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2 December, 1981

Wallace & Rober sink Tranmere

On this day in 1981 Forest beat Tranmere Rovers 2-0 to reach the League Cup quarter-finals.

Cup runs and campaigns

Reached final / semi-final / quarter-final
Goal scorer Jürgen Röber, pictured in 2008.
Goal scorer Jürgen Röber, pictured in 2008. Image: Мысякин Александр / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Nottingham Forest turned a tight League Cup night into safe progress with two second-half goals against Tranmere Rovers at the City Ground.

The fourth-round tie was goalless at half-time, but Ian Wallace broke through almost immediately after the restart. Jurgen Rober then made it 2-0 in the 55th minute, scoring his first Forest goal and giving Brian Clough’s side control of the evening.

Goal scorer Jürgen Röber, pictured in 2008.
Goal scorer Jürgen Röber, pictured in 2008. Image: Мысякин Александр / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The result was expected on paper, with Forest a First Division side and Tranmere operating lower down the Football League, but cup ties still had to be dealt with properly. Peter Shilton, Viv Anderson, John Robertson and Wallace gave the Forest team experience and quality.

The win sent Forest into a League Cup quarter-final away to Tottenham Hotspur. That next tie ended in a 1-0 defeat at White Hart Lane, but the Tranmere win kept Forest’s cup ambitions alive into the new year.

Sources

TheCityGround.com; 11v11; Nottingham Forest season records

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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 0–1 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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Manchester City 15:00 Nottingham Forest
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Fulham 20:00 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 20:00 Newcastle
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Leeds 15:00 Nottingham Forest
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Nottingham Forest 15:00 Liverpool
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Brighton 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 …
1981
Wallace & Rober sink Tranmere

Nottingham Forest turned a tight League Cup night into safe progress with two second-half goals against Tranmere Rovers at the City Ground. The fourth-round…

Cup runs and campaigns