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East nottingham forest And scotland Winger John Robertson, who twice won the European Cup under Brian Clough, has died at the age of 72, the Premier League club has announced.
Lanarkshire-born Robertson, once described by Clough as “the Picasso of our game”, signed for Forest at the age of 15, soon made his debut aged just 17, and became a key player as Clough’s team won the First Division league title in 1978, before going on to consecutive European Cup victories.
It was Robertson who provided the assist for Trevor Francis to score the only goal as Forest beat Malmö 1–0 munich And then he scored the winner himself as Clough’s men beat Hamburg 1-0 madrid Next season.
Robertson, who also won the League Cup twice with Forest, was part of Scotland’s World Cup squads in 1978 and 1982.
After a short spell at Derby, Robertson returned to the City Ground in 1985 and played 12 times in his final season before being released.
Following his retirement, Robertson later moved into coaching as assistant to former Forest teammate Martin O’Neill at Celtic and Aston Villa.
John Robertson was one of many players whose life changed after Brian Clough took over as Nottingham Forest manager, but this was his comeback peter taylor Which had a deep impact on him.
Taylor resumed his role as Clough’s assistant after 18 months of his reign in the summer of 1976, and ordered Robertson back to the team hotel before the first pre-season training session before launching a verbal attack on his attitude and lifestyle.
The winger’s reaction was immediate and lasting.
Robertson played a key role in Forest’s winning promotion that season and played all 42 league games as Forest won the title and League Cup the following campaign.
He enjoyed a memorable career with Scotland, scoring the winner in one European Cup final and the next, and was twice voted Forest’s best player of all time.
John Neilson Robertson was born on January 20, 1953, and grew up in the Lanarkshire town of Uddingston, just outside Glasgow, living in the same Viewpark area as another great Scottish winger, Jimmy Johnstone.
The youngest of three children, his father Hughie was a former miner who worked for the electricity board and his mother worked in the local Tunnock’s biscuit factory.
Robertson represented Scotland Schoolboys and signed for Forest at the age of 15, before making his debut at the age of 17.
Forest were relegated from the top flight in 1972 and, although Robertson enjoyed a spell under Dave Mackay, he fell out of favor with Clough’s predecessor, Alan Browne, who tried unsuccessfully to swap him for Partick Thistle’s Ronnie Glavin.
Despite this, Robertson was bizarrely and mistakenly called up by new England boss Don Revie as he named 90 players for a get-together in 1974.
Clough jokingly dubbed Robertson a “tramp” because of his looks, but the winger expected any kind of approval from his boss, saying in his 2012 autobiography, Super Tramp: “When I was the receiver I could do cartwheels. The day I stopped playing for the gaffer, it felt like there was a big void in my life.”
Robertson won the title, two League Cups and two European Cups – Trevor Francis scored the only goal in the 1979 final against Malmö after overcoming the death of his brother Hughie in a road accident a few days before the semi-finals, an incident which caused him to smoke heavily. He scored an own goal against Hamburg in the 1980 showpiece.
His form with Forest saw him included in Scotland’s 1978 World Cup squad, even before he made his international debut.
Robertson scored eight times in 28 matches, scoring against New Zealand at the 1982 World Cup and scoring the Wembley winner in 1981 – after which he got a lift to London on the England team bus by arranging a night at the Stringfellows with Forrest and England striker Tony Woodcock.
The day he initially stopped playing for Clough came in 1983, when, with Forest contract negotiations slowing down, he surprised his mentor by signing for Taylor at Derby. The deal ended Taylor and Clough’s already troubled relationship and Robertson was initially told he would not be welcome at the City Ground.
The move proved to be a disaster.
Robertson’s mind was not entirely on work as her first child, Jessica, was born severely disabled in pre-season. With Forest’s return to Europe, Derby struggled and were relegated to the Second Division at the end of the season.
Clough waived Robertson and re-signed him in 1985, with the Scot playing 12 times in his final season before being released.
At the age of 33, he was surprised to receive no offers from League clubs and became unhappy with running a pub.
Life after football initially proved difficult as Robertson and first wife Sally were involved in a lengthy legal battle with the NHS over the treatment of their daughter at birth.
Jessica, who had cerebral palsy, could not communicate and died at the age of 13, but Robertson acknowledged that it had made her more caring and considerate.
Robertson was separated from his wife and spent time sleeping on friends’ sofas, but his friendship with former Forest teammate Martin O’Neill helped him greatly.
Robertson played for O’Neill at non-league Grantham, got a job selling insurance under him, then, after spending some time as Grantham manager himself, was a scout for him at Wycombe, Norwich and Leicester.
By the time the pair left for Celtic in 2000, Robertson was O’Neill’s right-hand man and bought a house in Uddingston.
“He was a special (coaching) partner, no question about it,” O’Neill recalled of 2024. When Robertson was featured in BBC Scotland’s Icons of Football series.
“For want of a better phrase, people bought John, really they did. There was something about him.”
Robertson’s last job in football was as assistant manager of Aston Villa from 2006 to 2010.
In August 2013, Robertson was taken to hospital and had a stent inserted after suffering a suspected heart attack while playing tennis with former Forest teammate Liam O’Kane.
Robertson is survived by his daughter Elizabeth and his second wife, Sheryl, and their children Andrew and Mark.