Gary Charles England debut
On this day in Nottingham Forest history in 1991 Forest full-back Gary Charles makes his England debut against New Zealand.
Gary Charles’ England debut showed how highly the Forest full-back was regarded at the start of the 1990s.
Charles made his first senior international appearance in a 2-0 friendly win over New Zealand. England’s goals came from Stuart Pearce and David Hirst, giving the match an extra Forest connection through Pearce as well as Charles.
Charles also played a direct part in the second goal. He outpaced the home defence and drove a low cross to the near post, where Hirst controlled the ball and finished.
Charles made one further England appearance four days later against Malaysia, leaving him with two senior England caps in total. The debut still marked him stepping onto the international stage while linked with Forest.
Sources
Sporting Heroes; England Football Online.
Forest timeline
Explore more Nottingham Forest history
Browse the timeline to discover more events from this day and beyond:
0–2
3–0
1–1
1–2
4–1
1–0
1–0
2–1
2–0
0–1
0–2
2–2
0–0
1–2
0–1
14:00
16:30
20:00
15:00
17:30
15:00
20:00
20:00
15:00
15:00
15:00
16:30
19:30
15:00
19:30
15:00
15:00
15:00
15:00
20:00
15:00
15:00
20:00
15:00
15:00
15:00
15:00
15:00
15:00
15:00
15:00
15:00
16:00
Gary Charles’ England debut showed how highly the Forest full-back was regarded at the start of the 1990s. Charles made his first senior international…
Evangelos Marinakis and Steve Cooper’s joint letter arrived while Forest supporters were still absorbing promotion back to the Premier League. Forest’s promotion letter was…


