FOREST HISTORY · Historic event
Happy birthday John Robertson! (born 1953)
On this day in 1953 John Robertson is born, one of Forest’s greatest ever players.
John Robertson became one of the defining footballers in Forest history, a left winger whose influence reached the biggest nights the club ever played.
Born in Scotland, Robertson was not an obvious superstar in the earliest part of his career. Under Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, he developed into the creative force on the left of a side that rose from the Second Division to the summit of Europe.
His delivery created Trevor Francis’s winning goal against Malmö in the 1979 European Cup final. A year later, Robertson scored the only goal himself against Hamburg in Madrid, giving Forest back-to-back European Cups.
Those moments alone would have secured his place in club memory, but his importance went deeper than two finals. He was the outlet, the passer, the penalty taker and the calm technician in a side built on discipline and nerve.
For many supporters, Robertson remains the player most closely associated with Forest’s greatest era.
Sources
The Guardian; UEFA; Sporting Heroes
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