For the inaugural Premier League season, in 1992-93, Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough only spent money on two new players. They paid £800,000 to bring Neil Webb back from Manchester United and gave Coventry City about half that for Robert Rosario, bringing their total spend to £1.2m. Thirty years on and Forest have broken the Premier League record for the number of signings in a window, bringing in 22 players for £146m this summer.
Forest fans had waited 23 years to return to the top flight and their joy was unconfined when they sealed promotion by beating Huddersfield Town in the Championship playoffs final. The victory parade in the city’s Old Market Square attracted thousands of supporters as the players joined manager Steve Cooper and owner Evangelos Marinakis on the balcony of the council offices the day after their triumph at Wembley. For the host of that celebration, comedian Matt Forde, the positivity has not diminished.
