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Forest hero John McGovern visits Beeston Club to share moments from illustrious career

Our Beeston club welcomed their first ever guest speaker to their regular session on Tuesday 21 March as former Nottingham Forest midfielder John McGovern joined the group to share insights from his incredible career.

Sharing Memories of football

John was warmly received by our members for their regular session at the British Legion in Beeston, participating in activities and quizzes included within our Sporting Pink before going on to regale members about his 20-year playing career as well as his spells in management with the likes of Bolton Wanderers and Woking.

John spoke about his career in detail and gave some hilarious insights into life in football, including dealing with eccentric goalkeepers when on tour in Jersey and having to buy a narrowboat to live in when he was manager of Woking!

Memories of Brian Clough

John has a special connection to the East Midlands spending much of his playing career serving Derby County and Nottingham Forest and a particular association to the legendary Brian Clough – with John being scouted by Brian as a schoolboy and taking him to Derby, Leeds and Forest when he moved to manage the clubs.

John detailed his experience of working alongside Brian, with one tale recalled when he told John as a 15-year-old to get his hair cut – which probably wouldn’t happen between coach and player in today’s era!

The members of the Beeston club thoroughly enjoyed John’s stories, particular the tales involving arguably the greatest manager of Forest and Derby’s history.

One Beeston club member, who is living with dementia and a big Forest supporter, told his own story connected to the great manager. Brian was looking after his brother's newsagent and working behind the counter when the member went in to complain about the paperboy! The member also reflected that seeing John at the session was a welcome surprise.

Reflections on a positive day

Kelly Hart, our Director of Impact and Fundraising, was also in attendance at the session in Beeston and was delighted to see the impact John’s visit had on the members.

“John is the first speaker to visit our club and he came along with some brilliant stories to tell while also really engaging with our members and volunteers as they asked him lots of questions.

“I could sense our members were really connected with John as they listened intently and it was great see that it inspired the members who went on to tell their own especially about Brian Clough. It was a great afternoon which everyone really enjoyed.”

A big thank you to Reach PLC and the Garibaldi Red Podcast for organising John’s visit to our Beeston Club.