Nottingham Forest are back in Premier League. Over the years a number of foxes have been seen in red and white as the two clubs have swopped players and managers. Jesse Lingard is on present at Forest and also a former fox.
Going back to the 1977/78 season when Forest returned to the top flight and instantly became a hit in English football under Brian Clough and Peter Taylor winning the League in the season with Leicester City getting relegated with an aging group of players.
Peter Shilton who had left Leicester City a few years earlier to join Stoke City had been picked up by Brian Clough and was back in the limelight and showing a form that eventually made him an England first choice again and European Cup’s and League Cup titles were added to the League winners medal.
Martin O’Neill never played for Leicester City, but the Nottingham Forest and N Ireland legend became an “icon” at Leicester guiding them back to a steady performer in Premier League and that together with another Forest great, John Robertson, who had a fantastic career at City Ground.
Former Leicester City boss Nigel Pearson is born in Nottingham, but never played for either Leicester or any Nottingham teams, but just fun to mention that he was overlooked by both local clubs and instead played for Shrewsbury Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough.
Micky Adams, Dave Bassett and Matt Gillies are managers who have been in charge at both clubs alongside Martin O’Neill who also had a short stint at City Ground. So it’s been a few connections over the years.
Gary Mills was given his debut at Nottingham Forest by Brian Clough and later became an important player at Leicester City, representing the club in 200 league appearances. Mills played at City Ground in two periods, first from 1978 to 1982 and from 1983 to 1987, adding up 132 league games for Forest during his spells.
Wes Morgan might be the greatest player to be seen in both camps, representing Leicester City and Nottingham Forest for most of his career and adding up more than 600 league appearances for both clubs, a sensational tally and still in action at Leicester City.
Yohan Benalouane was recently released from Nottingham Forest and has joined Aris in Greece, but was also a player at Leicester City and the Tunisia international was probably a bit unfairly rated as his presence often was seen when other players had an injury and were absent.
Trevor Christie joined Nottingham Forest from neighbour Notts County and started his career at Leicester City. Franz Carr is another players with a life in both camps, a player that had a number of great seasons at Forest and a short spell at Leicester City a bit later.
Kjetil Osvold, the only Norwegian ever to appear for Leicester City, joined on loan from Forest for a four match spell back in 1987. Alan Rogers had a number of good seasons in both camps, helping Leicester City back to the top flight in that 2002-03 season. Gary Charles was a great right back at Nottingham Forest and also appeared a number of years later for Leicester City.
Not to forget Stan Collymore, he made his name at Nottingham Forest, resulting in being sold to Liverpool for a fee of £8.5 million back in 1995, then an English record. He later joined Leicester City from Aston Villa, but had a short stay which also included a period out with a fractured leg.
Full Back John Curtis joined Leicester City from Blackburn Rovers back in 2003, but his stay was short and he later joined Nottingham Forest and played 79 league games, from 2004 to 2007. Scot Gemmill is another player with the life in both camps, The Scottish international midfielder might be more known for his time at Forest than at Leicester City.
Andy Impey joined Forest from Leicester City in 2004, after a long and quite successful time at our club, he had a brief and short spell at City Ground playing 37 league games, first on loan and then permanent until 2005. Midfielders Gereth Williams and Andy Johnson are also both foxes in forest. Paul Konchesky also had a spell at Forest while at Liverpool and later joined Leicester City and helped in the way back to the Premier League. Lee Peltier also had spells in both camps.
Central defender Ricardo Scimeca must also be mentioned, as he joined Leicester City from Nottingham Forest, starting out at Aston Villa and later joining West Bromwich Albion. Nicky Summerbee also had spells in both camps, so did Matt Upson, but just playing once for Forest and just a few appearances in the blue shirt for Leicester City.
A list of players in both camps,
- Goalkeepers
- Peter Shilton
- Alan Fettis
- Defenders
- Alan Rogers
- Paul Konchesky
- Matt Upson
- Ricardo Scimeca
- Yohan Benalouane
- Wes Morgan
- John Curtis
- Gary Charles
- Lee Peltier
- Midfield
- Gary Mills
- Franz Carr
- Kjetil Osvold
- Gareth Williams
- Andy Johnson
- Andy Impey
- Nicky Summerbee
- Scot Gemmill
- Neil Lennon
- Jesse Lingard
- Forwards
- Trevor Christie
- Stan Collymore
- Lee Glover
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