This time we look at a player from the late 1980's who seemed a strange signing at the time but gave several years of sterling service at the Dell.

Gerry Forrest was seemingly a run of the mill lower league footballer who in December 1985 had 357 league games under his belt for his only club Rotherham United and was only a few weeks away from his 29th birthday, therefore it was somewhat of a surprise when Chris Nicholl in his first season as Saints boss paid £100,000 to bring him South to try and solve his problems at right back, its fair to say most Saints fans were less than impressed with the signing and wondered whether this was the type of aquisition that would keep the club in the top flight over the coming years as Lawrie McMenemy's team started to unravel.

Forrest though took it in his stride and made the change from lower league to first division with ease, celebrating his debut with a win at the Dell 3-0 against Arsenal and not missing another game to the final game of the season. In 86/87 he would only be missing for four of the league campaign and the next year played all but five, proving to his doubters that he had it in him to play in the top flight.

1988/89 saw Saints make a good start and Gerry was part of the team but then he picked up an injury and in came Ray Wallace for his debut against Sheffield Wednesday which in itself was newsworthy because it was the first time three brothers had played in a league side since the 1920's with Rod and Danny alongside him.

Gerry struggled for the rest of the season with a combination of injury and Ray Wallace keeping him out restricting his league appearances to just 15(2) indeed on at least one occasion he played at right back in that total, indeed it was in this position that he would make his final appearance in Saints colours.

As 1989/90 started it would be fair to say that the long term future at the Dell didnt look good for Gerry as he approached 32, Ray Wallace was now first choice at right back and the club had also signed a promising youngster from Bath City called Jason Dodd who was occupying that spot in the reserves, so Gerry kicked off the season playing in the second string at left back and as mentioned earlier it was at number 3 that he was selected for his final game for Saints in the first team at home against Wimbledon in September 1990, a game that also saw Matt Le Tissier take and score his first penalty for the club.

Sadly for Gerry though he sustained an injury in the game that would finish not only his season but his time at the Dell, by the end of the season as he started to think of getting fit again, he not only found Wallace and Dodd ahead of him, but Saints had signed Alexey Cherednik from then Russian club Dnepr who finished the season firmly ensconsed in the number 2 shirt.

It was therefore no surprise when Gerry was given a free transfer in the summer of 1990, this wasnt a snub however, more a gesture to a man who had given over four years service to the club and could now enjoy a swansong to finish his career in a first team somewhere and not Saints reserves.

He rejoined his former club otherham and played another 34 league games for them in 90/91 before dropping down to non league football with Gateshead in his native North East and there he seems to have settled playing and coaching for a number of clubs up there including Darlington who he had a spell as caretaker manager with in 1993, after that he seems to have disapeared into the non league scene up there and little seems to have been heard of him since.

Gerry was a solid if unspectacular performer for Saints, he grasped his chance for a spell in the limelight with both hands, known for his trademark moustache in many respects he looked like Jimmy Case, in a glance at team pictures from that time, its often easy to mistake them for each other till you take a second look, Gerry's Saints career spanned 112 (3) league games plus 16 in the normal cups and 1 in the short lived Super Cup and 2 in the Full members Cup, sadly he failed to score a goal in any of those League games, but he did manage the equaliser against Derby County at the Dell in an FA Cup replay in January 1989 for his only strike for the club.it didnt help much with Saints losing the game 2-1 after extra time              

Photo: Action Images

ThereIn76 added 11:15 - Jun 29 There was something of a sour end to this. Some years after Forrest left, a piece appeared in a Sunday tabloid in which he was highly critical of Saints for not keeping up insurance premiums so that he could claim an injury pension if forced to retire through injury. I can’t remember which Wimbledon player caused his injury but it was a pretty evil foul. Forrest claimed he had to continue playing which is why he went back to Rotherham but only managed 34 appearances, apparently aggravating his condition in the process. Saints for their part claimed that they had supported him to regain full fitness and that it was standard to stop paying the insurance once a player reached a certain age because the premiums leapt up. All a shame. He was a committed and dependable player for Saints.

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Wints76 added 13:22 - Jun 29 Going to full on geek mode, I think he scored once, against Derby in a cup defeat.
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SaintNick added 13:32 - Jun 29 I think you need to read articles more carefully and right to the end :-)
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Wints76 added 13:42 - Jun 29 Ha ha. You can edit & I can't!
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felly1 added 13:25 - Jul 1 Always liked Gerry Forrest. Not the quickest fullback around but if my memory serves me well he was comfortable on the ball and a decent passer. Definitely an improvement on the hapless Steve Baker! Always felt sorry for him as the crowd particulary the Milton Rd gave him loads of stick.
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zonehead added 00:21 - Jul 4 Hers another one Mike Pickering I seem to recall he quit playing after breaking another players leg!
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