Forest's top 10 strikers of the Championship era

Nottingham Forest are back in The Premier league for the first time since their relegation in 1999. Over the next twenty-three seasons The Reds used seventy* strikers in their quest to return, here are my top ten of this era.

10. Sam Surridge

Sam Surridge signed in January for a reported £2,200,000, scoring 8 goals as Forest won promotion. At only 23, he has already played in The Premier League for Bournemouth - he'll be looking to continue his development this season.

We've not seen as much of Surridge as the other players on this list - with most of his 17 appearances off the bench, he only featured for 715 minutes of regular league football. However his potency during this short period warrants his inclusion.

Surridge scored 7 goals in the league - this is a goal every 102.1 minutes of being on the pitch. No player featuring for over 600 minutes has scored as fast as this during the Championship era - Surridge is one of the most lethal finishers at the club for a long time.

This still may not have been enough to push himself into our top ten - Kris Boyd had similar goal-scoring statistics during the 2010/11 season, albeit over less games. However Surridge also creates chances for others.

Surridge's movement and tenacity caused so many problems for defenders last season that others were able to benefit; he made a key contribution to a goal every 65 minutes, making him statistically Forest's most creative player since at least 2013 (when I started collating this information), and likely over the entire Championship era.

9. Nathan Tyson

A mainstay of Forest's League One and early Championship sides, Nathan Tyson signed from Wycombe Wanderers in 2005. He cost the club £650,000 - which was big money in the circumstances.

Tyson was not the most prolific goalscorer, but over the course of his time at Forest he scored 35 league goals, which is the joint 5th most during this era. 

Tyson helped Forest get back into The Championship in 2008. He was often played on the left wing where he terrorised defenders over the course of his 6 seasons at The City Ground.

Over a total of 211 appearances he scored 42 goals in all competitions.

8. Keinan Davis

Aston Villa striker Keinan Davis was Steve Cooper's first signing in his bid to break into the playoffs during Forest's successful bid for promotion.

He is another player featuring relatively briefly, however without his contribution The Reds would not be a Premier League club. His strength and ability to play with defenders touch-tight, and even force his way through them, was vital to the team's system this year. 

Davis scored 5 goals in 15 Championship appearances; he has limited experience at the top level, however this could be the season we see big things from Davis. It is a shame it's not going to be in a Forest shirt...

7. Dexter Blackstock

Billy Davis loaned target man Dexter Blackstock from QPR in March 2009, to help Forest avoid relegation. He later signed permanently and forged an important partnership with Robert Earnshaw.

Not known for his goalscoring, Blackstock nevertheless managed 42 goals in regular league games, which is the 4th most of any Forest player since relegation from The Premier League. This equates to a goal every 236 minutes - a respectable return.

He was at his best however when bringing others into play, and featured in some of Forests more notable victories, such as the 7-3 demolition of Leeds United.

Blackstock contributed to Forest picking up 178 points during his games** despite his time at the club being blighted by injury - this is more than any other player on this list and an indicator of his huge contribution.

6. David Johnson

David Johnson signed for £3.500,000 in January 2001, with Forest struggling to regain their Premier League status under David Platt.

A traditional striker, Johnson scored 46 league goals for Forest, which is the third most of any player in this era. This was despite his time at The City Ground being hampered by a series of injuries and questionable managerial decisions.

Player of the Season in 2002/03, Johnson's 25 goals helped Forest reach a play-off spot under Paul Hart before the injuries began to take their toll.

Special mention

Not quite making our top ten, as we're looking back at strikers during the years it may be a good time to remember Junior Agogo. 

The Ghanaian international was Forest's top scorer as they gained promotion from League One in 2007/08.

Agogo suffered a stroke in 2015, and finally passed away in 2019, aged just 40. 

5. Marlon Harewood

Academy product Marlon Harewood established himself as a first team regular during Forest's last Premier League campaign in 98/88.

Harewood's partnership with David Johnson was perhaps the driving force of Forest's 2002/03 play-off season under Paul Hart, during which he scored 20 goals. 

Offered a worse contract despite his scoring record - he is Forest's second highest goalscorer of the last 23 years with 55 goals - Harewood left Forest in 2004. He returned in 2012 but could not rekindle his old form.

4. Robert Earnshaw

Robert Earnshaw signed from Derby County in 2008, costing Forest £2,650,000.

The Welshman spearheaded Forest's attack during Billy Davies' first period at the club. This was arguably the best team of the era until Steve Cooper's arrival, however the style of play, which encouraged goals from a wide variety of positions and not primarily the strikers, meant that Earnshaw did not score a huge amount of goals.

Despite this he still scored 35 times in the league - at a rate of one goal every 182 minutes this is a strike rate only surpassed by one other Forest player with a comparable amount of games played during the era.

With memorable moments including the routing of local rivals Derby County and Leicester City, Earnshaw wouldn't have looked out of place higher on our list. He came to Forest at the height of his powers and under a different system would have scored a lot more.

3. Brennan Johnson

Academy product Brennan Johnson is probably the player most responsible for The Reds long awaited return to The Premier League.

Starting the season as an attacking midfielder, Johnson is at his best using his lightning pace to find the space in behind defenders, and once Steve Cooper had moved him further forward Forest were arguably the best side in The Championship last season.

The youngster scored 16 goals in The Championship - one every 251 minutes. This is a decent return for any striker. Factor in that Johnson is only 20 years old, and that he spent part of the season in midfield, and it becomes more impressive.

Even better is Johnson's overall involvement in goals: he made 35 key contributions in the league last season. That is the joint second highest amount of any Forest player since I began collecting this information in 2013. 

He contributed to a goal every 117 minutes he was on the pitch - for comparison, Andy Reid at his best was involved in a goal every 96 minutes. For Johnson's creative output to be so close to Reid's is an amazing achievement.

Brennan Johnson's 2021/22 performance was arguably the best season any player at Forest has had for well over two decades. It will be interesting to see just how good he can do in The Premier League.

2. Britt Assombalonga

Forest's record signing at the time, Britt Assombalonga arrived from Peterborough United in 2014 for a transfer fee of around £5,000,000.

Assombalonga just barely pips Johnson and Earnshaw to second place on our list due to his goal-scoring excellence; his 30 goals is only the 8th most of any striker since Forest have played in The Premier League, however he scored them in a very short amount of time.

The tally was achieved in only 4541 minutes, which equates to a goal every 151 minutes of being on the pitch. There are players who have scored goals faster, however not over a comparable amount of game-time.

Assombalonga is another player whose Forest career was badly affected by misfortune. He missed over a year with a career threatening knee injury and although he played well was not quite the threat afterwards.

1. Lewis Grabban

Forest's best striker over the past 23 years has been the bagsman, Lewis Grabban.

He signed from Bournemouth for an undisclosed fee thought to be around £6,000,000 in 2018, as Aitor Karanka looked to add potency to the previously low scoring Forest attack.

Three times Forest top scorer, Grabban has scored 56 goals in all competitions during his time at the club - more than any other player despite (there is a theme emerging) being hampered by injuries. 

In the league he has scored a goal every 198 minutes; this is the 4th fasted scoring rate of any player featuring for over 1000 minutes for the club in this Championship era.

However Grabban is not just an out and out goalscorer - he does have this in his locker, but he plays primarily as a false nine, dropping deep in order to bring others into play. 

This was vital during Forest's promotion season under Steve Cooper - after his injury Keinan Davis was taking plaudits playing Grabban's role in the team, however by comparison Grabban had been scoring at a faster rate and creating goals for others at a faster rate, when he was on the pitch.

After not signing a new contract this summer, it is fitting for him to sign off on a high - at 34 years of age perhaps Grabban could not be relied upon to complete a full season at the highest level. However Forest will certainly miss his experience, leadership and above all, his goals.

Thanks for reading, who would you have on the list? Let me know on Twitter or in the comments, and look out for my next article, Forest's top 10 goalkeepers of the Championship era.

* It is difficult at times to categorise a player's position - I have tried to use their main position during their time at Forest, as I recall. Includes only players who have made an appearance in the league between and including the 99/00 and 21/22 seasons.

**Games where the player has played for 45 minutes or more.