A collection of Nottingham Forest memorabilia celebrating the club’s glory years through the eyes of fans is getting ready to open to the public.
The exhibition, at Nottingham Contemporary, includes some items not seen for decades.
City of Miracles: Stories from the Crowd will run from tomorrow (Saturday, September 19) until Monday.
The families of both Brian Clough and Peter Taylor are expected to attend a private preview later today.
Hundreds of pieces will be on show from programmes to flags and photographs, as part of the build-up to the hotly-anticipated documentary film I Believe in Miracles, which chronicles the club’s 1979 European Cup win.
The film has been made in Nottingham by director Jonny Owen and will premiere at the City Ground on Sunday, October 11.
Forest fan Andy Hallam, who also organises events for city pub group Great Northern Inns, collected the memorabilia after being brought on board by Owen and running an appeal online and through the Nottingham Post.
He said: “I knew a lot of people who had stuff already and and it became a bit of a journey. A lot of people started Facebooking me and all sorts of stuff started coming out of the woodwork.
“There are even menus and invites to the Council House dinner organised to commemorate the league and European Cup win.
“There’s a commemorative hip flask that I don’t think has really been out of the box. It’s all in great condition. It’s been terrific and people have been so kind.”
Picture: The exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary is free to enter.
Most of the items donated by fans are being returned to them from next Tuesday after the exhibition ends.
Andy added: “It’s like people have been living their lives and memories all over again through it.
“To me as well the players are going to get the credit they deserve from this and the film. I think their achievements got brushed under the carpet a bit outside of Nottingham.”
The families of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor will attend a private viewing of the collection later today, before it opens to the public at 10am tomorrow morning.
Around 1,500 tickets for the film premiere were sold by midday on the first day of sale.
Picture: Thousands of fans are expected to attend the film premiere at the city ground.
Jonny Owen said: “It was amazing the thing with cinema is that you don’t sell advance tickets with cinemas. You do with bands and you certainly do with football.
“A film you usually rock up on the night. To do a few hundred would have been amazing. To do that many that quickly was fantastic.”
The exhibition also includes film, photography and illustrations celebrating Forest’s glory years from 1979 and 1980.
The club’s copy of the European Cup will also be in the building.
There is a private opening preview tonight for the family members of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor.
The exhibition runs from 10am tomorrow until 6pm on Monday at the Contemporary in Weekday Cross. It is free to enter.
