Yahoo News Goal hero, starting XI and manager who masterminded last Nottingham Forest win at Liverpool
So who were the last Nottingham Forest heroes to humble Liverpool in their own backyard?
As the dust settles on a stunning 1-0 success at Anfield, it feels only right to reflect on the players and manager in Forest colours who last won there - on February 15, 1969.
Some things were the same - for example, we had a Labour government. Others were very different - the Beatles were still together (just) and top of the charts that day was If Paradise Is Half as Nice by Amen Corner. Well it was soon to be paradise for the Forest fans in the 42,359 Anfield crowd.
Just like Saturday, Forest went to Merseyside expecting to be beaten - they were 19th in the old First Division while Bill Shankly’s Liverpool were pushing for the title in second place with a team containing three future European Cup winners in Tommy Smith, Emlyn Hughes and Ian Callaghan. Also in their line-up was Ron Yates, the defender who died last week and was the subject of a tribute before Saturday's Premier League game.
For all that, Forest also had a smattering of talented individuals in their starting XI capable of giving any team a run for their money, and perhaps none more so that Scotland great Jim Baxter, a club record £100,000 signing.
Although “Slim Jim” had been at his peak playing for Glasgow Rangers in the early 1960s, he was still a force when the mood took him - even though he was given a free transfer back to Rangers later in 1969 as his fitness failed him.
Others lining up at a snow-bound Anfield were Henry Newton, the home-grown midfielder who would make 282 appearances for the Reds, Terry Hennessey, who was later sold to Derby County where he won a league title, and Liverpool-born centre-forward Joe Baker.
But the hero of the Forest victory that day was winger Barry Lyons, who scored in each half to down the hosts and enter the Reds record books. Born in Shirebrook, not so far from Nottingham, he was part of the Forest team who were runner-up to Manchester United in the 1966/67 First Division title race, and ultimately played 203 times for the club.
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Others turning out included a trio of club veterans in Peter Hindley, John Winfield and Bob Chapman, who would all play well over 300 games for the club, and goalkeeper Peter Grummitt, who also spent a decade at the City Ground.
The Guardian report of the game - headlined “Forest’s great triumph is no fluke” - made clear their success was deserved, if highly unexpected.
Match reporter Eric Todd wrote: “A panel of experts … would surely have thought twice before tipping Forest to win. Only once this season have they been successful at home - against Sunderland in December - and their two away victories were at West Brom and Ipswich. Liverpool for a home banker. What else?”
However, after pointing out that “the pitch, except in the goalmouths, was hidden under a thick blanket of snow”, he added: “Forest proved themselves to be the more intelligent, imaginative, and adaptable side, and long before the end of only relevant issue was the margin of Forest’s inevitable victory.”
Much has been made of the tactical masterplan that ensured Forest’s latest success at Anfield, with head coach Nuno Espirito Santo taking much of the plaudits.
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The Forest manager 55 years ago was a man more synonymous with Midland neighbours Leicester City. Scottish-born Matt Gillies (pictured below) was a player at Filbert Street before managing the club for a decade, signing England World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks and losing the 1963 FA Cup final to Manchester United.
He was at Forest from 1969 to 1972, and would die in Nottingham in 1998, aged 77. However, unlike Nuno, little is known about his contribution to the victory at Anfield - the Guardian report not mentioning him once.
The line-ups that day…
Liverpool: Tommy Lawrence, Chris Lawler, Tommy Smith, Ron Yeats, Emlyn Hughes, Ian Callaghan, Peter Thompson, Alun Evans, Roger Hunt, Ian St John, Geoff Strong.
Forest: Peter Grummitt, Peter Hindley, John Winfield, Bob Chapman, Terry Hennessey, Henry Newton, Barry Lyons, Jim Baxter, Joe Baker, John Barnwell, Ronnie Rees.
Liverpool manager: Bill Shankly
Forest manager: Matthew Gillies
Referee: Alan Bone (Sunderland)
Attendance: 42,359
Goals: Lyons (5 mins and 62 mins)
Half-time score: 0-1
