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NOTTINGHAM FOREST HISTORY
17 November, 1988

Happy birthday Eric Lichaj! (born 1988)

On this day in Nottingham Forest history in 1988 former Forest defender Eric Lichaj is born in Downers Grove, Illinois.

Player legacies

Club player birthday
Eric Lichaj, pictured 2016.
Eric Lichaj, pictured 2016. Image: Nottingham Forest F.C., via Wikimedia Commons

Eric Lichaj was born in Downers Grove, Illinois, on 17 November 1988.

The American full-back joined Nottingham Forest in 2013 and became a popular figure during the club’s Championship years. He was valued for his energy, toughness and reliability, and supporters voted him Forest’s Player of the Season in 2016–17.

Eric Lichaj, pictured 2016.
Eric Lichaj, pictured 2016. Image: Nottingham Forest F.C., via Wikimedia Commons

His most famous Forest afternoon came in the FA Cup in January 2018, when he scored twice in a 4–2 win over Arsenal at the City Ground. The second was a brilliant volley, and the performance helped knock the holders out of the competition.

The story even had a fun ending off the pitch. Lichaj had been promised a dog if he scored a hat-trick that season; after his two goals against Arsenal, the internet joined in, his wife relented, and the new dog was named Gunner.

This birthday entry marks one of Forest’s best-known American players: a committed full-back, a Player of the Season winner, and the unlikely two-goal hero of one of the club’s most enjoyable modern FA Cup days.

Lichaj FA Cup Volley

Sources

Transfermarkt; Nottingham Forest Player of the Season; Sky Sports; Sporting Heroes

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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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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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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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Nottingham Forest 17:30 Manchester City
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Hull City 20:00 Nottingham Forest
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Coventry 16:00 Nottingham Forest
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On this day in …
1984
Walsh and Riley seal victory at Coventry

Nottingham Forest earned a convincing 3–1 away win over Coventry City at Highfield Road in League Division One. Forest went ahead through a Micky…

General trivia
1988
Happy birthday Eric Lichaj! (born 1988)

Eric Lichaj was born in Downers Grove, Illinois, on 17 November 1988. The American full-back joined Nottingham Forest in 2013 and became a popular…

Player legacies