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NOTTINGHAM FOREST HISTORY
16 December, 2004

Kinnear quits in Championship struggle

On this day in Nottingham Forest history in 2004 Joe Kinnear resigns as Forest manager with the club near the bottom of the Championship.

Manager legacies

End of a dominant or difficult era
Former Forest manager Joe Kinnear, pictured 2009.
Former Forest manager Joe Kinnear, pictured 2009. Image: Mattythewhite / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Joe Kinnear resigned as Nottingham Forest manager with the club deep in trouble near the bottom of the Championship.

Kinnear had taken over in February 2004 and helped Forest avoid relegation the previous season, but the following campaign unravelled badly. Forest had won only four of their first 23 league matches, and a 3-0 defeat at Derby County left the pressure around the club even heavier.

Former Forest manager Joe Kinnear, pictured 2009.
Former Forest manager Joe Kinnear, pictured 2009. Image: Mattythewhite / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

His resignation felt like another reset in a period already marked by instability. Kinnear said he believed it was in the club’s best interests to give someone else the chance to turn the season around, but his exit also exposed a deeper tension around the club. After leaving, he complained that Forest were too trapped by memories of the Brian Clough era and the European Cup years, arguing that the club needed to stop living in the past.

Mick Harford took temporary charge before Gary Megson was appointed in January. Forest could not escape the slide, and the season ended with relegation to League One, one of the bleakest outcomes in the club’s modern history.

Joe Kinnear Reflection

Sources

The Guardian; BBC Sport

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Iconic match memories
2004
Kinnear quits in Championship struggle

Joe Kinnear resigned as Nottingham Forest manager with the club deep in trouble near the bottom of the Championship. Kinnear had taken over in…

Manager legacies