Steve receives his signed Forest shirt from John O’Hare and Forest fan engagement officer Alex Tatner

Nottingham Forest legends have made a special presentation to pay tribute to Steve Moon’s remarkable 40 seasons of service as our branch chairman.

Steve stepped down from his role in the summer and the club were keen to honour his huge contribution to the London Trickies during that time.

Miracle man John O’Hare was joined by Nigel Jemson, Paul Anderson and Julian Bennett to present Steve with a signed home shirt by the side of the pitch ahead of Forest’s 1-0 victory over Ipswich.

The Forest jersey had been signed by all of the current members of the first-team squad and “Moon 40” on the back.

Steve won’t mind us saying he was very emotional at receiving such a wonderful gesture from the club to which he has dedicated so much of his life and we would like to thank in particular thank Forest’s Will D’Hooge and Alex Tatner for making it happen.

Despite coming from “West Ham territory”, Steve has been a Forest fan from the age of ten – with the 1959 FA Cup final playing a huge part in his loyalties.

He recalled: “Luton were strong favourites to win the cup because they had thrashed Forest 5-1 in a league game just before the final and were strong favourites.

“I wanted Forest to win that game, which of course they did 2-1, and it kind of went from there.”

Steve had supported Forest for many years when the London & Southern Counties Branch of the Supporters Club was formed by Robin Morris and Ron Rulton at the suitably named Foresters Arms in Wandsworth in 1977 … on the same day as Peter Shilton joined Forest.

It was, of course, a season which ended up with Brian Clough’s newly-promoted side being crowned league champions.

Steve took over as chairman in 1984 and as well as the largely thankless task of organising match tickets for members has attended the vast majority of Forest matches home and away during that time – back in the day he could often be spotted with what became a trademark green plastic M&S carrier bag.

And he more than anyone has ensured that the club has survived and flourished – despite those three years of collecting new grounds in League One.

He left the his chairmanship of the branch in safe hands with membership numbers even higher than in Clough’s glory days following promotion back to the Premier League in 2022 but remains a hugely positive influence – and captain of our pool team – despite no longer being on the committee.

Steve said: “We haven’t always agreed about everything but the branch has been like a family. You are the greatest bunch of guys I could possibly have met.”

Steve shakes hands with Nigel Jemson and John O’Hare, watched by Forest’s head of fan engagement Will D’Hooge at the City Ground

Pictures by Ritchie Sumpter/NFFC