Although he made a mere fifty-six League appearances for Nottingham Forest,
Gary Charles had the good fortune to play in three Wembley Cup finals during
his time at the City Ground. In the 1991 F.A. Cup final defeat to Spurs, to the
surprise of many, he got the nod over the more experienced Brian Laws for
the right-back spot. Gary had played a starring role in Forest's comfortable 4-0
victory over West Ham in the semi-final at Villa Park, scoring his first goal for
the club in the bargain, but when Laws played the last three League games
of the season it seemed he would get the nod. Brian Clough thought differently,
however, and threw the youngster in at the deep end after just twelve League outings.
The following season brought two more dates beneath the twin towers with victory
over Southampton in the Zenith Data Systems Cup and defeat to Manchester United
in the Rumbelows Cup. The young Londoner was still just twenty-one years of age
and looked to have a fine future at the City Ground in front of him. Football is a
funny game, however, and that is not how things mapped out. The next season
- the 1992-93 campaign - was a bitterly disappointing one for both club and player.
Gary found himself back behind Brian Laws in the pecking order and Forest were
relegated in what proved to be the end of the Brian Clough era at the City Ground.
The youngster decided the time had come to move on and made himself highly
unpopular with the Forest faithful by joining fierce rivals Derby County in a £750,000 deal.
(David Scranage)