sport news Forest legends recall the day the magic died when they lost to Man United in ... trends now

When they take on Manchester United on Wednesday night, Nottingham Forest will try to recreate the most magical era in the club's history — ended abruptly by the same opponents more than three decades ago.

Forest are back in the semi-finals of a competition in which they enjoyed remarkable success under Brian Clough. They reached consecutive League Cup finals between 1978 and 1980 and three out of four between 1989 and 1992, picking up the trophy four times.

Yet when they met United at Wembley in 1992, the players were starting to feel the old spark was missing. A year later, Forest were relegated and Clough retired. Their fortunes have fluctuated in the intervening years without ever emulating Clough's teams.

Those with Forest in their blood can feel the revival under Steve Cooper, just as they sensed those good times coming to an end.

'It was during the early part of the decline of that team,' says Brian Laws, who came on as a first-half substitute in the 1992 final shortly after Brian McClair scored the only goal for United. 'Cloughie was desperate to win it but he wasn't in great shape and some of his decision-making was starting to look a bit odd.

'We were getting to the end of our period of consistency in the cups. That's when you need to start making changes but we didn't change. 

'The real change was when the new back pass law was introduced. Everyone modified their game — you had to be fitter and stronger because the ball was in play for longer but we never changed our routine.

'In the last 15 minutes we would get tired pretty quickly. Brian Clough never realised the physical impact of the rule change.'

It was Forest's last major cup final at Wembley, and one of the few missteps Clough made during 18 years as manager that brought 12 trophies, including the European Cup in 1979 and 1980.

Laws was a young defender at Burnley then, but he was part of the starting XI for Forest's League Cup wins over Luton and Oldham in 1989 and 1990 respectively.

Laws played more than 500 games and managed five clubs but the Wembley wins are among his most treasured memories, though he nearly missed the 3-1 win over Luton due to a hand injury.

'I was in the operating theatre 10 days before the final,' he recalls. 'I was petrified I would miss the game. I was pulled into Clough's office. He said, 'Are you going to be fit?' I said, 'Of course I am'. We went out to training and suddenly he threw a ball at me. I caught it. He said, 'That'll do, you're playing'. That was my fitness test.'

Forest made 10 trips to Wembley under Clough — six League Cup finals, two Full Members' Cup finals, a Charity Shield and an FA Cup final. Yet few of their current squad were born the last time they lifted a significant trophy there — the Littlewoods Cup in 1990, when Nigel Jemson scored the only goal against Oldham.

Jemson, 53, is now business development manager and brand ambassador for Pygott and Crone, an independent estate agent. 

He is also a matchday host at the City Ground and is keen to be involved with the game more directly. He was at Forest

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