I’ve been hearing whispers of a proposed ‘Brian Clough Trophy’ for a while now, and to be honest, I’d always hoped it was a scurrilous rumour, as the idea seems preposterous. Rather than a regular fixture preseason (along the lines of the County Cup), this seems to be a sub-competition that takes place whenever Forest and Derby meet, be it in the league, cup or friendlies.
The first fixture will be completed on 31st July 2007 at Pride Park, and the proceeds will go to charity, which is brilliant - but I still have my reservations about the concept, or well, the timing of the concept I suppose. The tone of voice of the announcements on both the Forest and Derby websites makes it sound all very jolly and of mutual benefit, but it feels more like squabbling over the good name of our legend in common.
Perhaps underpinning my reservations is the obvious gulf between the two sides at the moment - with Derby about to embark on a Premiership adventure, and us languishing in the third tier, it is basically a barely-needed extra opportunity for the Derby fans to have a good laugh at our expense as their team summarily wipes the floor with us.
However the use of the first match to raise cash for good causes is a big sweetener for me - I just reckon it would’ve been worth waiting a year before starting, from our point of view, because we all hope against hope that we’ll be promoted - and well, whilst nothing is certain, it’s certainly not improbable that Derby will be relegated, and then we’d start off on a more level playing field.
Mind you, it would be great to go there and beat ‘em 
4 July, 2007 at 10:08 pm
I had similar reservations as you NFFC when I first read about this, but I think this could provide an added novelty of the Forest - Derby ‘derby’. It will help maintain an appreciation of the history of both clubs for future generations (not that our fans would ever let anybody forget it).
I assume that whoever wins is the reigning Brian Clough trophy champion, and that means that potentially, if we were ever in the same division again, the trophy could be up for grabs 4 times and at least twice! A bit like a boxing title but with only two fighters. I hope that in years to come this is seen as an important traditon of the derby games and an added bragging right that actually matters for the fans that support each team. Indeed, anything less, would be dishonourable to the great man’s name.
Also, that is an awesome picture, where did you get it from?
4 July, 2007 at 10:18 pm
I liked it too - amazing what Google Images chucks up when you’re least expecting it!
5 July, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Matt Lockwood then! We were after him in Jan werent we? Should be a good signing.
6 July, 2007 at 11:43 pm
I don’t think we have pleased our neighbours over the trent on this one, check out this article. Bless them…….
http://www.nottscounty-mad.co.uk/news/loadfeat.asp?cid=EDW5&id=342957
6 July, 2007 at 11:57 pm
Hahaha! That’s brilliant! It would be even more amusing if the youth team stuffed them just to see if that writer could get any more angry.
Bless ‘em.
You’d think they’d be grateful we agreed to the friendly to get them some cash in.