A dazzling year for Notts sport

Rebecca Adlington broke a 19-year-old world record to win her second gold

Many may argue that 2008 has been the best-ever year for sport in Nottinghamshire.

Mansfield's 19-year-old Rebecca Adlington shocked the nation as she powered to victory in the 400m freestyle in the Beijing Olympics.

The swimming sensation then proved her success was not a flash in the pan by taking gold in the 800m days later.

Hot on her heels was fellow Nova Centurion swimmer Sam Hynd from Kirkby who won gold in the 400m freestyle and bronze in the 200m individual medley events at the Paralympics a month later.

The 17-year-old did not stop there as November saw him break three world and five European records at the Disability Sports Event National Short Course Championships in Sheffield.

Back home, Nottingham Forest had their share of success as a nervy final match of the season against Yeovil saw them seal a surprise automatic promotion to the Championship in May.

Coincidentally, it had been the Glovers who denied Forest a place in the 2007 play-off final after they suffered a heartbreaking 5-2 semi-final defeat at home having taken a 2-0 victory in the first leg.

It was ultimately not good enough for manager Colin Calderwood, who was sacked on Boxing Day with his side 22nd in the Championship - and looking on course to return to League One.

But, at the time, former Scotland international Calderwood, who also won promotion with Northampton Town, regarded it as a career highlight.

"It was very emotional," he said. "Probably as good as anything I've experienced in football.

"Being in charge of a club and taking them on that rollercoaster has surpassed anything."

Despite their poor start to the current season, Forest fans had another reason to celebrate as a statue of legendary manager Brian Clough was unveiled in Nottingham in November.

Widow Barbara Clough said: "All we can think is how amazed Brian would be. The very idea of a statue - he would never believe it. It's just wonderful."

In September, it was the turn of Notts County to pay tribute to another legendary manager, as Jimmy Sirrel passed away at the age of 86.

Warm tributes flooded in from Magpies fans and players alike.

The Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson told the BBC: "All I can say is that I'd be confident in Jimmy Sirrel managing a team I supported, and that would be the general opinion from all the managers in the game.

"People like Jimmy had to work with either no money or little money and, if you look at his career at Notts County and Sheffield United, you'll see he's done fantastically well with players who are quite limited."

It was a near-miss season for Nottinghamshire cricket as the team narrowly missed out on winning the County Championship and taking the Pro40 Division One title.

Director of cricket Mick Newell said: "You can't have a successful season if you don't put any trophies into the club.

"We played some good cricket but we fell short at the last hurdle on two occasions."

However, the Nottingham Panthers did manage to bring some silverware into the county after winning the Challenge Cup.

The Panthers managed a 9-7 aggregate win over Sheffield Steelers to lift the trophy in February.

Player coach Corey Neilson said: "It was a dramatic year, on and off the ice.

"I started the year as a player and have ended it as coach but the highlight was beating our arch rivals in the Challenge Cup."

To round off the county's successes in 2008, Gedling-born boxer Carl Froch thrilled a home crowd by beating Canadian Jean Pascal to take the WBC super-middleweight title at Nottingham Arena in December.

The 31-year-old told BBC Radio Nottingham: "I put so much into it.

"It was my toughest fight to date but there was no way I was going to let it go."