Between 1977 and 1992, Nottingham Forest won an incredible 12 trophies, came runners up in four more as well as achieving a top three finish in the top flight on no fewer than three occasions.

During that won they finished outside the top ten just once, in 1982/83.

It is hard for fans of today looking back to comprehend exactly what Brian Clough managed as a manager.

Everyone knows they won the European Cup twice, once after winning the League and again qualifying as previous winners, despite finishing second in the top flight.

They won the European Super Cup twice too, and in 1981 finished as runner up in the Intercontinental Cup and Super Cup.

They won the League Cup twice, not when it was a watered-down booby prize like today, but when it still meant something to lift.

They even took the now-defunct Full Members Cup in 1989 and 1992, a competition designed to make up the fixtures lost during English club’s European ban.

In 1993 the great Brian Clough retired as Forest were relegated, but they immediately bounced back under Frank Clark, finishing second in the second tier and third in the Premier League the following season. They were, as much as any side can be, an established Premier League club.

When Forest dropped out of the Premier League in 1999 they had spent just two seasons outside the top flight in two decades. When they did find themselves relegated, they always bounced back at the first time of asking. That didn’t happen.

Forest had spent 56 seasons in the top flight of English football, 38 in the second tier and just two in the third. Now, almost two decades since they last kicked a ball in amongst England’s elite, those numbers are drastically different.

Three additional seasons in League One marked their lowest ebb, but they’ve almost caught up in terms of time served in the second tier, with 53 seasons spent just outside the promised land.

Their best finish since relegation at the turn of the century is 6th in 2003 and only twice have they finished in the top ten.

Why the history lesson? Because the tide is changing, history is only ever a record of what has happened and right now is the best opportunity Nottingham Forest have had to reclaim their place at the top table.

The feeling is that players such as Gil Dias, Lewis Grabban and Joao Carvalho could be on the cusp of bringing them something akin to glory once more.

All too often, a team shifts from one level to another and in time, it is forgotten where they’ve come from. A generation of fans will remember Forest as nothing more than a Championship team, an average Championship team at that.

Finally, Aitor Karanka has given this great club belief and hope that those glory days of Brian Clough, Ian Wallace and John Robertson can be reclaimed. Nobody is expecting a Champions League win, and they certainly won’t be lifting the Full Members Cup, but Forest fans deserve more than they’ve been given for nigh on twenty years.

This season could well be the one in which an English football institution returns to where it belongs.

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