facing Berlin rival club Union Berlin.

International sides
As well as playing against foreign clubs, Forest have played a small number of exhibition matches against international sides. A 2001 tour of England by the India national football team included against Brentford, Leyton Orient, Walsall and Forest. Forest won 2–0. In 2008, a "Republic of Ireland XI" latterly described as the Republic of Ireland B national football team played host to Forest, and beat them 2–0. In July 2012, a Forest team featuring "a number of trialists" beat the Chile national under-20 football team 1–0.

Players
These records pertain to the European Cup, European Super Cup, and the UEFA Cup (Fairs Cup included) only.

Appearances

 * Substitute appearances appear in brackets.