# 1987–88 Nottingham Forest F.C. season

The 1987–88 season was Nottingham Forest's 123rd year in existence and 12th consecutive season in the First Division. Also the club competed in the FA Cup and League Cup.

## Summary

The season was, surprisingly, a decent campaign for Clough, with the club finishing third in the league despite losing several players during summer, but they did not play in the UEFA Cup the following season due to the ban on English clubs in Europe after the Heysel Stadium disaster. They finished 17 points behind champions Liverpool, who lost just twice all season (one of them against Forest on 2 April) and for much of the campaign looked uncatchable.
Forest lost just seven times in the league in 40 games, and lost only twice at City Ground, but a few disappointing draws against relatively unfancied sides including Charlton and Luton led to crucial points being dropped and prevented them from mounting a serious threat to Liverpool.
New arrivals for Clough were coming from the Youth team such as: Steve Chettle, Steve Locker, Gareth Price, Terry Wilson and Billy Stubbs, only to be Terry Wilson the one who clinched a spot as starter. Also, the club transferred in Gary Crosby, Tommy Gaynor, Nigel Jemson and Garry Parker in a clear sign of austerity for this season.
Meanwhile, Clough transferred out several starters such as: Ian Bowyer, Gary Mills, Garry Birtles, Fairclough and Johnny Metgod. In FA Cup the squad reached the semifinals for the first time ever in the "Clough era" being eliminated by Liverpool F.C. After rejected to play the first two editions (1985–86 and 1986–87) the club accepted to participate in the Full Members' Cup this 1987–88 campaign only to be eliminated on Round Three by Reading.

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ENG | Steve Sutton |
| — | GK | NED | Hans Segers |
| — | GK | WAL | Mark Crossley |
| — | DF | NIR | Gary Fleming |
| — | DF | ENG | Des Walker |
| — | DF | ENG | Brett Williams |
| — | DF | ENG | Darren Wassall |
| — | DF | ENG | Stuart Pearce (c) |
| — | DF | SCO | Terry Wilson |
| — | DF | ENG | Martin Scott |
| — | DF | ENG | Steve Locker |
| — | DF | ENG | Steve Chettle |
| — | DF | ENG | Colin Foster |
| — | MF | ENG | Franz Carr |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Neil Webb |
| — | MF | NIR | David Campbell |
| — | MF | NOR | Kjetil Osvold |
| — | MF | SCO | Brian Rice |
| — | MF | ENG | Calvin Plummer |
| — | MF | ENG | Garry Parker |
| — | MF | ENG | Gareth Price |
| — | MF | ENG | Gary Crosby |
| — | FW | ENG | Phil Starbuck |
| — | FW | ENG | Nigel Clough |
| — | FW | SCO | Lee Glover |
| — | FW | IRL | Tommy Gaynor |
| — | FW | ENG | Nigel Jemson |
| — | FW | ENG | Billy Stubbs |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| MF | Garry Parker | Hull City | £260,000 |
| FW | Nigel Jemson | Preston North End | £150,000 |
| MF | Gary Crosby | Grantham Town | £20,000 |
| FW | Tommy Gaynor | Doncaster Rovers | |
| GK | Mark Crossley | Youth team | |
| DF | Steve Chettle | Youth team | |
| DF | Steve Locker | Youth team | |
| MF | Gareth Price | Youth team | |
| MF | Terry Wilson | Youth team | |
| DF | Billy Stubbs | Youth team | |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| MF | Ian Bowyer | Hereford United | |
| MF | Gary Mills | Notts County | |
| FW | Garry Birtles | Notts County | |
| DF | Chris Fairclough | Tottenham Hotspur | |
| DF | Johnny Metgod | Tottenham Hotspur | |
| FW | David Riley | Port Vale | |
| DF | Gary Andrews | | |
| MF | Ray Campbell | | |
| FW | Paul Chalmers | | |
| GK | Paul Crichton | Peterborough United | |
| MF | Kjetil Osvold | Leicester City | loan |

#### Winter

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| DF | Martin Scott | Rotherham United | |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| GK | Hans Segers | Sheffield United | loan |
| DF | Steve Locker | Hartlepool United | |
| FW | Phil Starbuck | Birmingham City | loan |
| MF | Kjetil Osvold | Djurgårdens IF Fotboll | loan |
| FW | Dave Campbell | Notts County | loan |

## Results
### Division One
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Liverpool (C) | 40 | 26 | 12 | 2 | 87 | 24 | +63 | 90 | Disqualified from European Cup |
| 2 | Manchester United | 40 | 23 | 12 | 5 | 71 | 38 | +33 | 81 | Disqualified from UEFA Cup |
| 3 | Nottingham Forest | 40 | 20 | 13 | 7 | 67 | 39 | +28 | 73 | |
| 4 | Everton | 40 | 19 | 13 | 8 | 53 | 27 | +26 | 70 | |
| 5 | Queens Park Rangers | 40 | 19 | 10 | 11 | 48 | 38 | +10 | 67 | |

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | H | H | A | H |
| Result | W | W | D | W | D | L | L | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | L | D | W | W | W | W | L | L | D | D | W | D | W | L | D | D | W | W | W | L | D | D | W | W | D | D |
| Position | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |

#### Matches

* .- Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/nottingham-forest/tab/matches/season/1988/

### Football League Centenary Tournament
#### Final
## Statistics
### Squad statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Football League First Division | Football League First Division | FA Cup | FA Cup | Football League Cup | Football League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ENG | Steve Sutton | 44 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Steve Chettle | 37 | 0 | 28+2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Des Walker | 44 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Colin Foster | 48 | 2 | 38+1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Stuart Pearce | 43 | 6 | 34 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Brian Rice | 38 | 3 | 30 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Neil Webb | 49 | 16 | 40 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| | MF | SCO | Terry Wilson | 45 | 6 | 33+3 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Franz Carr | 25 | 5 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| | FW | ENG | Nigel Clough | 40 | 22 | 34 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| | FW | ENG | Paul Wilkinson | 35 | 8 | 24+2 | 5 | 4+1 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| | GK | NED | Hans Segers | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | NIR | Gary Fleming | 26 | 0 | 19+3 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Lee Glover | 23 | 4 | 17+3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Gary Crosby | 17 | 2 | 12+2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | IRL | Tommy Gaynor | 14 | 3 | 10+2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Calvin Plummer | 11 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | NIR | Dave Campbell | 8 | 0 | 7+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Brett Williams | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Darren Wassall | 3 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Phil Starbuck | 12 | 0 | 1+9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| | MF | NOR | Kjetil Osvold | 4 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Garry Parker | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | GK | WAL | Mark Crossley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Nigel Jemson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Steve Locker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Gareth Price | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Martin Scott | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Billy Stubbs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/nottingham-forest/tab/players/season/1988/