Before Nottingham Forest rose to conquer England, and when the miracles of Munich and Madrid were still unfathomable European ambitions, there was the League Cup.
It was the first major trophy the Reds had won under the late great Brian Clough.
The 1978 success – in which they beat European Cup holders Liverpool in a replay at Old Trafford with a controversial penalty – is seen by Forest legend Martin O’Neill as ‘a stepping stone’ for all that was to come.
Within two months the Reds, a side in their first season back in the top flight, were Premier League champions.
Twelve months later, they had won the first of their two European Cups.
Forest have reached the League Cup final six times and lifted the trophy four times in 15 years of unprecedented success for the East Midlands club.
On Wednesday, for the first time in 31 years, they will take part in the semi-final of a cup competition.
Again, it was called the League Cup – now the EFL Cup – in their first season back in the top flight.
Ahead of their semi-final home game against Manchester United, Reds boss Steve Cooper spoke at length about how reaching the last four was a chance for “the older generation to reminisce” and how the “young generation is having something new to experience”.
The importance of competition for Forest is something that Cooper has personally conveyed to his players.
“The club’s history in the tournament is really rich and we have to defend that,” he told BBC Radio Nottingham earlier in the competition.
“It doesn’t guarantee success, but it should add to the motivation – I know it does mine.”
A “monumental” competition for Forest
From Forest’s dugout at the City Ground, Cooper and his players need only look up at the Brian Clough Stand across the pitch to see the League Cup’s place in the annals of the forest history.
Running along the edge of the entire second tier and then up to Bridgford’s stand behind the goal are images and names of major trophies the club have collected.
O’Neill was a midfielder for the Clough’s Forest side which won back-to-back European Cups, won the English league title and defended that breakthrough League Cup.
Taking then European Cup holders Liverpool – a team that would retain that title in 1978 before Forest ended their continental reign a year later – to a replay at Old Trafford after the Wembley final ended then that a goalless draw was considered a victory in itself at the time.
In goal, the Reds had to rely on teenage keeper Chris Woods, with the iconic Peter Shilton level.
It took a penalty, controversially awarded after Phil Thompson knocked John O’Hare down outside the box, to seal the win.
“Liverpool were this big, strong team that had to beat us, especially in the replay when I guess all our cards had been shown,” said O’Neill, who as manager twice led Leicester City to the League Cup success in the 1990s.
“Beating Liverpool with some players not eligible for us was really fantastic.
“It kept the momentum going for us towards the end of the season to go on and win the league, so it was really monumental in a lot of ways.
“We had just been promoted to the first division and I don’t know what kind of expectations we had.
“But we continue this fantastic run in the league, and it continues with a great run in the FA Cup, then we continue and win the League Cup.
“For us, winning two trophies was really sensational.
“The Coupe de la Ligue was the springboard for everything that was achieved afterwards.”
In 1979 the League Cup – won after beating Southampton in the final – was the first piece in another trophy double.
The European Cup won in Munich in 1979, and defended a year later at the Bernabeu in Madrid, will eclipse all other trophies won by Forest.
Forest missed out on becoming the first club to claim a treble of League Cup triumphs when they were beaten by Wolves in the decisive 1980 game.
And yet the cup – once described by former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini as significant but “not special” – maintained a place of distinction for Forest.
When they clinched it for the third time in 1989, victory over Luton in the final was significant as the first trophy Clough had lifted since his famous partnership with Peter Taylor ended.
When they defeated surprise runners-up Oldham Athletic in 1990, no team had won the cup more in the first three decades of the competition.
Steve Hodge started in both wins, having returned to the club for a second stint after spells at Aston Villa and Tottenham.
“This club hold the League Cup very close to their hearts,” Hodge said.
“It gave us some great days. For people there or around at that time, those days are unforgettable.
“We’ve wanted it for 30 years.”
