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Pierre Van Hooijdonk arrived as Forest were in deep relegation trouble,
struggling to maintain their position in the Premier League. He made his
debut for Forest in a 1–1 draw against Blackburn on 11 March 1997. It
was hoped the arrival of van Hooijdonk would kick-start their survival,
but he scored just one goal in his eight games for them that season.
Although only one of those games was lost, the other seven were drawn
and Forest were relegated. He immediately pledged his future to helping
the club regain their status. The following season was an unqualified
success, both for him and Forest. Forest won the title and promotion in a
competitive league (facing stiff opposition from Sunderland, Charlton
and Middlesbrough), with van Hooijdonk scoring 34 goals and building up a
good partnership with strike partner Kevin Campbell, who scored 23
times. He was a regular in the Dutch national squad, and was named in
the Dutch squad for 1998 FIFA World Cup in France where he scored as a
substitute in the match against South Korea.
After the World Cup had finished he discovered that the promised
strengthening to the Forest squad to enable them to cope back in the
Premier League had not transpired, indeed that his strike partner
Campbell (who had an ongoing back injury) had been sold to Trabzonspor
for £2.5m.
The club had also announced that Scot Gemmill was dropped
from the first team for refusing to sign a new contract, and that club
captain and terrace hero Colin Cooper was being allowed to leave to the
team promoted alongside them as runners up, Middlesbrough. Van Hooijdonk
asked for a transfer. The club's new owners refused. Van Hooijdonk
announced that he had been told previously that he could leave the club
at the end of the 1997/98 season if he so wished, that he felt betrayed
by the club's owners who had failed to deliver on their promises to him
regarding the strengthening of the team, and that he felt he could no
longer play for his employers. His employers, desperate for a striker,
refused to allow him to be transfer-listed again, so van Hooijdonk
announced his intention to strike. He kept fit by training with his
former club NAC Breda. Because of his behaviour Van Hooijdonk received
criticism both from fans and from his teammates, not least from Steve
Stone and manager Dave Bassett.
The club refused to listen to offers for
him, as they needed a top striker and the stand-off lasted until early
November when he, realising that he had no choice, agreed to return. By
this time the club was again in relegation trouble being bottom of the
league without a win in nine games, having a striker would have helped.
He played sporadically between then and the end of the season,
outlasting Dave Bassett and Steve Stone. He scored 6 goals in his 19
starts in the Premier League, including his first goal in his third game
back against Forest's fierce rivals Derby County, helping them to a
draw. Infamously after this goal most of his teammates refused to
celebrate alongside him, instead going to Scot Gemmill, the man who
crossed the ball to him. He also scored a last minute home equaliser
against rivals Liverpool with a trademark free-kick that protected
Forest's proud unbeaten home run against them that goes back to the
1980s.Forest ended the 1998/99 Premier League season bottom and
relegated.
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