A few unprintable one-liners. Video clips of questionable refereeing decisions. Some friendly advice. All that was missing from Nottingham Forest defender Steve Cook’s away day experience was a few beers in the pub.
The centre-back was in amongst the Reds faithful last week when Steve Cooper’s side made the trip to Luton Town. Still recovering from an ankle injury at the time, Cook got a taste of the other side of the coin as he watched the 1-0 defeat from the away end.
The final result was not what he, or any of the travelling party, had hoped for, with a controversial penalty and a disputed disallowed goal dominating the headlines afterwards. But the January signing, who made his comeback in Monday’s win over West Bromwich Albion, says being in the stands gave him a greater appreciation for the passion of the Forest fans.
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“I am not sure I can repeat some of the one-liners,” he laughed. “It was more showing me clips of the refereeing decisions or reassuring me that we should have been allowed a goal.
“They were good value for money. The one-liners and the comments, I’m not sure you’d be able to put out there!
“You can only imagine the disappointment after some of the decisions. When Phil Zinckernagel’s shot hit the post, some of the expressions that were coming out then… they were enjoyable!
“They were good craic. Apart from the result, I actually really enjoyed it.
“It was either sit with the Luton fans or get in the mix with the Forest faithful. I was praying we scored to experience the Forest roar. It was a shame we didn’t.
“I had never done it before, to be honest. I hadn’t really been to an away game and experienced an away day, so I thought, ‘yeah, why not, let’s get in there’.
“You hear a lot about away days, and I experienced it minus the alcohol - I couldn’t really enjoy that side of things! I am sure it is a little bit better with a few beers! But I did enjoy it.
“It gave me a sense of how passionate they are and how much it means to the group of supporters. Also a sense of a bit of realism as well; when we lost the game, they weren’t digging players out.
“Sometimes it just doesn’t go for you. That was quite nice for me to experience as well. I don’t know if it was just that they didn’t want to say too much because I was around!”
He added with a wink: “A couple told me I should be a little bit better on the ball sometimes and what-not! But as a fan, I think I would be digging a few people out as well!
“It was a good laugh. It was nice and it was an eye-opener for me.
“Some people said maybe you shouldn’t go in with the away fans, just take it easy and enjoy your day because you might take a bit of stick in there. But it was good fun.”
