Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest first came to blows during the 1893/94 First Division season once the Blades had won promotion and it remained a top class billing until 1906 when the Forest were relegated. Today it's concidered the M1 Derby but whether in it's earlier life it was considered a local derby is unknown but we would like to think so!
However our first FA Cup toe to toe cam een-route to the 1899 FA Cup victory over Derby County. The City Ground came has somewhat of a lucky charm for the Blades during that cup-run. Having shaken off Burnley and Preston North End (both requiring replay's) the Blades were drawn to face Forest in Nottingahm in the Third Round who had already beaten Aston Villa, a heavywight at the time and Everton - both top flight opposition. Forest were the cup-holders and formed a stern test but United came through with flying colours, winning 1-0 with a goal from Fred Priest though Fatty Foulkes in the Blades goal did well to keep their dangerous forwards at bay.
Our next opponents came in the shape of Liverpool in the Semi-Finals at the City Ground, they drew 2-2 and eventually won a second replay at the Baseball Ground (Derby) before beating the Rams at Crystal Palace. Forest extracted revenge in 1905, beating the Blades by two goals to nil at the City Ground; 'Sheffield United were playing away from home, and they found Notts Forest, who must be a much improved side, too strong for them.' Reported The Times on 6 February 1905. So when the Reds claimed a 2-0 victory it came as no surprise, United had won their earlier in the season 3-2 but would be on the recieving end of a 4-1 defeat at the Lane in the league.
The Cup Marathan
When Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest were drawn together in the 1923 FA Cup little would have known that it would take 7 hours to come up with a winner. By the time the FA Cup and come about on 13 January the pair had already come to blows twice in the league and although Forest had the upper hand with a 1-0 victory at home and a 0-0 draw in S2 there was little to chose from.
In grueling cup-tie which took 13 days to complete the Blades and Forest drew 0-0 on 13th and 18th January at Bramall Lane amd the City Ground, the latter after extra time and forcing a further replay on neutral ground. On 22nd they met at Meadow Lane - home of rivals Nott's County, again it required extra-time and resulted in a 1-1 draw. A third replay was played-out with the Hillsborough Stadium as the chosen venue and this time a single goal from Billy Gillespie was enough to settle the arguement. United went onto beat Middlesbrough (3-0) in a replay as well as Liverpool (2-1) and Queens Park Rangers (1-0) away from home.
They met Bolton Wanderers in the Semi-Finals at Old Trafford and lost by one goal to nil; the Trotters made it to the final and competed in the famous final ever played out at the old Wembley against West Ham United and is still known to this day as the 'White Horse Final' and it could have been us!
Nottingham Forest were bundled out of the cup in 1960 in a 3-0 thrashing were Derek Pace eho scored a hat-trick. A passage from The Times on 1 February read; 'A galliant effort, indeed even more praiseworthy than the performance of Nottingham Forest, the holders who were sunk nearby by three goals from Pace which gave Sheffield United the biggest cupwin of the day.' Pace carried the nickname 'Doc' - this due to him being in the Army Medical Core whilst on National Service.
Indeed, it was a fine cup-run for both Pace and United, he had netted twice in a 3-0 win over Portsmouth (Kevin Lewis scored the other) in the previous round, and having eliminated Forest Pace was on hand yet again scoring all three as they demolished Watford in Round 5. Sadly Wembley wouldn't becon them this year as Sheffield Wednesday made the short trip to Bramall Lane and came away with a 2-0 victory. The pair had met five years previously but was a disappointing outcome as far as United were concerned. Alf Ringstead scored for the Blades whilst Forest notched three in the other direction in this round three fixture.
Whilst United and Forest have enjoyed many cup-fixtures over the years our biggest victory has come in the league, winning 5-2 at the City Ground on 1 February 1992 whilst the Reds claimed their biggest win, a 6-1 victory at home was on 9 October 1976 in the Second Division but surely a supporter from either side can forget the 2003 Play-Off Semi-Final...
In 2002 the two clubs were drawn together for the first time in 42 years with United coming out on top, a brief report from this fixture and the 3-0 win in the 2004 trip to Nottingham in the cup is listed below.
5 January 2002 - Sheffield United 1 Nottingham Forest 0 (By The People)
Neil Warnockvowed to cut out his trademark whingeing as a New Year resolution. Instead the Sheffield United boss was almost left cursing his side's luck before Michael Brown finally blasted the blunt Blades into the next round. After finding himself in hot water several times this season, Warnock insists he will stump up £50.00 for charity every time he is caught criticising referees. And, after Brown's 80th-minute piledriver finally ended Forest's resistance, the straight-talking Yorkshireman might be tempted to splash out on shooting lessons for his shot-shy outfit.
Time and again, United knocked on the Forest door, only to be denied by a combination of woeful finishing and desperate defending. Finally, Paul Hart's spirited young guns were undone by a laser-like strike from Brown ten minutes from time. There looked to be little danger as a loose ball fell invitingly to the former Manchester City midfielder 25 yards out. He steadied himself and unleashed a rocket past the stranded Darren Ward and into the bottom corner.
United had earlier poured forward seeking a crucial opener that would have brought Forest out of their shell. Peter Ndlovu volleyed wide before Brown's 30-yard lob landed on the roof of the net. Ndlovu came closest to ending the Blades' frustration on the hour, latching onto Paul Devlin's low cross and firing in an effort that was scrambled clear by Jon Olav Hjelde. Forest did not create their first meaningful attempt until well into the second half when Stern John headed over. And red-hot John - with six goals in his last six games - then headed tamely over for a second time from Nicky Summerbee's free kick. But with time running out, Brown's sensational strike deservedly put Warnock's men in the hat for the fourth round.
SHEFFIELD UNITED : de Vogt 6 - Uhlenbeek 7, Ullathorne 7, Page 6, Curle 6 - Tonge 6, *BROWN 8, Ford 6 - Devlin 6 (Sandford, 90mins), Ndlovu 7, Asaba 7 (D'Jaffo, 90mins).
NOTTINGHAM FOREST: Ward 7 - Brennan 7, *SCIMECA 9, Hjelde 8, Vaughan 8 - Williams 6, Prutton 7, Summerbee 6, Jenas 6 (Johnson, 86mins), Lester 6 - John 6.
25 January 2004 - Nottingham Forest 0 Sheffield United 3
Another 90 minutes of frustration for Paul Hart and his Nottingham Forest team after a 3-0 defeat by Sheffield United at the City Ground. Forest have now gone eight games without scoring after dominating most of this game. They just can't seem to score and when you are down you seem to get kicked harder and no one kicked Forest harder than referee Phil Dowd. First he awarded a penalty to Sheffield United after 32 minutes when Mathieu Louis-Jean appeared to bring down Michael Tonge.
Former Forest favourite Jack Lester stepped up to score and make it 1-0 from the resulting penalty. Forest came out in the second half with all guns blazing and on 49 minutes Gareth Williams fired in a shot from 30 yards which United keeper Paddy Kenny did well to parry. Then on 54 minutes Danny Sonner hit the sidenetting after he followed up on Marlon King's shot.
The closest Forest came to scoring was after 61 minutes when Sonner shot from 30 yards, Kenny dived to push the ball for a corner and from the resulting corner Sonner headed wide from two yards out. The visitors piled more agony on Forest when they went further into the lead on 79 minutes when some slack Forest defending left Chris Morgan unmarked. He let rip with a thunderous overhead kick to increase his side's lead and give them some breathing space in this match.
Forest were denied a penalty on 81 minutes when Robbie Kozluk appeared to handle in the penalty area, but the referee turned down the crowd and the Forest players' appeals. Wayne Allison made sure United's name went into the draw for the next round when he rose above Des Walker in the Forest defence to wrap the game up with a powerful header straight into the top corner with Darren Ward beaten convincingly. So Neil Warnock's boys go into the next round leaving Forest to concentrate on Division One survival.
:: Past FA Cup Results vs. Forest ::
| P | W | D | L | F | A | |
| Bramall Lane | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| City Ground | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 7 |
| Neutral | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Total | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 11 |
25 Feb 1899 - Nottingham Forest 0 Sheffield United 1
04 Feb 1905 - Nottingham Forest 2 Sheffield United 0
15 Jan 1910 - Nottingham Forest 3 Sheffield United 2
13 Jan 1923 - Nottingham Forest 0 Sheffield United 0
18 Jan 1923 - Sheffield United 0 Nottingham Forest 0 (AET)
22 Jan 1923 - Nottingham Forest 1 Sheffield United 1 (at Meadow Lane, AET)
25 Jan 1923 - Sheffield United 1 Nottingham Forest 0 (at Hillsborough)
03 Mar 1928 - Sheffield United 3 Nottingham Forest 0
16 Jan 1937 - Nottingham Forest 2 Sheffield United 4
08 Jan 1955 - Sheffield United 1 Nottingham Forest 3
30 Jan 1960 - Sheffield United 3 Nottingham Forest 0
05 Jan 2002 - Sheffield United 1 Nottingham Forest 0
25 Jan 2004 - Nottingham Forest 0 Sheffield United 3