Harry Wightman (1936-1939)

He was the first man to hold the title of team manager of Nottingham Forest.
He played for Sutton Town when he was only 14 and later for Mansfield Mechanics and Eastwood Rangers. He signed for Chesterfield when he was 17 and during World War One spent 4 seasons at the City Ground before joining Derby County in 1919.
His first experience of management was as assistant to Derby manager George Jobey. He then joined Chesterfield before peing appointed manager-coach of Notts County and then manager of Luton Town.
In 1936 he was appointed manager of Mansfield Town but it soon became clear he wanted the manager's job at Nottingham Forest.
His three seasons at the City Ground were not successful. Forest finished 18th, 20th and 20th again and in march 1939 Wightman and Forest parted company.
Harry Wightman died in Nottingham in April 1945, aged 50.

Billy Walker (1939-1960)

Before the arrival of Brian Clough, no Forest manager enjoyed such a great rapport with the Red faithful.
That was a direct result of his achievement of 1959 in leading Forest to FA Cup final success against Luton Town despite the fact that he had seen his side reduced to ten men following the loss of goalscorer Roy Dwight with a broken leg.
He had 21 years in charge of Forest following his appointment in March 1939 before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Despite the disruption of football caused by the hostilities, Walker proved himself to be an astute manager with an eye for spotting talent. He unearthed many young players for the Club following trials during and after the War years.
Forest stood by him despite relegation to the Third Division South in 1949 and they were rewarded.
Walker steered Forest to the Championship of that Division two years later - inspired by the goalscoring exploits of Wally Ardron.
Six seasons in Division Two followed before Walker took Forest back to the old First Division in 1957.
A year after the Wembley dream had been achieved, Walker decided to retire as manager and take up a new position as a member of the Club Committee.
As a player Walker had been a member of Aston Villa's FA Cup winning side during an 18-year career at Villa  Park. He was also capped 13 times by England.
Prior to joining Forest he had managed Sheffield Wednesday, who he had led also to FA Cup final glory, and Chelmsford.
In October 1963 he suffered a stroke, his health deteriorated and he passed away on 28 November 1964.

Andy Beattie (1960-1963)

The former Scottish international star was appointed as manager in September 1960 following the retirement of Billy Walker the previous summer.
He took over with Forest rooted to the bottom of the table with just six points from 16 games and he eventually brought about a massive change in fortunes by banking on youthful talent and enthusiasm.
He had almost three seasons in charge and in 1962-63 took Forest to ninth place in the old First Division - their best result for 55 years but there were rumblings of discontent behind the scenes and he resigned in the summer of 1963.
He continued in football in various managerial and coaching capacities with a number of clubs. He died age 70 on 20 September 1983. 

Johnny Carey (1963-1968)

He took charge of Forest in July 1963 and so nearly brought trophies to The City Ground.
His best season in charge was undoubtedly the 1966-67 campaign when Forest finished as runners-up to Manchester United in the old First Division and were beaten by Tottenham in the semi final of the FA Cup at Hillsborough.
He assembled a highly-talented squad who upheld the Forest traditions of playing flowing and entertaining football.
Carey also integrated young talent into an emerging Forest side but he was sacked from his position in December 1968 following a poor run of results in the first half of that season.
As a player Carey spent 17 years with Manchester United, establishing himself as one of the most versatile players of his generation. He led them to the League title in 1951-52 and the FA Cup in 1947-48. He also played for Blackburn, Everton and Leyton Orient and won 29 caps with the Republic of Ireland.
After a short spell at Blackburn he retired to live in Cheshire.

Matt Gillies (1969-1972)

He was the first of three successive Scotsmen to manage Forest when he moved into The City Ground in January 1969.
Gillies, one of football's gentlemen, was in charge during a difficult period in Forest's history with several top players leaving the Club. And it came as no surprise in October, 1972 when he resigned from his position.
Most of his football career had been spent with Leicester City following a 11-year playing stint with Bolton Wanderers.
He was transferred to Leicester in 1952 and after winning a Second Division Championship medal with them in 1953-54 he was asked to join the coaching staff at Filbert Street.
He was acting Manager for a time but took over the top job in 1959 and led Leicester to the 1961 and 1963 FA Cup finals as well as League Cup success in 1964.

Dave Mackay (1972-1973)

One of the all-time greats as a player, Mackay took over as manager of Forest in November, 1972 following the departure of Matt Gillies. His experience as manager before that had been with Swindon Town, where he had been player-boss for just over a year.
In the year that he spent as manager of Forest he made no significant impact but he did instil a new confidence into the players as they looked to plot a course back to the First Division.
Ironically, his departure from Forest came as a result of the shock resignation of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor at Derby and while they moved on to take charge of Brighton, Mackay got the chance to move along the A52 and manage a star-studded team left behind by the duo who were eventually to take over at Forest.
Mackay then led Derby to the 1974-75 title and after leaving them in 1976 spent much of his coaching and managerial days in the Middle East.
In his playing days Mackay had been a legend, moving from Hearts to Tottenham in a £30,000 deal in 1959 and was a highly-influential figure in their double-winning season of 1960-61. He won 22 Scottish caps between 1957-1966.
He twice broke his left leg in the space of nine months but bounced back, moved on to Derby and helped them win promotion to the First Division in the 1968-69 season.

Allan Brown (1973-1975)

The quietly spoken Scotsman did not have the happiest of times as manager of Forest as they struggled to turn themselves into a promotion force in the old Second Division.
The highlight of his reign came in 1974 when he was the manager of Forest and when came within a whisker of reaching the F.A. Cup semi final.
They were leading First Division Newcastle 3-1 at St. James' Park in a sixth round tie when an infamous crowd invasion saw the players taken off and when they returned Newcastle won the game 4-3.
The match was ordered to be replayed on a neutral venue and after a second replay at Goodison Park, Newcastle won through 1-0.
In addition to Forest, Brown also managed Wigan Athletic, Torquay United, Luton Town and Bury.
As a player Brown was a highly-skilful inside forward and actually played against Forest for Luton Town in the 1959 F.A. Cup final at Wembley.
After heaving Forest he had two spells in charge of Blackpool and also managed the Kuwaiti club, Quadsia.