This season Prostate Cancer UK is the official charity of The Football League. To celebrate, we've asked bloggers from each of the 72 clubs to count down their top five strikers to have worn the No9 shirt, in recognition of the fact that prostate cancer affects one in nine men.

Young man: Nigel Clough was referred to as 'the No9' by his dad. Photo courtesy of Action Images

 

Here blogger Ryan Brice, from nffcblog.com, selects Forest's five best No9s… and one to forget!

5. Sam Weller Widdowson (1869-84)
A Victorian-era forward for Forest who was once capped for England, Widdowson is best remembered for the remarkable innovations he brought to the game. While still a player Widdowson introduced shin pads (using cut down cricket pads), and later, as a referee, he pioneered the use of the whistle and goal nets - and even experimented with floodlighting by using gas lamps to aid night matches. He also had a five-year tenure as Forest chairman between 1879-84, invented the 2-3-5 formation and sported a magnificent moustache!

4. Nigel Clough (1984-93 & 1996-97)
His dad called him "the No9", although more as an alternative to using his name rather than a suggestion he was the definitive article. He was rarely seen as a prolific marksman, yet Clough junior is second in Forest's all-time scoring charts. While not particularly fast, he made up for this with his speed of thinking and probably contributed as many assists as goals for the Reds. A different kind of striker to his father, he's proving to be a different type of manager too, albeit at one of the same clubs his old man made his name at. He made 410 appearances in two spells at Forest (the second a short-term loan), scoring 131 goals.

3. Wally Ardron (1949-55)
Ardron managed to become the club's third highest scorer, and second highest scorer in the league, after playing for just six seasons at Forest. He scored 36 league goals in 1950-51, a feat yet to be repeated by a Nottingham Forest player. A working-class Yorkshire lad with attitude, he was responsible for nailing the Forest captain Horace Gager's trilby hat to a wooden post as an amusing response to the skipper's habit of training alone on occasion.

2. Joe Baker (1966-69)
Signed for a considerable fee of £65,000 from Arsenal, Forest fans of a certain age still go a bit dewy-eyed when they reminisce about 'Zigger Zagger' Joe Baker. Pacey, prolific and brave, Baker was as much a danger in the air as on the deck, despite his relatively diminutive stature. Three years of service saw him notch 41 goals in 118 appearances before moving on to Sunderland.

1. Grenville Morris (1898-1913)
Or Arthur Grenville Morris, to give him his full name. A Welsh forward who still holds the all-time scoring record for Nottingham Forest, with a whopping 217 goals in 460 appearances. He enjoyed a similarly lengthy spell as an international forward for Wales - getting his first cap in 1896 at the age of 18, and playing his last game in 1912 when aged 34. Signed for £200, and no doubt lured by joining the newly crowned FA Cup holders in their new ground on the banks of the Trent, would Arthur have thought he'd hold these records a hundred years after leaving the club?

And the worst…
Eugene Dadi (2005-05)
This free transfer from Tranmere was so bad he made only one starting appearance, in the LDV Vans Trophy against Woking, and five substitute appearances before being shipped out on loan to Notts County. Needless to say, the goal tally was a big fat zero. Many remain to be convinced he was actually a footballer - he was that bad. He's gone on to play in Australia and Indonesia.

Follow Ryan on Twitter @NFFCBlog