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Frank Forman
Personal information
Full name Frank Forman
Date of birth 23 May 1875(1875-05-23)
Place of birth    Aston-on-Trent, Derbyshire, England
Date of death    4 December 1961 (aged 86)
Place of death    West Bridgford, England
Playing position Wing half
Youth clubs
Aston-on-Trent
Beeston Town
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1894
1894–1905		 Derby County
Nottingham Forest		 008 0(0)
223 (23)   
National team
1898–1903 England 009 0(1)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Frank Forman (23 May 1875 – 4 December 1961) was an English professional footballer, who was one of three members of the same family who started his professional career with Derby County before joining Nottingham Forest and going on to play for England, for whom he made nine appearances (once as captain). He helped Nottingham Forest to win the FA Cup in 1898.

Contents

[edit] Career

Forman was born in Aston-on-Trent, Derbyshire, the brother of Fred Forman and uncle to Harry Linacre and all three followed a similar career path. Forman played youth football for the local village side before moving up to Beeston Town, where he was spotted by Derby County. County signed him in March 1894 but, after only making only eight appearances, he was transferred to East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest in December 1894.

By the end of his first full season with Forest he had established himself in the half-back line, generally playing on the right, alongside Scotsmen John McPherson and either Peter McCracken or Alec Stewart, as Forest finished the season in thirteenth place. By 1898, Stewart had been replaced by Willie Wragg as Forest reached the FA Cup Final for the first time, after a controversial semi-final.

In the 1898 FA Cup Semi-final between Southampton and Nottingham Forest, the first match at Bramall Lane, played on 19 March, ended in a 1-1 draw. The replay at Crystal Palace was played four days later in a blizzard. After a scoreless first half (in which Joe Turner missed a penalty for Southampton), in the second half the Saints were on top when, with ten minutes left to play, referee John Lewis stopped the match for a time and the players left the pitch. No sooner had the game re-started than the weather worsened but Lewis decided that the match should continue. Southampton's goalkeeper George Clawley had his eyes "choked with snow" and conceded two goals, from Tom McInnes and Charlie Richards, in the final minutes of the game. Despite Southampton's protests the F.A. decided that the result should stand and Forest were in the final for the first time.[1]

In the final, played at Crystal Palace on 16 April 1898, Forest met Forman's old club, Derby County, who, like Forest, were making their first Cup Final appearance. Derby were favourites to win, having defeated Forest 5–0 in the league a few days earlier. Forest scored first after 19 minutes when Willie Wragg's free-kick fell to Arthur Capes whose shot gave Jack Fryer in the Derby goal little chance of stopping. County now began to exert pressure on the Forest defence and Forman, "who was performing splendidly at the back" [2] had to clear efforts from John Goodall and Steve Bloomer. Just after the half-hour point, Derby were level after Forman gave away a free kick on the edge of the penalty area which was whipped in by Joe Leiper for Steve Bloomer to score with a header off the crossbar. Three minutes before the half-time interval, Forest were back in front after a mistake by Fryer allowed Capes a simple tap-in. Although Derby attempted to raise their game in the second half they fell further behind with four minutes left to play when John McPherson scored after John Boag failed to clear a corner, and Forest claimed the Cup with a 3–1 victory.[3]

Forman's first international appearance had come shortly before the FA Cup semi-final when he was selected (together with his Forest team-mate Charlie Richards) for the British Home Championship match against Ireland to be played at The Solitude Ground in Belfast on 5 March 1898. Although England were "expected to win with ease"[4], they found the Irish tougher than expected and were fortunate to return home with a 3–2 victory, courtesy of goals from Gilbert Smith, Charlie Athersmith and Tommy Morren.[5]

Forman was not selected for the match against Wales on 28 March, but was picked for the match against Scotland on 2 April, when he played alongside Charles Wreford-Brown who was making his final appearance for the national team. The match, which would decide who would win the 1898 British Home Championship, was played at Celtic Park in Glasgow. The Scots were defeated by a fast and powerful England side who ran out 3-1 winners and took the trophy, with goals from Steve Bloomer (2) and Fred Wheldon.[6]

[edit] Honours

Nottingham Forest

[edit] References

  1. ^ David Bull & Bob Brunskell (2000). Match of the Millennium. Hagiology, pp.18-19. ISBN 0-9534474-1-3. 
  2. ^ Philip Gibbons (2001). Association Football in Victorian England - A History of the Game from 1863 to 1900. Upfront Publishing, pp. 386-387. ISBN 1-844260-35-6. 
  3. ^ 1898 FA Cup final match report
  4. ^ Gibbons (2001). , pp. 385. 
  5. ^ Ireland 2 - England 3; 5 March 1898 (Match summary)
  6. ^ Scotland 1 - England 3; 2 April 1898 (Match summary)

[edit] External links


FA Cup 33 (5)/Total Forest 256 (28)

FRANK FORMAN was one of the select band of men born in Derbyshire who played association football for England. He was England captain on one occasion - on 22 March 1902 against Wales - and in all played nine times for his country between 1898 and 1903.

As a result, Frank Forman is one of the most revered figures in Forest's early history, and he later became a key member of the club's committee, serving from 1930 to 1961.

After finishing playing he went into business as a building contractor with his nephew James 'Harry' Linacre - and thereby hangs a tale. Linacre was also born in Aston on Trent and played for Derby County before being sold to Nottingham Forest - and he too played for England.

And the sorry tale of 'lost talent' gets even worse - Frank Forman's brother Fred was born in Aston, signed for Derby County, moved to Forest and played for England! That makes three Aston-ites who all slipped the Rams net and were later capped by England - so much for harnessing local talent.

Frank Forman lived in West Bridgford for the greater part of his life, and died there aged 86 on 4 December 1961.