Forest Legends: Ian Storey-Moore

He signed for Forest in 1961 from Scunthorpe as a young 17 year old and made his debut for the Reds in his second season with the club. Although it took him a while to establish himself in the team, once he did, he soon became a fans favourite.

He spent 11 fantastic years at the City Ground and was the clubs top scorer in every season from 1966-1972. He was what was referred to back in the day, as something of a ‘wing wizard’. He had pace, skill and the ball seemed to hug his feet when he ran with it. He was strong as well and would often be seen holding off over zealous defenders with his arm, just before going past them.

Storey-Moore was a lethal finisher and in 236 appearances for the club, he scored a very impressive 118 goals. By 1970 his reputation earned him an England call up and he made his one and only appearance for the National side in a game against Holland. The England manager of the time Sir Alf Ramsey, had supposedly adopted a policy of not playing with wingers and thus limited the City Ground hero to the one call up.

In 1972 he signed for Manchester United, but not before being paraded on the Baseball Ground pitch as a Derby County player. The Red Devils came in at the death to get his signature and cheer Forest fans up no end, as they couldn’t stand the thought of their hero signing for their closest and fiercest rivals.

Unfortunately for Storey-Moore, injuries limited him to only 39 appearances for United, but he did score 12 goals for them in that time. He was forced to retire from professional football in 1975 and spent some time playing in the States.

He moved into management with Shepshed Charterhouse in 1977, where he became player manager. From 1978-81 he was manager of Burton Albion, where he was succeeded by our dear friend, Neil Warnock. After his brief spell in management he became Head Scout for the Reds, where he worked until recently. He now does the same job for Premier League Aston Villa, under former Red and former team mate Martin O’Neill. Ian Storey-Moore is now 62 years of age and it’s his birthday on Thursday. Happy birthday, to a true City Ground legend.



Sourced from NFFC and Wikipedia.