Chelsea vs Nottingham Forest Timeline & H2H Stats

There hasn’t really been a huge rivalry between Chelsea and Nottingham Forest over the years, but not for the reason that many football fans might think. In the eyes of many modern day supporters, Chelsea are the successful team whilst Forest have spent most of their existence wallowing in the lower leagues. Those with either a few more years on the clock or else a better knowledge of the game will be more than aware that it was Forest that were at the pinnacle of the English game long before the modern day Chelsea team came about, even winning the European Cup many years prior to the London club’s success in the competition.

In fact, in the first seven meetings between the two teams, Chelsea won just once and lost the other six, conceding 19 times and getting on the score sheet just three times. As the years progressed that obviously tended to shift, in no small part thanks to the fact that the Blues were bought out by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich who chose to pump money into the club to make them extremely successful, all whilst Forest slipped down the divisions. Between the 12th of September, 1998 and the 5th of January, 2020, for example, the West London club won seven times in succession against the East Midlanders across three competitions.

A Matchup with Big Scorelines

When teams play each other as often as Nottingham Forest and Chelsea have over the years, there are always going to be a fair share of drab and dull matches. Between the 21st of September, 1908 and the 25th of December, 1925, for example, there were only three games in which the winner won by more than a single goal. One of those matches was on Boxing Day 1925, coming just hours after the two teams had played out a boring 0-0 draw, this time with Chelsea winning 4-0. That is something of a reflection of how the two sides have got on over the years, with goals in games often proving to be either feast or famine.

In the August of 1925 the sides played out a 5-1 win to Chelsea, then a month later the game between them ended 0-0. There are plenty such examples from over the years, such as how a game in April of 1958 ended 1-1 then in the September of the same year the Blues won 4-1. It hasn’t always been in Chelsea’s favour either. On April Fool’s Day 1978 Forest won 3-1, then less than a year later they ran out 6-9 winners before following that up with another 3-1 won a few weeks later one. They also won 6-2 in the September of 1986, as well as smashing the Blues 7-0 in the April of 1991. This has often been a fixture full of goals.

Chelsea’s Full Match History Against Nottingham Forest