Meeting of the odd couple as fallen European giants rebuild

Seven-times European Cup/Champions League finalists Liverpool, for instance, last competed in the second tier of English football way back in 1962, while Manchester United’s last taste of life outside the elite, for one season, came 36 years ago.

Arsenal boast an even more impressive pedigree, having been a member of the top flight since 1919.

Even Chelsea and Aston Villa, who have endured their fair share of bad times alongside the good down the years, have not kicked a ball in anger in the Second Division since the late Eighties.

That leaves, as the odd ones out, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest, two clubs who set an unwanted record in August, 2007, of being the first former European Cup finalists to meet in the third tier of their own domestic league.

United won that historic encounter at the City Ground 2-1 thanks to a last-minute goal by Jermaine Beckford, though it was Forest who went on to clinch automatic promotion on the final day of the season.

Two years later, Leeds United followed suit in escaping from League One when a 2-1 victory over Bristol Rovers was enough to clinch promotion and the prospect of a reunion with twice European Cup winners Forest.

On Saturday, the two clubs go head-to-head in a match that could have huge ramifications in the race for the Premier League due to Leeds and Forest sitting fifth and sixth in the table, respectively.

Here, Yorkshire Post chief football writer Richard Sutcliffe speaks to Frank Gray, who played for Leeds in the 1975 final and then in Forest colours five years later, and former City Ground favourite Gary Mills – the current manager of Blue Square Premier club York City – about the fall and partial rise of the two clubs since the heady days of appearing in European football’s most prestigious game.

FRANK GRAY

I was fortunate enough to enjoy good times with both clubs so it was disappointing to see how far they fell.

Leeds and Forest both belong in the Premier League but, for whatever reason, they found themselves in League One.

Thankfully, they both got out and are now knocking on the door of the Premier League.

It would be great if they made it as Leeds v Forest really should be a top-flight fixture.

In terms of Leeds, I had 13 years at Elland Road and played in the 1975 European Cup final when we were so unfortunate to lose 2-0 to Bayern Munich.

We were the better team that night and, to this day, I still think the officials got it wrong in disallowing Peter Lorimer’s ‘goal’ when the score was 0-0.

That decision changed the whole game and let Bayern off the hook.

My history with Leeds meant it was awful to see what happened to the club a few years ago.

One minute, they were riding high near the top of the Premier League and getting through to the Champions League semi-finals.

Then, almost overnight, it all started to go wrong and Leeds were relegated twice.

What happened provided a lesson for the rest of football. But the club who learned the most was probably Leeds themselves.

If the finances don’t add up then there is only one way a club can go and that is down.

It is a simple lesson but one that too many don’t heed.

Simon Grayson has done a fantastic job in charge. He has gone about things in the right way and the proof of how well he is doing is where Leeds are now.

There was a lot of pressure on Leeds to get back up last season after a few years in League One but they coped with that.

This season, they have really pushed on and, if I am honest, are probably exceeding expectations.

Leeds now have a great opportunity. Second place is not beyond them, due to the number of points still to play for.

The most important thing is making sure they finish in the play-offs, as after that anything can happen.

I still have a lot of feeling for Leeds. So does my son Andy, who did his bit the other week when he scored a couple of goals as Barnsley drew 2-2 at Cardiff City.

Those two dropped points by Cardiff could make all the difference come the final league table. I hope so anyway, and so does Andy because he is still Leeds at heart.

GARY MILLS

I feel very privileged to have played in a European Cup final, especially as I was only 18 at the time.

I had played in a couple of games during the run to the 1979 final but didn’t make the team as Nottingham Forest beat Malmo 1-0.

Fortunately, a year later I was in the starting XI and the memories of that night have stayed with me ever since.

Hamburg were a good team and Kevin Keegan was their star player. We managed to get in front and, to be fair, Hamburg gave us a real battering after that but we held on.

It was an amazing achievement to win back-to-back European Cups, especially for a club like Nottingham Forest.

To this day, though, I still don’t believe we get the recognition we deserve.

Even in Nottingham, I only think it is recently that the enormity of what manager Brian Clough did has sunk in.

I went on to spend a large part of my career at the City Ground so, as I am sure you can imagine, it was not nice to see the club struggling a few years ago.

Forest’s demise probably wasn’t as spectacular as that of Leeds United but it was still painful to watch.

The worst thing is you could actually see it coming. The club had chased success and spent a lot of money on average players.

David Platt was manager for a time and he brought in quite a few Italian players who never settled.

Bringing young foreign players into a league they don’t understand is always a risk and that was what happened at Forest. It ended up costing the club dearly.

The one positive Forest had was that the fans stuck by them, even after relegation to League One in 2005.

They were still getting crowds of 25,000 and that support meant the club always had a chance of bouncing back. It was a similar story with Leeds.

In the end, Forest spent three years in League One before finally getting back into the Championship.

Since then, the club has continued to move forward.

I did think only a few weeks ago that they looked a great bet for automatic promotion but their results have tailed off a bit since then.

The Championship is proving a strange league, though, so nothing can be ruled out and it should be a cracking game when Forest go to Leeds – especially as there is so much riding on it due to where they both are in the table.