John Robertson (footballer, born 1953)


John Neilson Robertson is a Scottish former professional footballer. He provided the assisting cross for Trevor Francis to score the only goal when Nottingham Forest won the 1979 European Cup Final. A year later he scored when Forest retained the trophy 1-0 this time against Hamburger SV. At Forest he also won promotion from the 1976-77 Football League Second Division, the 1977-78 Football League First Division, the UEFA Super Cup, two Football League Cups, the 1978 FA Charity Shield and the Anglo-Scottish Cup.
He also played for the full Scotland national football team, scoring the winning goal against England in 1981 and against New Zealand in the 1982 FIFA World Cup.
He has since moved into coaching acting as assistant to his former Nottingham Forest teammate Martin O'Neill. Robertson's last role was assistant manager at Aston Villa between 2006 and 2010.

Playing career

Nottingham Forest (first spell)

Robertson had played for Scotland at Schoolboy and Youth levels and for Drumchapel Amateurs before joining Forest in May 1970, making his debut for the team in October 1970. Although he was an infrequent member of the first team as a midfielder up to 1975, and was on the transfer list when Clough became manager, Robertson became a key player as a left winger under Clough and appeared in 243 consecutive games between December 1976 and December 1980. He scored the winning goal, a penalty, for Forest in the 1978 Football League Cup Final replay against Liverpool. He also scored the winner in the 1980 European Cup Final against Hamburg and provided the cross for the winning goal in the 1979 European Cup Final, scored by Trevor Francis, against Malmö FF.
Brian Clough, Robertson's manager at Nottingham Forest, was quoted as saying
"John Robertson was a very unattractive young man. If one day, I felt a bit off colour, I would sit next to him. I was bloody Errol Flynn in comparison. But give him a ball and a yard of grass, and he was an artist, the Picasso of our game." In his autobiography Clough noted that "Rarely could there have been a more unlikely looking professional athlete... scruffy, unfit, uninterested waste of time...but something told me he was worth persevering with." but that " became one of the finest deliverers of a football I have ever seen – in Britain or anywhere else in the world – as fine as the Brazilians or the supremely gifted Italians." Robertson's captain at Forest, John McGovern, later said that "John Robertson was like Ryan Giggs but with two good feet, not one. He had more ability than Ryan Giggs, his ratio of creating goals was better and overall he was the superior footballer", whilst Forest coach Jimmy Gordon rated Robertson as a better player than Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews, saying that he "had something extra on top".

Later playing career

Robertson was sold to Derby County in June 1983 on a contested transfer that soured the relationship between Clough and his former assistant Peter Taylor, but was injured soon after joining the team and failed to reproduce the form he had shown when he played for Forest. Although he rejoined Forest on a free transfer in August 1985, he remained well below his former best and moved to non-league Corby Town at the end of the 1985/86 season. He also had stints with Stamford and Grantham Town.

Coaching career

After retiring from playing, Robertson has been variously chief scout and assistant manager to former Nottingham Forest teammate Martin O'Neill at Wycombe Wanderers, Norwich City, Leicester City, Celtic and Aston Villa.

Legacy

In 1997, FourFourTwo magazine declared that John Robertson was 63rd in the 100 greatest footballers of all time. He was also voted No 1 Nottingham Forest player of all time, forcing Stuart Pearce into second place, in a 2005 poll run by fans. Robertson retained this position in 2015 in a poll to celebrate Forest's 150th anniversary.

Personal life

Robertson's daughter, Jessica, was born in 1983 with cerebral palsy, which left her quadriplegic and unable to speak or control her movements. She had a short life expectancy. In 1994, Robertson and his former wife Sally challenged the hospital where Jessica was born for damages, claiming that they had caused her brain damage by a 12-hour delay to carry out a Caesarean section. However, they lost their High Court case.
Robertson's fellow daughter Liz appeared on the first ever episode of BBC's quiz show TNL: Who Dares Wins in 2007.
Robertson released his autobiography Supertramp in September 2012. He supported Rangers as a boy, but describes his time at Celtic as assistant to Martin O'Neill as the best years of his life in football.
Robertson suffered a suspected heart attack while playing tennis with former Forest teammate Liam O'Kane on 23 August 2013. Fans of Celtic, Derby County, Leicester City and Nottingham Forest took to social network sites to wish him well.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.7 June 1979Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo3–04–0ECQG2
2.19 December 1979Hampden Park, Glasgow1–31–3ECQG2
3.28 April 1981Hampden Park, Glasgow1–03–1WCQG6
4.28 April 1981Hampden Park, Glasgow2–03–1WCQG6
5.23 May 1981Wembley Stadium, London1–01–0BHC
6.9 September 1981Hampden Park, Glasgow2–02–0WCQG6
7.15 June 1982Estadio La Rosaleda, Málaga4–25–2WCG6
8.21 September 1983Hampden Park, Glasgow1–02–0Friendly

Honours

Nottingham Forest