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With Nottingham Forest short of strikers following Paul Wilkinson's
summer departure to Watford, Brian Clough made a move for Lee Chapman.
The big target-man was plying his trade with French club Niort when the
Forest manager came calling, but a return to the big time in England
proved to good to turn down. By the end of his first season at the City
Ground Chapman had made two Wembley appearances and had two medals to
his name. Forest carried off the Littlewoods Cup with a 3-1 win over
Luton Town but it was the quarter-final win over Queen's Park Rangers
which saw Chapman at his best. The powerful front-runner bagged four
goals as Forest brushed the Londoner's aside 5-2 in front of 24, 065 at
the City Ground.
In the Simod Cup Final Chapman scored a brace,
including the winning goal, in the Reds thrilling 4-3 win over Everton.
Chapman could never be described as a crowd favourite during his spell
at the City Ground but he formed a useful partnership with Nigel Clough
and weighed in with some important goals of his own. What he may have
lacked in skill he more than made up for with honest endeavour and
unselfish team play, allowing the more talented players such as Clough
and Neil Webb to flourish. After an impressive start to the 1989/90
season, which saw him bag seven goals in eighteen League games, Chapman
was on his way to Leeds United. With youngster Nigel Jemson beginning to
make a name for himself Clough accepted the Yorkshire club's bid of
£450, 000 and Chapman was on his way to Elland Road after spending 15
months at the City Ground. (David Scranage)
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