Fumio Nakahara of the Imperial Japanese Army believed that Malmö FF had won the European Cup, right up until September 2008.
The incredible story emerged as his family are among the many dignitaries who are invited to the City Ground to see Nottingham Forest face Malmö FF, on Thursday night.
The club has invited all and sundry to bear witness to Forest’s fourth Europa League tie of the tournament, and two of Nakahara’s great-great-grandchildren will be present at the game.
So far, Forest have beaten FC Porto, drew with Real Betis in Seville, drew with Sturm Graz in Austria and lost to Denmark’s equivalent of Charlton Athletic – https://treeseasons.co.uk/midtylland-is-a-mythical-land/ .
Nottingham Forest didn’t stand a chance.
In May 2008, nearly thirty years after Forest’s first European Cup win against Malmö FF, a Japanese newspaper, The Asahi Shimbun, reported that Captain Fumio Nakahara was still serving in World War II, holding out at Mount Halcon in the Philippines, and of the belief that Malmö FF had won the European Cup in 1979.
A search team discovered Captain Nakahara holding out in his hut, completely unaware that World War II had ended over fifty years earlier, and that Nottingham Forest were actually back-to-back winners of the European Cup.
Upon his discovery, Nakahara said, “I was listening to the European Cup Final on May 30th, 1979 – already completely baffled by how a European tournament could exist at a time of war – and I was thinking how Nottingham Forest didn’t stand a chance against Swedish giants, Malmö FF.”
“I lost radio contact at around 20:30 Munich time, about fifteen minutes after kick-off, and I assumed it was because of a mortar attack. I didn’t resume any contact with the outside world again until September 2008, when the search party found me. At first, I didn’t want to go back to Japan. The war hadn’t ended for me, but the 1979 European Cup Final had. I had to know the score.” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_European_Cup_final .
Convinced that Malmö FF had won the European Cup.
“I didn’t believe that Emperor Hirohito had formally surrendered on 2 September 1945, but I was even more shocked that Nottingham Forest had beaten Malmö FF 1-0,” concluded the Captain. An even bigger surprise was that the provincial team had even retained the trophy a year later by beating a Nazi team! It was unbelievable. I was convinced that Malmö FF had won the European Cup until my liberation in 2008.”
While in hiding, Fumio Nakahara continued his mission, carrying out guerrilla activity, surviving on bananas, coconuts, rice, cattle, stolen Pot Noodle, and by reading Match Weekly. Captain Nakahara engaged in shootouts with locals and the police on several occasions. He evaded American and Filipino search parties and attacked villages that he believed to be the enemy, taking out as many as 30 civilians and an Amazon delivery driver during his time in hiding.
Tree Season’s prediction: Nottingham Forest 1 – Malmö FF 0.
