Forget Merseyside, forget Manchester, forget North London – English football’s real hotbed is the East Midlands.
A quiet, comfortable part of England, known for successful rugby teams and conservative views, the region now finds itself at the centre of a furious debate: which was the greater shock, Leicester 2015/16 or Nottingham Forest 1978/79.
One man unusually (or you could say uncomfortably) placed to make a call on it is Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill, who played on that history-making Forest team before going on to become the most successful Leicester manager before Claudio Ranieri.
While Forest shook the football world by winning the First Division under Brian Clough straight after winning promotion from the second tier (and then going on to win back-to-back European Cups), the modern consensus is that Leicester’s feat, in a league dominated by mega-rich super clubs, is greater.
A New Hope #Leicester @LCFChttps://t.co/0qaAOXELmQ
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 2, 2016
While accepting that Leicester’s 5,000/1 triumph proves “romanticism is still alive in football” O’Neill is of the view that what he and his Forest team-mates managed almost four years ago is the greater achievement.
“It’s the greatest achievement, obviously, of the century, although that’s just 16 years old,” said O’Neill, who was Monday inducted into Forest’s best team of all time.
“And I think since Nottingham Forest way back in 1977-78, when I was a member of the team that came up from the old second division and won at the first time of asking, this is the greatest achievement since then.”
O’Neill won two League Cups and a play-off final while manager of the Foxes before leaving for Celtic in 2000. Before this season’s remarkable Premier League triumph it was the most successful period in the club’s history.
He played almost 300 games for Forest as a right midfielder over 10 years, adding a Charity Shield, two League Cups and a Uefa Super Cup to the three major honours.
