Nicholas Michael Forster (born 8 September 1973) is an English former professional footballer who was most recently the manager of Staines Town. Forster has also been player-manager at Brentford and manager of Dover Athletic.
Career
Early years
Forster, who was born in
Caterham, Surrey, was spotted playing for non-league Horley Town and invited for trials by Gillingham in December 1991. After impressing with the youth and reserve teams he signed a professional contract in May 1992, making his debut the following September.
Roger Triggs (2025). 075242243X, Tempus Publishing Ltd. 075242243X
He starred for the club during the otherwise disappointing 1993–94 season, scoring 18 goals, but at the end of the season he turned down a new contract and instead joined Brentford for £320,000, a move which provoked bad feeling from Gillingham fans which persisted for many years.
Brentford and Birmingham City
While at Brentford, Forster formed prolific partnerships with
Carl Asaba and Robert Taylor, both of whom would later join his former club Gillingham. He made 109 league appearances for Brentford and scored 39 goals during his time at Griffin Park.
He was later capped by England at under-21 level soon afterwards.
In January 1997, Forster moved to Birmingham City for a fee of £700,000.
He made 67 league appearances and scored eleven league goals for the club.
Reading
Two years later he was on the move again, this time to Reading, where he spent six years at the club at a cost of £650,000 between 1999 and 2005. Forster receives part of the credit for salvaging Reading's 1999–2000 season, during which the club rose from Division Two's relegation zone at Christmas to a finish in the top ten under caretaker manager
Alan Pardew.
However, an injured Forster was unable to contribute to the club's good fortune the following season.
However, he did return in time for the 2000–01 Division Two play-off semi final against
Wigan Athletic. In the second leg with Wigan leading 1–0 on aggregate, Forster came on as a late substitute. He set up Martin Butler for the equaliser before winning a penalty; after
Jamie Cureton's effort was saved, Forster scored from the rebound. Reading were to lose the final 3–2 after extra time to Walsall. He then scored 18 goals the following season as Reading were promoted to Division One.
Forster regards Reading's 2002–03 campaign as his best period of form during his career,
Forster considers the club as "home".
Ipswich Town
Despite being a popular player at Reading, he was allowed to join Ipswich Town on a free transfer in 2005. Unable to replicate for Ipswich the form he showed with Reading due to several injury setbacks over the 2005–06 season, Forster signed a two-year contract with Hull City on 31 August 2006 for a £250,000 transfer fee.
He had been a teammate of Hull City's manager,
Phil Parkinson, while at Reading.
Hull City
During his time at Hull City, Forster made 37 appearances and scored six goals for the club; these totals include one goal in two
FA Cup appearances. His form helped propel him to second place in the club's Player of the Year awards for the 2006–07 season.
Brighton & Hove Albion
In January 2007, Brighton & Hove Albion made an unsuccessful £100,000 bid for Forster.
However, at the end of the 2006–07 season, Forster stated his wish to move back to the south of England for family reasons,
and eventually signed a three-year contract with Brighton in late June 2007 for a £75,000 fee.
He attributed his decision to drop down to Football League One from the Championship to the ambition shown by Brighton manager
Dean Wilkins and chairman Dick Knight.
Forster was appointed club captain after the departure of Dean Hammond during January 2008, and confirmed in the role by new manager Micky Adams for the 2008–09 season.
Brentford (second spell)
On 16 June 2010, Forster re-signed for Brentford on a two-year deal.
He scored his first goal in his second spell at the club in a 1–1 draw with Exeter City on 14 January 2011. Forster was appointed as temporary manager following the departure of Andy Scott on 3 February 2011,
with
Mark Warburton as his assistant.
On 1 March, it was confirmed Forster would remain first team manager on a permanent basis until the end of the current season. On 19 May 2011, Forster announced his retirement from football to concentrate on management. Earlier that week, it was announced that he had failed to land the Brentford manager's job.
Lingfield
In 2011, Forster signed for Lingfield of the Sussex County League.
He scored twice on his debut in an FA Cup match against Hailsham Town.
His first league goals came in his next game for the club in a 3–0 win against AFC Uckfield.
Dover Athletic
On 27 September 2011, he was appointed player-manager of Dover Athletic after the departure of Martin Hayes.
He appeared on the substitutes' bench in the first league match of the season, a 2–2 home draw with Farnborough on 18 August 2012.
Forster made his Dover debut as a 46th-minute substitute for
Calum Willock in a 1–0 home loss to Chelmsford City on 4 September.
In January 2013, with Dover still third in the table despite five consecutive losses, Forster was placed on gardening leave; the club appointed Chris Kinnear the following day.
Staines Town
Forster was appointed as the replacement for
Marcus Gayle as manager of Staines Town on 8 January 2015, with the task of keeping them in the
Conference South. However, Staines Town were relegated to the Isthmian League Premier Division at the end of the 2014–15 season.
Personal life
As of 2020, Forster ran The Spot Wellness Centre in
Godstone.
His stepson, Jake Forster-Caskey, is also a footballer.
Career statistics
Club
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition |
|
|
| Gillingham | 1992–93 | Third Division | 8 |
1993–94 | 18 |
|
| Margate (loan) | 1992–93 | Southern League Southern Div. | 1 |
| Brentford | 1994–95 | Second Division | 26 |
1995–96 | 8 |
1996–97 | 13 |
|
| Birmingham City | 1996–97 | First Division | 3 |
1997–98 | 3 |
1998–99 | 6 |
|
| Reading | 1999–2000 | 10 |
2000–01 | 2 |
2001–02 | 18 |
2002–03 | 18 |
2003–04 | 11 |
2004–05 | 9 |
|
| Ipswich Town | 2005–06 | 7 |
2006–07 | 1 |
|
| Hull City | 2006–07 | 6 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 2007–08 | 19 |
2008–09 | 16 |
2009–10 | 16 |
|
| Charlton Athletic (loan) | 2009–10 | 2 |
| Brentford | 2010–11 | 1 |
|
Managerial statistics
| + Managerial record by team and tenure |
|
|
| Brentford (caretaker) | 3 February 2011 | 19 May 2011
| |
|
Honours
As a player
Brentford
-
Football League Second Division runner-up: 1994–95
Reading
-
Football League Second Division runner-up: 2001–02
Individual
-
PFA Team of the Year: 1994–95 Second Division,
-
Football League One Player of the Month: September 2009
[
]
As a manager
Brentford
-
Football League Trophy runner-up: 2010–11
External links
