Dirty, Filthy Forest

It will come as a surprise to few that the Rams vs Forest is second only to the Toon vs Mackems as the dirtiest derby in English football.

The thuggery that flows from the Red end of the A52 is seemingly relentless, but let’s consider the three straight s to analyse how this nonsense of a stat has come to sully Derby County’s fine name when clearly it’s all down to crap refs and dirty Forest.

Lewis McGugan’s two-footed lunge of a WWE move on Paul ‘Silky’ Green in 2008 at The Home of Football: iPride Park was richly deserving of his reward. Crap like that can end careers and his early bath was warranted not only for the safety of the Rams players, but for the good of the game globally. It was the only thing ref Stuart Attwell got right that day, with Derby having to settle for a draw and no broken legs after he chalked off Miles Addison’s perfectly legitimate winner in the final throes.

In 2011, Ishmael Miller hoodwinked Scott Mathieson by throwing himself over the prone figure of Frankie Fielding in what is now commonly known as ‘diving’. Pie Eating champion Andy Reid slotted home the resulting penalty but in vain, as the righteous indignation of the footballing superstars from Derby overturned the deficit to romp home easily with goals from soon-to-be Trent End favourite Jamie Ward and Derby’s fourth-choice defensive midfielder Jeff Hendrix.

Dexter Blackstock windmilled Richard Keogh in 2012, as obvious a foul as could possibly be, and he was fortunate not to be hauled before the courts for GBH. His Honour Craig Bryson was on hand to dole out justice though, sealing the win for the saintly Rams shortly after, and once more the good name of the sport was restored. However richly deserving of a good pasting Keogh is, it is not the place of Forest players to dole one out.

When everything is considered, the only shameful incident for us relating to Derby vs Forest was the savage kicking that Forest legend Nigel Clough gave Billy Davies in a touchline melee, and I think we can all understand where he picked up that kind of behaviour. It’s about time Forest were kicked out of the professional leagues as they insist on playing like Sunday morning parks players.

DIRTIEST DERBIES OF THE LAST DECADE

Sunderland vs Newcastle
Derby vs Forest
Palace vs Millwall
Oxford vs Swindon
Chester vs Wrexham