February 15th, 1969
Barry Lyons was the last piece of the jigsaw. The final link in the gold chain that was Johnny Carey’s magnificent 1966/7 Forest team.
Barry was born in Shirebrook, supported Forest, and though he was initially on Forest’s books, ended up signing for Rotherham as a junior. After playing over 100 games for the Millers, he joined us as a 21 year old for $45,000 in November 1966. He was a typical Forest winger: speedy and direct like an arrow shot from a trusty bow. He went straight into the side for our next game, a 3-1 win over Sunderland, and played in all but one of the remaining competitive games that season.
1966 was good year for the beautiful game. I’d become football mad after the World Cup victory that year and pestered my parents to take me to a game. Finally, my grandad sympathised and took me to Villa Park. November 19th 1966. Barry Lyons’ second Forest game. He scored. I was hooked. Grummitt, Hindley, Winfield, McKinlay, Hennessey, Newton, Lyons, Barnwell, Baker, Wignall, Storey-Moore. An unforgettable eleven. With Lyons in the side, we climbed from 11th to 2nd that season and reached the FA Cup semi final.
Our biggest defeat that year was a 4-0 defeat at Anfield in the game before Barry Lyons signed. We’d lost there the season before and the season before that. And we lost there again the following year. We’ve had many victories at Old Trafford and Highbury and White Hart Lane since I started supporting the Reds. We’ve often won at Man City and Chelsea. But until September 14th 2024, Forest had only won at Anfield once in 60 years.
There was a thick covering of snow across Liverpool on the morning of February 15th 1969. Liverpool, lying 2nd in the league a point behind Leeds, were hosting Forest, just above the relegation places in 20th. Forest had won only 3 out of 26 so far that season. Liverpool had won 14 of their 16 home games. They were desperate to get the game played, thinking, along with every other punter, that it was a home banker.
We still had most of that glorious side from 66/67, but bad luck and stupid decision making had combined to put us in trouble. The side that played at Liverpool showed only three changes from the side that played at Villa Park two and a half years earlier. Ian Moore had broken his leg against Leicester at the beginning of 1969 and new signing, Ronnie Rees from WBA went straight into the team on the left. Bob McKinley was at the end of his career and, to be honest, had probably been kept in the side too long by Johnny Carey. He was on the bench while Sammy Chapman, who was just starting his career as a centre half after trying to make it up front and in midfield, took his place. Frank Wignall had been sold to Wolves the previous year, but hadn’t been replaced by a target man. Our eleven that day was completed by a totally different type of player: Jim Baxter.
We’d signed Jim Baxter in 67 in a vain attempt to step up a level. Slim Jim was a magician. He could do things with the ball that made you gasp. He’d just tormented England’s World Cup winners in Scotland’s famous 1967 win at Wembley. But he rarely shone for us. He was never match fit, he disrupted the dressing room, and he only contributed in games when he felt like it. Manager Johnny Carey didn’t like him and hadn’t wanted him.
We’d had a bad start to the 68/69 season. The main stand fire in August meant we played six “home” games across the river at Meadow Lane, losing three and drawing the others. Peter Grummitt had broken his thumb and we’d struggled to find a replacement, playing four different goalkeepers in October. Carey was sacked in December, but we weren’t much better under caretaker manager Bill Anderson. We appointed Matt Gillies as manager at the end of January and drew the first game with him in charge, away at 4th placed Arsenal. The following week’s home game against QPR was postponed due to snow, so Gillies’ second game in charge was away at 2nd placed Liverpool.
Forest took the field looking more like Everton in their blue shirts and white shorts. The pitch, apart from the goalmouths, was covered with snow. This was going to be a game for the more intelligent and adaptable side and Forest had the edge. Mistakes were going to be made and Forest were better at covering up for their team mates’ errors and were quicker to pounce on Liverpool’s slip ups. And we had that extra bit of luck.
Roger Hunt could have had a hat trick. Unmarked after a couple of minutes, he hit the post from 10 yards. Grummitt made a spectacular save from another Hunt shot a few minutes later. Then, after a rare slip by Hennessey, Hunt put a third chance over the bar. Meanwhile Ronnie Rees had twinkled his way past two tackles and had played in John Barnwell who had centred for Barry Lyons to score. 1-0.
Forest grew in confidence and were quicker to the ball. At the back, Terry Hennessey was magnificent, wrecking any Liverpool attacks like an iceberg in the Mersey. Henry Newton and John Barnwell had excellent games in the middle. Jim Baxter was superb. For some reason he’d decided to play today. He didn’t need to move, he just stood in the centre of the pitch and sprayed passes around with his imperious left foot, as if he were a Roman Emperor handing out favours and gifts to his courtiers and acolytes. And Barry Lyons skated over the surface like Christopher Dean soundtracked by Ravel. Liverpool were rattled.
After 67 minutes, we doubled our lead. Joe Baker passed to Barnwell who wrong footed the defence by letting the ball run on allowing Barry Lyons to glide in and score from the edge of the goal area. 2-0. After that Liverpool became more frantic in their attempts to get a goal back. Forest stayed strong, withstood everything Liverpool threw at them, and counter-attacked at pace. In the Liverpool goal, Tommy Lawrence ended the game saving from Barnwell, Rees, Baker, and Barnwell again. And that’s it. We’ve won. Up to 19th.
Unfortunately for Gillies (and for Trickies everywhere) that was probably the high point of his time at Forest. He didn’t have much more to give us than new manager bounce. Many of the Forest heroes from that era were sold: Grummitt, Newton, Hennessey, Moore, Baker; some of them ending up with Clough at Derby. Jim Baxter returned to Scotland at the end of the season. Up and coming talent at the City Ground like Robbo and Duncan McKenzie was exiled to the reserves or farmed out on loan. (Judging by the Baxter saga, the sales may not have been Gillies’ idea, but the failure to invest in our youth was.) We escaped relegation by 3 points that year then languished in the bottom third of the 1st division for a couple more years before falling through the trapdoor in 1972. Matt Gillies resigned a couple of months into our first season in the 2nd.
Barry Lyons stayed with us until 1973 and then moved to York City. He played over 200 times for Forest and scored 28 times. His goal at Villa Park played a part in making me a Forest fan and I’ll always be grateful. However, he will mainly be remembered for his role in that day at Anfield.
Who put the ball in the scousers’ net?
Ba ba bababa Barry Lyons.
