Duncan Forbes, a warrior captain of Norwich City, has been robbed of his memory by Alzheimer’s. But we won’t forget him.
Everyone who cares about the club will grieve at the heartbreakingly cruel news, because nobody cared more than “Big Dunc”.
He was the rock on which the modern Norwich City was built. He led the team as they strode into the top division for the very first time, then led them out for their first Wembley final. And he straddled two distinct eras: the direct, no-nonsense style with which they reached the top tier, and then the creation of a tradition for passing which survives to this day.
He seemed indestructible, so the news that his brain has been dying, one cell at a time, is crushingly sad. But I have a personal recollection which has made me smile down the years and which is help at this most mournful of times.
He used to write a weekly article for the Pink Un. He would arrive at the office, reduce the receptionists to hysterics with his banter, turn heads as he walked with vigour from the lift to the sports department and then bellow a greeting.
He bounded in each week with his thoughts roughed out in handwriting on a sheet of lined paper from an exercise book. My role was to talk through it with him, tease out a few more stories and type it up.
I looked forward to this regular Thursday afternoon task because it was no task at all. And, to impress my then fiancée, I introduced him to her. She was a reporter on the weekly Norwich Mercury and a Carrow Road season ticket holder.
In the summer of 1976, worried that his place in John Bond’s slick, passing side might be under threat for the new season, Forbes trained on his own each day on Mousehold Heath – which, in those days, was frequented by professional ladies at night. My fiancée drove up there one morning and he readily agreed to be interviewed about his solo fitness routine.
Fast forward to December. Thursday afternoon. Forbes arrived with his familiar, irrepressible pizzazz. But he announced in that rich, bass Scots accent, that he didn’t want me to play any part in producing his column.
I was devastated. What had I done? How had I managed to upset this great hero? Nobody fell out with Big Dunc! What would the impact be on my job?
He had a private conversation with Peter Ware, the sports editor, who then told me that he agreed with Forbes. Someone else would have to liaise with the footballer.
Two days afterwards, my fiancée and I married and went on honeymoon (to the Canaries, naturally). Just over a fortnight later, back at my desk, I looked up “The Captain’s Column” in the Pink Un which Forbes had written without me. There, under his grinning by-line picture, was the usual stuff about his thoughts and hopes – plus this pay-off sentence:
“Finally, congratulations to Norwich City reporter Mick Dennis who gets married today to a nice girl I met up Mousehold Heath in the summer.”
I can’t think about that without chuckling. But then nobody could spend any time in Forbesy’s company without laughing – unless you were an opposition centre-forward, of course.
It might be a paradox and a cliché to say that he gave and took whacks without complaint – that there was an honesty about his skulduggery – but that was how it was. So, usually, there was a handshake and a joke as soon as the combat was over.
He laughed at himself as well. He had several catch-phrases, all of them dryly self-deprecating. One was: “Keep your voice down to a roar”. That was advice he seldom heeded.
His other, self-mocking mottos all referenced his rudimentary approach to the beautiful game. “Keep the ball in the air so that nobody can get it,” he used to say. “Get your retaliation in first,” was another of his favourites. So was: “If it moves, kick it. If it doesn’t move, kick it till it does.”
So City fans sang: “Six feet two, eyes of blue, Duncan Forbes is after you!”
In fact, he was a little under six feet, but he held himself very upright and gave no ground to any opponent without a real scrap. He began his career with Scottish non-league side Musselburgh, moved to Colchester at 20 and spent seven years there as they twice went up from the old Fourth Division to the Third and twice slid back down.
Lol Morgan signed him for Norwich in 1969 for just £10,000, but it was Ron Saunders, who took over as manager a year later, who forged the Forbes legend. Saunders, a martinet, demanded football without frills. That suited Forbes, who was a superb foil for the more thoughtful Dave Stringer, with whom he formed a resolute centre-back pairing which helped carry the club to history.
Norwich were famed cup fighters, and often solid campaigners in the second tier, until, with Saunders, Stringer and Forbes the key men, the unique yellow and green shirts finally reached the top tier for the first time in 1972.
The following March, Forbes walked out proudly at the front of the line of Norwich players for the League Cup final.
But one year later, City were relegated. Saunders resigned. The new manager, John Bond, was enticed away from Bournemouth and began recruiting players from his old club. He also insisted on playing the ball along the ground, building from the back and using guile instead of brute force.
With new players and new tactics, surely Forbes would be on his way? I know that Bond thought so. But the big-hearted Scottish defender was determined to prove that he could adapt and still be invaluable. Bond was soon persuaded and Forbes and Stringer were his centre-backs as Norwich won promotion for the second time and another trip to the League Cup final.
Those lone, long, training runs up and down the hills of Mousehold Heath helped Forbes keep his battle-scarred legs pumping, but eventually both he and Stringer had to make way for younger men.
Of course, Forbes wouldn’t go quietly. He didn’t do anything quietly. Farmed out on loan to Torquay, when he returned to Carrow Road he won back a first team berth.
I believe his last first team game was the final (old) First Division match of 1977-78. That was certainly the last Norwich match I reported for the Pink Un. My intro was about Forbes, because he had scored a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw. He gleefully thumped the ball into the net in front of the adoring Barclay. Not a bad finish for a remarkable career.
Forbes provided the template by which all subsequent Norwich captains should be judged, because he was perfect for the job on and off the pitch. On it, he looked as if he had been quarried from granite. Off it he was just as devoted to the club’s cause but a lot less formidable.
Despite that written prank about my wedding (which was a friendly complement, really), Forbes made a point of ensuring that other players never crossed the line with me. I was a callow pup, timorously dealing with famous men, but he made sure everyone was polite and helpful, whatever I called them in print.
After finishing playing, he worked for the commercial department, had two stints as chief scout, and spent a total of 33 years as an employee of Norwich City.
I left Norfolk for Fleet Street, but our paths crossed over the years and my heart always leaped when I saw him. If that sounds a bit wet, I make no apologies. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet many footballers. I’ve known a few really renowned people in other walks of life. But I haven’t encountered anyone I liked more than Forbesy, nor anyone I admired more.
I’d heard he had been stricken by Alzheimer’s. Most of us have seen its effect on people we know or love. It is a particularly pernicious illness which strips away the personality and leaves a husk. To think of Duncan Forbes so diminished is utterly devastating.
Now we learn that his devoted wife can no longer provide the round-the-clock care he needs. For her, the despair must be too much to bear. If you have a god, pray for her today.
And know this. As long as there is a Norwich City, we must talk about Duncan Forbes. Nobody has made a more epic contribution to our club.
Lovely piece Mick.
I remember a Club Canary trip up to Coventry in the early 80’s. Duncan was on ‘our’ coach and, as things were at the time, it was filled with boisterous young men, all aged between 18-30, not a mature gent, child or lady to be seen.
He had us in his pocket from the moment we left to the moment we got back. “Put something in for the driver” No problem Duncan. “Don’t make a mess lads” We won’t Duncan-and we didn’t. “Tone down the language a bit lads”. Yes Duncan.
Best away trip I ever did. We lost but to be entertained by Dunc with his stories and thoughts on the game (as well as his insistence that Ross Jack should always be a starter)throughout made it a treat and an utter delight. Wish it had been Newcastle away.
Gentleman, Captain, Warrior and Leader. If a stand needs renaming surely he is up there as a candidate for the honour. But the honour is ours not his. The Duncan Forbes Stand. But don’t say it quietly.
Lovely article. Duncan was a good player right from the start of his Norwich City career, but he got better and better as things developed at Carrow Road. I cannot remember there ever being any debate about the Forbes-Stringer combo week by week. And I cannot remember a single occasion when he took a backward step during a match. I suspect few top flight centre forwards knew the first thing about him at the start of that 1972-73 season. It probably took less than ten minutes of their first meeting to understand how tough an operator he was. His final game was actually in October 1980 – a 1-1 draw at Wolves. It was also the day John Bond resigned.
I grew up watching this incredible man play football for Norwich.i told my son stories about hearing his voice roaring above the noise from the stands to motivate his team, and scare the other team to death. He is still oneb of my legends.my thoughts are with all his family. He is still big dunc to me. Nothings changed
Lots to love and admire about ‘Dunc’ from those dark days of ‘Yellow Peril’ thanks to Frank Mcghee (shut your mouth) to the glorious leading out of the team at Wembley – a really true Canary – god bless.
Thank you Mick for a wonderful tribute to a City legend.
I’ve loved and admired Duncan since I was 9 years old. This is a wonderful tribute to a wonderful man.
Well done Mick, a well deserved tribute to a City legend but more importantly a great man.
A great player and a lovely guy. I got to know him through his work with ASH.
Sadly, he is not the first Norwich legend to get early Alzheimer’s – an occupational hazard of heading the heavier balls.
On a wet Monday night, we played a second replay against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. In those days second replays were at neutral grounds. The weather was so foul that the attendance was less than 6,300 and you could hear comments by individual players. The conditions didn’t suit us and we were six nil down with three minutes to play. A roar from Big Dunc: “Keep going lads, we can still win this one!”
This was also the guy who finished a game with a punctured lung and was back playing in double quick time.
One other memory – I met him one night in a bar in Dereham. He bought me a beer. Absolute bloody hero!
Fantastic written article Mick which I’m sure many people can relate with Duncan. Unfort I never saw Duncan play but the stories I hear he was a true legend at the heart of defence. I’ve got loads of stories to tell but enough spaces. I was his paperboy in the 80s and always had time to talk to this young canary. He also took time out to see my late grandma in her old peoples home. When ever I saw him at legends reunions he ALWAYS made the time to talk to the fans. The word legend is used far too often but Big Dunc is a true legend with every canary he met and were lucky enough to see him play.
Forbes is still with us of course, but a fitting tribute. Pity there is no published biog to catalogue all those on-pitch/changing room stories. For all his ‘hard-as-nails’ reputation, I think I’m right in saying he was never sent off?
Surprised he only comes in at 15 on the all-time appearances list but clearly must hold the record for matches as Captain.
There’s a great photo of a beaming Dunc. in the changing room after promotion to Div. 1 had been clinched with mug of champagne in hand next to a naked Kevin Keelan judiciously holding a plate over a sensitive area.
Great tribute. It really saddened me to hear of Duncan’s plight.
Duncan always will be a hero in my eyes. A superb leader on the pitch and a gentle giant off it.
My thoughts go to his wife and family
Duncan always used to say he was never sent off or carried off, only at shoulder hight.
At £10,000 the best investment in a player Norwich City ever made.
Great tribute.
In 1982 I went to Hillsborough to see the last game of the season against Sheffield Wednesday. It was to decide whether we’d be promoted back to the First division. Then there had been a happy atmosphere from the start. People milled around singing in anticipation of a great day out. The immense presence of Duncan Forbes, standing on a soapbox, voice booming out in his Scottish brogue brought us respectfully to order as he personally organised who went on which train.
A Canary hero.
I’m with Ed on the stand naming issue. It’s pretty poor that none of the stands currently carry the name of great legends such as Big Dunc who not only served the club with such distinction on the pitch but also off it after their glory days. I understand such things are commercially/politically decided but it would be a fitting honour for our great 70s on-pitch leader before his body follows his mind.
Amazed that he never got capped by Scotland. Looking at some of the centre backs of that era (McGrain, McNeill, McQueen, Burns), Forbes was the equal of any. I guess it was ‘little club’ syndrome or maybe it would have helped if he was called McForbes!
Thanks for that Mick. Appropriate and heartfelt. We adored Forbesy in the 70’s. Grim Saturdays could be lifted by watching him tangle with the stars of the day. Reputations meant nothing to him. He could be inspirational and yet have you in stitches with his antics. I remember him trying to play on at Highbury with his punctured lung – reminiscent of Python’s Holy Grail knight: ‘it’s just a flesh wound.’
Paul Lambert once described Michael Nelson as, ‘a real man.’ He’d have loved Big Dunc. We all still do.
Footballer-dementia link: is it a ticking time bomb as with smoking-cancer? That was fobbed off as unsubstantiated for decades and ignored by authorities under pressure from vested interests.
Jeff Astle’s premature demise due to brain injury was officially attributed by the coroner to ‘industrial’ causes i.e. heading big heavy footballs in the 50s-70s. The balls may be lighter today but serious head injuries are still sustained e.g. Peter Cech or Wayne Rooney, not to mention lower leagues.
As long ago as 1995, a paper was published which suggested the link was there but could not definitively state it; (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/gps.930101203/abstract)
A piece in the Independent on this study at the time concluded with the sentence – “no members of the FA’s medical committee were available for comment”..says it all.
The fact that little if nothing has been done by the FA in researching this area is appalling considering all the money that’s swilling around football.
City don’t do statues or stand names but WBA have an ‘Astle gate’ at the Hawthorns. That sounds a fitting way to remember Big Dunc.
Great memories of a tower of strength at the heart of City’s defence for many years. A great guy off the pitch who always had time for a chat with anyone who showed interest. Sad to see this illness take it’s toll on him.
Dear Mick,
Thank you for such a lovely tribute to my dad. I still play football with him and he still won’t step aside!Your words and the words of all the supporters are a great comfort to my family,
Kind regards,Elliot
Mick, great article about a great man. i hope that his family get to see these posts. as Ed says, when he ran club canary he was a great bloke as well. we used to sneak the beers and lots more booze on the buses, he got to know that we were good boys and let us off, he never took it away from us. he used to ask what type of lager we had, we always replied ‘Scottish Duncan’ he would grin and leave us to it. we would get someone complain occasionaly, but he would just ask if we were drinking, the answer was always ‘No Dunc’! He just gave us the look of ‘behave lads’ and you will not be in trouble and off he went again. you didnt mess with 6ft 2 eyes of blue Big Dunc, i also remembered the booming voice on a saturday afternoon at NR1.#respect otbc
In reply to Al re football and dementia. If you look on the edp website, you’ll see that Forbsey used to train heading a medicine ball, presumably so that he could head more forcefully. Whether or not Jeff Astle did, I have no idea, but I think that I’m right in saying that it was thought to be a significant contributory factor to him suffering from dementia. Apparently it also happened to Danny Blanchflower.
Astle and Forbes were contemporaries. The match balls that they used to head would have been heavier than those of today, and I’m guessing that in Blanchflowers day they might have been heavier still.
The repeated impact of heading a ball must have had some effect to on cognitive function, but nothing like the impact that boxing has.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia_pugilistica
The above article suggests that 15 to 20% of professional boxers are effected by dementia pugilistica, so much so that some medics would have it banned.
Surely though, the incidence of any sort of dementia in football wouldn’t be any where near that high, and I find it hard to imagine head injury in football causing such significant trauma to the brain that might precipitate dementia. Large quantities of alcohol over a prolonged period can lead to korsakoffs syndrome which again, I think I’m right in saying, is a form of dementia.
Unfortunately dementia is becoming more and more prevalent in society, the percentage of elderly people increases
Apologies for being too clinical, I wrote earlier in the day that I remember him coming into that tiny newsagents that was, and possibly still is on Rosary Road. Everyone’s mood just lifted, and it was certainly a privelige to see him play.
I appreciate this piece was aimed at celebrating big Dunc and everything he did for the club, and for that it does a superb job.
The fact that Mrs. Forbes raised the issue of a causal link between repeated head-ball contact and dementia in the media makes it worth highlighting here.
Rumple(21) – of course boxing is the classic example with Ali its most famous case. Not every boxer gets dementia but arguably, Ali wouldn’t have got it but for boxing (same for Duncan Forbes). The NFL has recently agreed to a massive pay out to former players who sued them because of brain injuries.
There’s no way the FA will investigate the issue (as with the tobacco industry and cancer) but if enough cases begin to emerge from players of the 60s/70s, it could be that a serious threat of court action by family members might kick the FA into action.
I think the pseudonym used by the poster above is unnecessary and in dreadfully bad taste. As a point of information, Ali has Parkinson syndrome, almost certainly caused by head trauma from boxing. He dies not have any form of dementia, however.
I’m not one to duck issues, but can we just keep this thread as a source of tributes to Duncan, please?
Where I sat at the Emirates today, I heard one tentative chant of “Six feet two…. ” I joined in, but it didn’t get taken up by enough people. Let’s keep trying.
Incredibly sad news. The word legend is over used today, but he was and is a Norwich City one.
Being football mad in the seventies in Norwich often included watching the reserve games on a Saturday afternoon. As Duncan got older, he spent longer periods playing in the second string, where I am sure he showed the younger players the value of commitment. As his pace diminished, the quantity of late tackles increased and it was slways fun to see a promising Spurs or Arsenal forward being welcomed to the world of professional football by Big Dunc.
I am sure many other people remember that occasionally Duncan would advance over the half way line and some space would open up in front of him. The crowd would encourage him to have a go at goal, and he often had a punt, which would often end up in the middle of the Barclay.
Thanks for all the memories Duncan. You will always be a football hero to me and a reminder of what football was in a different age. Best wishes to you and your family at this difficult time.
Cheers for that Mick. Can I recommend a particularly good online piece on Duncan at the Daily Mail?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2465626/Did-heading-ball-cause-professional-footballer-husband-develop-Alzheimers.html
Thinking of all.your family and friends at this difficult time .Thanks forbes true legend.I rember watching forbes from the Barclay take no prisoners Forbes .Anyone ask me my all time City player always be 6FT 2 EYES R blue Ducan Forbes is after u otbc