Nottingham Forest F.C. and also signed Stan Collymore, Lars Bohinen and Colin Cooper. Clark brought immediate return to the Premier League when the club finished Division One runners-up at the end of the 1993–94 season. Forest finished third in 1994–95 and qualified for the UEFA Cup – their first entry to European competition in the post-Heysel era. Collymore then transferred in the 1995-96 close season to Liverpool for a national record fee of £8.5million. Forest reached the 1995-96 UEFA Cup quarter-finals, the furthest an English team reached in UEFA competition that season. They finished ninth in the league. The 1996–97 season quickly became
Nottingham Forest F.C. 1–8 Manchester United F.C. he stated in an interview after the game that his team had given the fans a "nine-goal thriller". Manchester United went on to win the Premier League with 79 points, one point ahead of second-placed Arsenal. Forest's relegation was confirmed on 24 April with a 2–0 defeat at Atkinson's old club Aston Villa. He announced his resignation as manager within hours of the final whistle, with effect from the final game of the league season on 16 May, and said that he would be retiring from football management. Forest finished bottom of the League with just 30 points. Nottingham Forest