Gerry Forrest

Gerald Forrest (born 21 January 1957) is an English retired footballer who played at full-back for Rotherham United and Southampton.

Gerry Forrest
Personal information
Full name Gerald Forrest[1]
Date of birth (1957-01-21) 21 January 1957[1]
Place of birth Stockton-on-Tees,[1] England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Playing position(s) Full-back
Youth career
Billingham Town
South Bank
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1977–1985 Rotherham United 357 (8)
1985–1990 Southampton 115 (0)
1990–1991 Rotherham United 34 (0)
1991–1992 Gateshead United
1992 Billingham Town
Teams managed
1993 Darlington (caretaker manager)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Football career

Born in Stockton-on-Tees, Forrest played his youth football with Billingham Town[3] and was a member of the Stockton Youth Representative team in the mid-1970s.[4]

He then joined South Bank of the Northern League[5] from where he was invited to Rotherham United for a trial in February 1977. After making an impression on manager Jimmy McGuigan, Forrest was signed as a professional and went straight into Rotherham's first team at the start of the 1977–78 season, remaining an automatic choice for several years.[6] In 1981, Rotherham were Third Division champions but after two seasons in the Second Division they dropped back down again.

Described as "an exceptionally skilful attacking right back", Forrest soon attracted attention from top clubs, with an offer of £200,000 from Sunderland being rejected.[6] Eventually, Rotherham agreed to let him move on in December 1985 after Southampton of the First Division made an offer of £100,000, although Forrest was by now 28 years old.[7]

At The Dell, Forrest soon justified manager Chris Nicholl's investment and made the step-up to top-flight football seamlessly. He was a cultured right back who was comfortable on the ball and strong in attack yet had great defensive abilities.[8] He made his debut for "the Saints", when he took the place of Steve Baker in a 3–0 victory over Arsenal on 7 December 1985, retaining his place for the rest of the season.[9]

Over the next three seasons, he rarely missed a game, until October 1988 when he was replaced by Ray Wallace in a 2–1 defeat by Sheffield Wednesday.[10] Wallace's brothers Rod and Danny were established members of the Southampton side – this was the first time three brothers had played in the same team in the Football League First Division for 67 years.[11]

Now in his early thirties, Forrest made only the occasional appearance until he sustained a serious knee injury against Wimbledon on 30 September 1989 which ended his career at Southampton.[7] By the time that he had regained his fitness six months later, Jason Dodd was beginning to establish himself at right-back and with Aleksei Cherednik also on the books, Forrest was unable to get back into the team and was given a free transfer.[7]

Forrest returned to Rotherham in August 1990 for one final season in League football before dropping down to the lower leagues with Gateshead United.

Coaching career

In 1992, Forrest joined the coaching staff at Darlington taking over the reins as caretaker manager in October 1993 (with Tim Parkin) when Billy McEwan was dismissed. Forrest and Parkin took charge of the first-team for four matches before Alan Murray took over permanently.[12]

Honours

Rotherham United

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References
  1. "Gerry Forrest". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  2. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 336. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  3. "Billingham Town Old Boys". Billingham Town FC History. Billingham Town FC. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  4. "Stockton Youth Representative Team". picturestockton. 4 August 2009. Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  5. "South Bank FC". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  6. "Past players: Gerry Forrest". www.themillers.co.uk. 17 November 2004. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  7. Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003). In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. Hagiology Publishing. p. 512. ISBN 0-9534474-3-X.
  8. "Millersmad Greatest XI: The full backs". www.rotherhamunited-mad.co.uk. 21 May 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  9. In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. p. 190.
  10. In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. p. 203.
  11. Culley, Jon (13 October 1997). "Football: Family Tree". The Independent. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  12. O'Hagan, Simon (24 October 1993). "Simon O'Hagan sees a class struggle as the club in a no-win situation thwart upwardly mobile visitors". The Independent. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
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