With the two European Cup winners preparing to meet in the Championship, we spoke to Forest and Villa fans about the glory days and where they are now
By Copa90 for the Guardian Sport Network
In one way Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa is just another fixture in the mammoth, 46-game long Championship season. Individual results can be brushed off in the second flight, where teams can afford to go months without playing well and still find themselves in the promotion reckoning due to the sheer number of matches played. But for some, especially supporters of a certain age, this match is always an evocative one that turns the clock back 40 years to when these two clubs ruled the continent.
You won’t find a second flight in which two former European champions come up against each other anywhere else in the world. Is that damning indictment on the clubs or a testament to the strength in depth of English football? It depends on which way you look at it. Both teams find themselves a long way from previous glories, but it’s Forest, led to the summit of the European game under Brian Clough and Peter Taylor in 1979 and 1980, who have suffered the greater decline. They were relegated from the Premier League at just the wrong time, in 1999, and have missed out on the top flight’s economic boom.
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