Thirty-six; an ode to the unbeaten

Scunthorpe were the first in October ’09
Then we beat Newcastle live on Sky
Next up at home were the Barnsley Tykes
Who fell to a last-gasp Moussi strike
Bristol pegged us back in the final minute
But Doncaster Rovers were hardly in it
Five goals went past the hapless Foxes
In a game that ticked all of the boxes
We put three past Preston, two past Cov
A win over Reading kicked the new year off
Next at the City Ground came QPR
For a Forest performance that was five-star
Two against Wednesday left Blackstock delighted
While Earnshaw’s goal saw off United
The Smoggies and Swansea fell one after the other
We battled hard to beat Peterborough
Crystal Palace made it twelve in a row
A draw against Cardiff was a minor blow
A win over Ipswich guaranteed a play-off
And we finished the season with the thrashing of Plymouth
What happened against Blackpool we try to forget
It just proved that the boys weren’t quite ready yet
The season’s league record carried over the summer
But without any signings the mood became glummer
A draw against Leeds signalled struggles to come
Norwich and Millwall both finished one-one
Against Swansea the win finally came
McGugan and Majewski settling the game
We were held by Sheffield and then beat Boro
And we saw off Ipswich with a McGugan stunner
Coventry couldn’t break down our defence
Queens Park Rangers made things tense
But after a break because of the snow
We beat Crystal Palace before the main show
Derby were sent packing down the A 5-2
In a win that increased poor Nigel’s blues
Barnsley made us come from behind
And we overcame Portsmouth in stoppage time
Chambers scored to beat the Robins
Stretching our run to four straight wins
And Watford soon made it six
Putting us right in the promotion mix
Outplaying Cardiff took us to second
We started to think that the Premiership beckoned
Preston brought us back to down to earth
But the fans had got their money’s worth
Thirty-six matches without defeat
Five-hundred-and-twenty days, seventy-four weeks
Hull City brought it all to an end
The record just too much to defend
For a team starting to look tired
But a team to be acclaimed and admired
Unbeaten in front of their home crowd
Every one of those fans so very proud