Well, I looked at this badge and thought, this will not take long, a tree, on a river, two stars and the nickname Forest. The tree represents Sherwood Forest, and the river is the Trent. The two stars remind us they have won two FA Cups and two European Cups. OK bye. (PIC 1) But I don’t want to just give you that. It is generally accepted that Notts Forest were once a shinny team. (Apologies Forest fans, last night over drinks in a hotel after Saints knocked out West Ham in the FA Cup, I met two lovely guys who were Forest fans doing the 92 ground tour, having just ticked St Mary’s off their almost completed list. Dylan and Paul, but mostly Dylan, politely advised me that should we meet Forest in the next round and they got hold of the fact I had called them Notts, instead of Nottingham, I may get reported to the Sheriff, so from here on in it is Nottingham Forest. Thanks Dylan, and my very best wishes to you Paul, it was a pleasure to meet you both) A shinny team I can hear you say, what’s a shinny team when it’s at home or away? Basically, shinny was or is an early form of hockey, and is probably still played by some bearded real ale drinkers somewhere in Nottinghamshire. Nottingham Forest formed in 1865, after deciding that the new game of football looked more fun than shinny. In the 1892/93 season, Forest was part of the Football Alliance, which had folded the season before, and were incorporated into the Football League after winning the Alliance Championship. Forest got their name from the first ground they played at, which was The Forest Recreation Ground.
Football arrived at its present home, The City Ground in 1898. Not much was done to improve the City Ground until 1958, when the East Stand was built. The Main Stand had to be rebuilt in 1968 when it was destroyed by fire, unfortunately, many of the club’s records were lost also. Today the City Ground holds 30,446, and there is hope of a development to the ground that should increase capacity to 40,000, but this depends on two things. Firstly, the club has to gain the freehold to the ground from the council, and secondly, they have to gain promotion to the Premiership, one being a little harder than the other.
There seems to be no history of a club badge before the Second World War, but shortly after the war, the club adopted a version of the city’s coat of arms as an emblem. (PIC 2) It is not known how long the arms have been in use, but they were officially recognised in 1614. They have a rough wooden cross in green rising from the base of the shield, with crowns of gold and a similar crown around the lower part of the cross. This looks just like the arms of Colchester, without the nails, but there is no connection. The ragged cross is thought to allude to Sherwood Forest, as do the royal stag supporters and the ragged staves on which they stand. The crest is a walled castle with three towers. The towers are standing on a wreath of red and gold. The right-hand tower has a silver crescent and the left a golden star, and is taken from the 15th Century seals of the city. For all you sharp-eyed ones who think I have that the wrong way around, in heraldry, left and right are determined by the position of the bearer of the arms, and not the person looking at them. (PIC 3) As mentioned earlier the supporters of the shield are two royal stags guardant and standing on broken branches or staves, each stag has a gold crown around its neck. The motto “VIVIT POST FUNERA VIRTUS” translates as, Virtue Outlives Death.
Forest later adapted the arms by replacing the castle with the letters NFFC. This was the club’s emblem, but did not appear on the shirts until 1957. In the 1970s many clubs wanted to be able to copyright their club’s crest, and Forest were no different. A competition was held by the Nottingham Evening Post in 1973, and the winning designer was Mr David Lewis, who happened to be a designer and lecturer at the local poly, now known as the Nottingham Trent University. The badge, as I mentioned earlier, is quite a simple design. Sherwood Forest, is represented by the tree, and is famous for being the home of the country’s most loved tealeaf Robin Hood, and his Merrymen.
The real name for the area is Snottingham, honest it’s true, I kid you not, he really would have been the Sheriff of Snottingham. The area fell under the rule of a Saxon chieftain named Snot and it became known as Snotingaham, or, the homestead of Snot’s people. This is taken from Snot, a family name, Ing meaning meadow, and Ham means home. Robin’s main rival was the Sheriff of Sno, sorry, Nottingham, Forest’s however, are Notts County, (I know you said Snotts County and laughed. Now stop being so childish and read on) Derby and Leicester, but Derby are the most likely to be sung about in the most unkind way on a Saturday afternoon.
Back to the present badge and the tree, Sherwood Forest, wavy lines, river Trent and the name, Forest and all in the club colours of red which also provides the club with another nickname of “The Reds”. A few supporters have been lucky enough to design their club’s badge, and if it has to be changed it should be done more often, as I have said a dozen times before, because it represents all the supporters, as well as the club, and, not just the chaps or chapesses who designed it. For more on Nottingham Forest ride through the glen with your merry men to www.nottinghamforest.co.uk
