Nathan Tyson

Nathan Tyson

Personal information
Full name	Nathan Tyson
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Nottingham Forest
Number	9

Nathan Tyson (born May 4, 1982 in Reading, Berkshire) is an English professional football striker, who currently plays for Nottingham Forest in Football League One.

Football career

Nathan Tyson, born May 4 1982, began his career at Reading as part of the youth academy, gaining football league experience in loan spells at Swansea City and Cheltenham Town. During his time at Reading, Tyson predominantly operated on the left-wing, starting in nine matches, as well as seventeen as a substitute. He also appeared as a striker in Reading's Reserve Side.

Tyson represented the England Under-20 side whilst at Reading.

In December 2003, Tyson joined then Division Two side Wycombe Wanderers on a short-term loan. After impressing the manager Tony Adams, Tyson was offered a two year deal which was signed in March 2004. The transfer fee was undisclosed but is believed to be around £100,000 with a 20% sell-on clause. Media sources have since claimed the fee was in the region of £140,000, with a 25% sell-on-clause. Two youngsters from Wycombe's Academy transferred to Reading also.

Tyson was top-scorer for Wycombe during the 2004/2005 season with 22 league goals. He also won the Fans' Player of the Year Award ahead of defender Roger Johnson. He had started forty of Wycombe's forty-six league matches, whilst appearing as a substitute in two.

He began the 2005/2006 season well scoring 13 goals in 13 games, making him the top scorer in the league. As a result of this he was signed in November 2005 by Football League One side Nottingham Forest on loan until January when he signed a permanent deal for the club. He signed for Nottingham Forest for £675,000, and was allocated the squad number "38".

Tyson had made 87 appearances for Wycombe, scoring 44 goals.

Tyson had previously attracted interest from Sheffield Wednesday, although a potential move had broken down, for reasons currently unknown. A £700,000 offer for Tyson had been accepted by Wycombe Wanderers.

Tyson scored his first goal for Nottingham Forest playing against Port Vale in a league match at The City Ground, on Tuesday 6 December, 2005 (Tyson also managed to score in the reverse fixture against Port Vale on Saturday 18 February, 2006). A deflected effort against Southend United, on his debut, had instead been ruled as a Che Wilson own goal.

Nathan Tyson's cousin, Mark Philo, also played professional football at Wycombe, but tragically, his life was prematurely ended in a car crash, on the 14th January, 2006.

A somewhat humorous misfortune has followed Tyson during his spells at various football clubs, although not directly affecting him. Alan Pardew departed as Reading manager shortly after his arrival at the club, and the departures of John Hollins (Swansea City) and Tony Adams (Wycombe Wanderers) came soon after his arrival at the respective clubs. Gary Megson departed Nottingham Forest in the month following Tyson's permanent move to The City Ground. Tyson laughed off suggestions of a curse in an interview after Nottingham Forest's victory at Port Vale.

Tyson has blinding pace and bears many similarities to former Forest legend Stan Collymore.

He came third in the Forest Player of the Season vote with 14% of them. Ian Breckin was First with a whopping 48% of the votes, and Nicky Southall came second with 18%. In early August 2006, British tabloid newspaper The Sun instigated a wild rumour that Tyson is to be the subject of a GBP 1million plus bid for his services from Forest's hated local rivals Derby County, which, as a consequence, became one of the most talked-about sports-related topics in the East Midlands that day.

On 5th August 2006, just minutes into Forest's first game of the season against Bradford, Tyson was unfortunately injured. This injury has somewhat weakened Forest's strike force.

He returned from the injury 2 months ahead of schedual in November, 2006 to the delight of the Nottingham Forest faithful. His first goal back from his knee injury came against Rotherham United on the 18th November, 2006.