One of Frank Clark's first jobs when taking over the reins at the City Ground was to sign a quality central defender and that player proved to be Millwall's Colin Cooper. The tough tackling Northerner had earned himself a reputation as one of the finest defenders outside the top flight during his time in South East London and Clark had to stump up £1, 700, 000 to get his man. His partnership with Steve Chettle at the heart of the Forest defence played a major factor in the club's immediate return to the top flight and Colin also weighed in with the impressive return of seven goals as the Reds clinched second place behind Crystal Palace. Forest were to enjoy a quite superb season in the Premiership, finishing in third spot to secure a place in Europe, with Cooper's splendid form earning him a place in Terry Venables' England team for the games against Sweden and Brazil in May '95. He continued that form into the following season as Forest enjoyed a memorable run to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup and could perhaps consider himself a little unfortunate not to feature in Venables' squad for Euro '96. Colin suffered the disappointment of relegation with Forest in the 1996-97 campaign and with the departure of City Ground legend Stuart Pearce it was the no-nonsense Cooper that assumed the mantel as captain. Following in Pearce's shoes was a nigh on impossible task but Colin performed the role admirably as the Reds bounced back at the first time of asking, finishing ahead of Middlesbrough in top spot. That proved to be Colin's last season at the club and he returned to 'Boro, for a fee of £2, 500, 000, in August 1998 - a decision that played no small part in Forest's immediate return to the Nationwide League. (David Scranage)