Tottenham Hotspur v Nott'm Forest

Their famous Garibaldi red was borrowed from an Italian revolutionary. The colour outlasted the revolution.

A group of shinny players in Nottingham decided to form a football club, making Forest one of the oldest in the world. They played their early matches on the Forest Recreation Ground, the open parkland that gave the club its name. Within a few years they had adopted the Garibaldi red that remains their colour to this day, inspired by the Italian revolutionary.

Born under a streetlamp on Tottenham High Road, named after a medieval knight.

On 5 September 1882, a group of boys from Hotspur Cricket Club and the local grammar school formed Hotspur Football Club beneath a streetlamp on Tottenham High Road. They took the name from Harry Hotspur, the medieval knight Sir Henry Percy. By 1884 they had become Tottenham Hotspur to distinguish themselves from another London club called Hotspur.

Three years after Forest lifted the Cup, Spurs would claim it too; as the last non-league side ever to do so.

Nottingham Forest claimed the FA Cup in 1898, beating Derby County 3-1 in the final at Crystal Palace. Spurs, meanwhile, were still competing in the Southern League. The two clubs occupied different worlds, but that gap was closing fast. Just three years later, Tottenham would become the only non-league club to win the FA Cup in the 20th century, beating Sheffield United in 1901.

Forest had sixteen years of league football under their belt before Spurs even knocked on the door.

Tottenham were elected to the Football League's Second Division in 1908, and the two clubs began meeting in league competition. Forest had been a Football League member since 1892. Their early encounters were hard-fought affairs between two sides regularly moving between the First and Second Divisions, establishing a competitive rhythm that would endure for decades.

The first Double of the 20th century; Blanchflower and Greaves made the impossible look routine.

Bill Nicholson's Tottenham became the first club in the 20th century to win the League and FA Cup Double, a feat many had considered impossible in the modern game. Forest were a solid First Division presence during this period. The two sides met twice in the league that season, with Spurs' attacking football, led by Danny Blanchflower and Jimmy Greaves, setting a standard that defined an era.

From Second Division to European champions in four years; Clough made the impossible look routine.

Brian Clough's arrival at the City Ground in 1975 triggered the most remarkable transformation in English football history. Forest won the First Division title in 1977-78, just a year after promotion from the Second Division. They then won back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980. Matches against Spurs during this period carried real weight, with both clubs competing at the top of the English game.

Des Walker's own goal settled a dramatic 1991 FA Cup final, handing Spurs their eighth triumph after extra time.

The 1991 FA Cup final remains the defining meeting between these two clubs. Tottenham, managed by Terry Venables and inspired by Paul Gascoigne, faced Clough's Forest at Wembley. Gascoigne's wild, reckless tackle on Gary Charles in the opening minutes left him with a serious knee injury, but Spurs prevailed 2-1 after extra time, with an own goal from Des Walker settling it. It was Spurs' eighth FA Cup triumph and one of the most dramatic finals in the competition's history.

For a full generation of supporters, this fixture simply ceased to exist; 23 years is a long time to wait.

Nottingham Forest's relegation from the Premier League in 1999 ended a run of top-flight meetings that had stretched back decades. Forest would spend 23 years outside the top division, dropping as low as League One in 2005. For an entire generation of supporters on both sides, this fixture simply did not exist. The clubs' paths diverged completely, with Spurs establishing themselves as regular Champions League contenders while Forest fought to stay relevant in the lower leagues.

Twenty-three years between fixtures; worth every minute of the wait.

Steve Cooper's Nottingham Forest won promotion via the Championship play-offs in May 2022, beating Huddersfield Town 1-0 at Wembley. It ended the longest absence from the top flight of any former European champions. The fixture with Spurs was back on the calendar for the first time since 1999. Forest's return brought fresh energy to the Premier League, and their meetings with Tottenham at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium added a fixture that many younger fans were experiencing for the first time.

A fixture with genuine stakes for both sides; something neither club's supporters had felt since the late 1980s.

The 2024-25 season saw both clubs pushing for European qualification, giving the fixture a competitive edge it had not carried since the late 1980s. Nuno Espírito Santo's Forest established themselves as genuine top-half contenders, while Spurs continued to chase Champions League football. Matches between the two sides became proper contests again, with points at stake that mattered to both clubs' ambitions. The fixture, once a relic of a different era, had found its purpose again.