STEWART IMLACH jinks this way and that, a shimmy to the left, and it’s all over. If you think the reference alludes to the Scottish international’s wing play that created Roy Dwight’s opening goal that secured a 1-0 lead for Nottingham Forest in the 1959 FA Cup Final against Luton Town, you are half right.

Because a book to commemorate the 50th anniversary of that historic triumph evokes a different memory of the talented outside left, rather more offbeat but equally beguiling.

Titled And the ref was called Clough A celebration of Nottingham Forest’s historic 1959 FA Cup triumph, this hardback book is a quality publication that is now on general sale.

In one of countless candid snapshots of the Forest players in celebration, Imlach is captured balancing a tray of coffees and biscuits, jostling along the corridor of the Nottingham-bound train as the players return from St Pancras for their feted civic reception at the Council House.

They were met at the Midland Station by momentous scenes, usually associated with a decade to come, when The Beatles arrived in Nottingham or any other city here or in America during the 1960s.

Not such hysteria, of course. This was the 1950s and teenagers were still in an embryonic stage of development, but nevertheless there was unbridled joy from all and sundry as over 200,000 people lined the route of the Robin Hood bus that ferried the team and the Cup on a snail’s pace tour of the city before nearly 50,000 swamped the Old Market Square to greet captain Jack Burkitt and his players on the final leg of their parade.

There are scores more images, from the near disaster of elimination at the first hurdle in the third round tie at amateurs Tooting and Mitcham, through to the Final, an undulating, unpredictable ride to fame for the Garibaldi Reds, culminating at Wembley and the dramatic win despite losing Dwight with a fractured shin bone with just over half an hour played.

The book is a tribute not only to the Forest FA Cup winning team of 1959 but also their club chairman at that time Harold Alcock. His arrival at the City Ground shortly after the Second World War was critical to the club’s progress and his tenure coincided with their rise to the First Division and that successful May day that is still recalled by thousands of football fans on Trentside and beyond.

The pictorial memories, mostly donated by Mr Alcock’s daughter Gillian, also include contemporary magazines and FA invitations to the chairman and his entourage for the big match on May 2 as well as some poignant images from that tense third round tie in Surrey.