By Chris Wright
It may be a balmy, blue-skied 4ºc today but whenever government-administered snow envelopes the hermetically-sealed glass Enormodome™ over Nottingham my thoughts invariably turn back to 19th February 1996, when Forest’s FA Cup fifth round tie against Tottenham was called off after about 15 minutes of sudden, incredibly heavy snowfall (the pitch was perfectly playable at kick-off) largely due to the fact that the City Ground looked more like blizzard-blasted Arctic tundra…
Naturally, my thoughts then invariably turn to the replayed fixture a couple of weeks later, on the 28th February 1996 to be precise, wherein Ian Woan’s prowess peaked as he lashed in a couple of exquisite freekicks (one slightly more exquisite than the other) in a 2-2 draw, with Chris Armstrong answering with a brace of his own for Spurs…
For the record, the replay then, in turn, went to a replay at White Hart Lane with Forest eventually winning on penalties, with Mark Crossley saving Teddy Sheringham’s spot kick to seal it – sparking a mass sprint toward the Forest fans at the other end of the pitch which ended with most of the team “Klinsmann diving” into the boggy mud and Des Lyttle doing a little breakdance spin on his head.
Ah, good times!