42-match unbeaten record set
On this day in Nottingham Forest history in 1978 John Robertson’s direct free-kick at Bolton helps Forest set a 42-match unbeaten league record.
John Robertson’s second-half direct free-kick at Bolton Wanderers carried Forest into the record books with a 42-match unbeaten league run.
Forest won 1–0 at Burnden Park, with Robertson scoring after 65 minutes. It was not a match remembered for a flood of chances or a huge scoreline, but the decisive goal gave Brian Clough’s side the result they needed to extend an extraordinary sequence away from home.
Forest were defending the First Division title they had won the previous season, and the unbeaten run showed the consistency behind that rise. They had gone from promoted club to champions, and now to record-holders.
The sequence ended at Liverpool in December, but the 42-match mark remained one of the defining statistical achievements of the Clough era. It stood as the English top-flight benchmark until Arsenal surpassed it in 2004.
Sources
Nottingham Forest official records; Transfermarkt; RSSSF; The Analyst
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