Lifelong Nottingham Forest fan and author Rich Fisher has seen it all in Garibaldi red. In the latest Forest book to grace bookshelves around the city, he tells the tales of a local football fan experiencing delight and suffering during his time supporting his provincial city club.
The Church of Stuart Pearce and other stories is a must read for any tricky tree. From starting a religion dedicated to a cardboard cut-out of the former Forest captain and manager - which is where the name of the book originated - to random car journeys with John McGovern, the book brings to life the emotional and crazy rollercoaster that is following your local football team.
Rich is best known for editing the Forest Forever fanzine in his teenage years and helping raise funds for the Brian Clough statue in Nottingham City Centre, both ventures of which made the writer reasonably well known among Forest faithful.
From the Brian Clough era to the recent stagnation in the Championship, the focus of Rich’s memoir is very much upon the hilarious and crazy adventures he’s been on because of his enthusiasm for the mighty reds.
Rich has also chosen to donate 50p from every book sold to Nottingham Forest’s Forza Garibaldi fan group, who organise banners and displays to try and improve atmospheres on matchdays at the City Ground.
The book’s official launch was on Thursday 15 March at Waterstones, where BBC Radio Nottingham’s David Jackson hosted a Q&A session with Rich and played highlight reels of classic Forest games from the eighties and nineties for Forest fans to enjoy.
Has there been any standout stories from your time supporting Forest or has it all been one big adventure?
It has been an adventure.Things have been tough for Forest over the last twenty years, with us failing to live up to the success of the seventies, eighties and nineties. As a fan, when times are bad on the pitch there are still adventures to be had. As a teenager in the nineties I published a fanzine which fans remember fondly, and in 2005 I was involved in raising money for the Brian Clough statue in the city centre. Being a Forest fan gives you these opportunities to extend your support beyond turning up on matchday and gives you stories to bore your children with!
What do you hope that Forest fans get out of the book?
I hope there’s a lot of things that they can relate to in terms of stories and emotions at various points in time when supporting Forest. It starts with formative experiences of going to the City Ground with my dad then going with older mates and drinking on matchday. Maybe thirty to forty year olds who are of a similar age to me will have followed a similar path to me.
Just explain a little bit about the so-called religion of Stuart Pearce…
I was about twelve, Pearce was at his peak and was every fan’s hero. The club started selling life-size cardboard cut-outs of Stuart; its one of those things where you love it when you first get it but it just starts gathering dust in the loft. Fast forward about ten years, me and my mates decided on a whim to take Stuart Pearce with us to Glastonbury Festival as a laugh. It all got a bit interesting when a journalist approached us and asked why we had Stuart with us. The truth seemed a bit boring so I answered: “We are the founders of the church of Stuart Pearce and we’re here to recruit some disciples.” It was taken at face value and got reported across the media. We were mobbed everywhere we went at the festival. When we carted him around, people kept asking ‘how do I join the church of Stuart Pearce? It’s something me and my friends laugh about to this day. Stuart Pearce found it very funny by all accounts as well.
Did you hear from Stuart Pearce afterwards?
I actually wrote to him a few weeks after coming back from Glastonbury because it occurred to me that there was such a media interest in the story, so he had probably heard about it. He might be thinking what is going on in my name? He was coaching at Manchester City at the time, I was a bit worried about what he’d say cause he’s not someone you want to get on the wrong side of! But he replied to me about two weeks later and said ‘thanks for taking me to Glastonbury, it’s a while since I’ve been to the festival and you know I love music.’ He signed off with ‘Stuart Pearce, cardboard cut out and coach’ which I thought was brilliant and I’ve always kept the letter as a prized possession.
What made you decide to give donations from book sales to Forza Garibaldi?
Forest over the years and the Forest community have given me so many rich experiences and I’d like to think that I can give something back to it. Forza Garibaldi are a brilliant organisation and their banners and displays are much needed when the atmosphere at the City Ground can be a bit sterile when the team aren’t doing well, as I’m sure most fans will admit. They’ve also set up the Garibaldi bar for fans on matchday which is fantastic. If I can make them a bit of cash to help them with what they’re doing then that would be fantastic.
Did you enjoy the book launch at Waterstones?
They actually approached me which I was quite surprised about! I did a reading from the book. I’m very conscious of the fact that I didn’t want it to be an evening of me talking so there was a Q&A hosted by David Jackson and highlights of footage of games in the eighties and nineties, which is around the era when I grew up as a Forest fan and when I have my fondest memories of the club so it was an enjoyable evening and I hope the fans enjoyed it.
You can buy The Church of Stuart Pearce and other stories at Watersones, MSR Newsgroup shop on Radcliffe Road or on Amazon.
The Church of Stuart Pearce and other stories facebook
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