He has cemented his place in Nottingham Forest history by delivering promotion to the Premier League, but football management isn’t Steve Cooper’s only talent.
The Reds boss is also seemingly a dab hand at playing the guitar, as he showed on Sunday night. The Welshman was quick to get a tune out of Forest after he arrived in September, and he clearly has some musical ability off the pitch.
Fresh from his team’s triumph at Wembley, Cooper joined in with local group Phil Rostance and The Marshall Band to perform Oasis hit Wonderwall as the celebrations got in full swing. The party continued for some time, too.
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“He’s a man of many talents! He can handle a guitar, definitely,” band member Ben Marshall told NottinghamshireLive.
“It was just fantastic. The gaffer is just one of life’s gentlemen.
“I played the Forest family BBQ the other week (after the play-off semi-final win over Sheffield United) and the gaffer came over and had a little bit of a chat, so I knew he played. I think he was quite hesitant, but on the night, after a bit of coercing, he was definitely up for it. He gave the players what they wanted!
“He’s such an understated character. He always likes the limelight to be on the players, rather than himself. But that was his night as well.
“Certainly for us as a band - and diehard fans - it’s one of those memories which will last forever. To have that moment in time, to celebrate that with the gaffer, was incredible and a real privilege. The whole atmosphere was just fantastic.”
Cooper wasn’t the only member of the Reds contingent to showcase some hidden skills. Marshall and skipper Joe Worrall are good friends, and the defender had his moment in the spotlight - as did midfielder Cafu.
“It was just a brilliant party,” said Marshall, from Hucknall and a long-time Forest season card holder. “It was one of those things where, when everybody came back, nobody really knew what the vibe was, because the gaffer’s there and some of the hierarchy were there - it was like, can we let our hair down or not? You could see people not quite so sure.
“And then all of a sudden, Cafu started doing cartwheels on the dance floor. From that point on, nothing held anybody back! That was it, the hair was down and it was a full-scale party. The dance floor was heaving all night.
“As we’ve done countless times before, Joe Worrall came up and did American Pie with us, led a right good old singalong. That was fantastic as well.
“We did American Pie in BOXPARK beforehand as well, and dedicated it to him. I said to him before the game about us playing BOXPARK and asked what song he wanted dedicating to him. He said, ‘it’s got to be American Pie’. We introduced that to the crowd saying, ‘this one is for the skipper’, and everyone joined in.
“It was all just epic. It was just an absolute privilege to be part of it. And they are such a humble squad. Sometimes when you play events, you are there as a supplier. But we weren’t, we were part of it.
“All the players and the families were part of it. It’s a credit and a testament to the culture the gaffer has created.”
More than 36,400 Reds fans were at the national stadium to watch Cooper’s side beat Huddersfield Town 1-0 to end a 23-year absence from the top-flight. And the atmosphere all afternoon was spine-tingling, including beforehand - with the band playing at BOXPARK Wembley prior to the game.
Marshall and Rostance have known each other since their school days and formed the band in 2009. They have shared a stage with the likes of Olly Murs and The Wanted, as well as performing Nottingham’s 2010 World Cup anthem Raise Your Voice, which featured the voices of thousands of schoolchildren from across the county, as well as various local sporting stars, such as Carl Froch. But their most recent gig was particularly special for the band's five members.
“We’ve played some massive shows and arenas before. But I don’t think we’ve ever had a gig with such a united cause,” Marshall said of playing at BOXPARK.
“It wasn’t a gig or a concert, it was just a party. It was just about playing the songs that everybody wanted to sing.
“We wanted to warm everybody up, so by the time they got to Wembley they were at fever pitch. I think we did that. The atmosphere in there was just unbelievable.
“The venue said to us that they’ve never experienced anything like that, and they’ve had Liverpool, Man United, everybody there. They were hugely complimentary about the Forest fans, too.
“The whole atmosphere was just epic. Trying to describe it is almost impossible.
“We opened with Rockin All Over the World, adapted to Forest All Over the World. From there, I think everybody in the venue sang every single word with us.
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“We tried to theme the songs to encapsulate the season. The second song we played was Acquiesce, the Oasis hit, which was the song Forza Garibaldi used lyrics from on their banner across the Brian Clough Stand. We did Mull of Kintyre, You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling and we finished with Depeche Mode. We were only booked to play an hour, but ended up playing an hour and 40 minutes. It just felt right to carry on, and the venue were quite happy for us to do that.
“Credit must go to the venue and the Art of Football guys - they made it, with all the flags and the decorations. It was all those little elements, from the song choices, the flags and the decorations, which brought it together to be an incredible event.
“We like to think we played our part. The fans played their part, the venue played a part, everyone did.
“It was just such an incredible atmosphere. It just encapsulated what a day out at Wembley and a football match should be.”
