On this day (8th December) in 1979, the Eagles welcomed Forest to South London, and sent them back to Nottingham with their tails between their legs.
Remember, Palace were newly promoted under Terry Venables, thanks to a legendary afternoon at Selhurst Park against Burnley which saw more than 50,000 fans – still a record attendance to this day – cram into the stadium for wild celebrations.
Led by Clough, venerated not just for his Forest side – which would go on to win a second successive European Cup against Hamburg at the Bernabeu in May – but also for his Derby County title winners seven years previous, the visitors had a lineup packed with legends of the game. Peter Shilton started in goal, with Viv Anderson, John Robertson, Martin O’Neill and £1 million man Trevor Francis among the outfield players.
Palace fielded some soon-to-be legends of their own: Kenny Sansom and Vince Hilaire among them. Even so, it was set to be a tough test.
The Eagles survived several near-misses – with John Burridge earning his weekly salary and then some – before Ian Walsh netted the only goal of the game to give Palace a famous victory.
### **Crystal Palace:**
1. John Burridge
2. Paul Hinshelwood
3. Kenny Sansom
4. Peter Nicholas
5. Jim Cannon
6. Billy Gilbert
7. Jerry Murphy (Terry Fenwick)
8. Gerry Francis
9. Ian Walsh
10. Dave Swindlehurst
11. Vince Hilaire
### **Nottingham Forest:**
1. Peter Shilton
2. Viv Anderson
3. Frank Gray
4. Ian Bowyer
5. Larry Lloyd
6. Kenny Burns
7. Martin O’Neill
8. John O’Hare
9. Garry Birtles
10. Trevor Francis
11. John Robertson