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30 Greatest Teams in Premier League History

By Benjamin Taylor

Who will lift this trophy in May and join these 30 teams among the greatest ever to compete in the English Premier League? (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Who will lift this trophy in May and join these 30 teams among the greatest ever to compete in the English Premier League? (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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25. Nottingham Forest, 1994-95

17 DEC 1994: GOALSCORER STAN COLLYMORE OF NOTTINGHAM FOREST CELEBRATE SCORING THE FIRST GOAL.MANCHESTER UNITED V NOTTINGHAM FOREST IN THE FA PREMIERSHIP AT OLD TRAFFORD, MANCHESTER. Mandatory Credit: Anton Want/ALLSPORT
17 DEC 1994: GOALSCORER STAN COLLYMORE OF NOTTINGHAM FOREST CELEBRATE SCORING THE FIRST GOAL.MANCHESTER UNITED V NOTTINGHAM FOREST IN THE FA PREMIERSHIP AT OLD TRAFFORD, MANCHESTER. Mandatory Credit: Anton Want/ALLSPORT /

Starting XI: M. Crossley (GK); D. Lyttle, S. Chettle, C. Cooper, S. Pearce; S. Stone, D. Phillips, L. Bohinen, I. Woan; B. Roy, S. Collymore.

Another team, like Reading, who followed up promotion with an exceptional first season in the Premier League. Forest had been First Division regulars throughout the 1980s, but had been relegated in 1993 in what proved to be Brian Clough’s final season in charge. His successor, Frank Clark – a member of the famous Forest team that had won back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980 – had secured an immediate return to the top flight.

Driven by the influence of captain and set-piece master Stuart Pearce, and top scorer Stan Collymore, Forest got off to a blistering start – they were unbeaten through eleven games and in the blink of an eye went from relegation candidates to title challengers. Despite a mid-season slump, they won nine of their final eleven games to secure a 3rd place finish and their first European football of the post-Heysel era.

Despite this success, Collymore was sold to Liverpool the following summer, and two disappointing seasons later the club dropped back out of the Premier League. They have never since returned to English football’s top tier.

Next: No. 24

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