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NOTTINGHAM FOREST HISTORY
1 April, 1978

Victory over Chelsea in title season

On this day in Nottingham Forest history in 1978 Forest beat Chelsea during their title-winning season.

Trophies and titles

League title win

Nottingham Forest kept their First Division title challenge moving with a 3-1 win over Chelsea at the City Ground.

The match did not begin comfortably. Tommy Langley put Chelsea ahead after eight minutes, and Forest were still trailing at half-time. In a title run-in where every result carried weight, that gave the afternoon an edge it would not have had from the scoreline alone.

Forest eventually forced the match their way. Kenny Burns brought them level in the 68th minute, heading in from a John Robertson corner, before Martin O’Neill struck with five minutes left to turn pressure into control. Robertson then added a third in the 88th minute, changing a tense comeback into a clear home win.

The 3-1 victory gave Forest another important result in front of supporters who were watching expectation grow week by week. It kept pressure on the chasing pack and moved Brian Clough’s side closer to the title.

This was not the day the championship was confirmed, but it belonged to the run of matches that made confirmation possible. Forest had been behind, had waited, and had still found the goals to turn the afternoon around.

Sources

11v11; FootballSite; Nottingham Forest official history

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Notts County 0–2 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 3–0 Blackburn
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Vitória SC 1–1 Nottingham Forest
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Portimonense 1–2 Nottingham Forest Sporting CP 4–1 Nottingham Forest
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Udinese 1–0 Nottingham Forest Barcelona 1–0 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 2–1 Bayer Leverkusen
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Nottingham Forest 2–0 Stade Brestois 29
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Nottingham Forest 0–1 Leeds
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Nottingham Forest 0–2 Leeds
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Liverpool 2–2 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 0–0 Tottenham
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Aston Villa 1–2 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 0–1 Coventry
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Crystal Palace 14:00 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 16:30 Arsenal
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Ipswich 20:00 Nottingham Forest
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Brentford 15:00 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 17:30 Manchester City
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Bournemouth 15:00 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 20:00 Chelsea
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Hull City 20:00 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 15:00 Brighton
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Sunderland 15:00 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 15:00 Everton
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Manchester United 16:30 Nottingham Forest
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Newcastle 19:30 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 15:00 Fulham
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Nottingham Forest 19:30 Hull City
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Manchester City 15:00 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 15:00 Bournemouth
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Chelsea 15:00 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 15:00 Brentford
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Fulham 20:00 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 15:00 Manchester United
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Everton 15:00 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 20:00 Newcastle
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Tottenham 15:00 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 15:00 Aston Villa
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Leeds 15:00 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 15:00 Liverpool
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Nottingham Forest 15:00 Sunderland
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Brighton 15:00 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 15:00 Crystal Palace
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Arsenal 15:00 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 15:00 Ipswich
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Coventry 16:00 Nottingham Forest
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On this day in …
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