Former Scotland, Nottingham Forest and Derby County winger John Robertson - once described by manager Brian Clough as "a Picasso of our game" - has died at the age of 72. Robertson scored the only goal as Nottingham Forest retained the European Cup by beating Hamburg in 1980, having delivered the cross from which Trevor Francis netted the winner the previous season against Malmo. For Scotland, he scored a winning goal against England in 1981 and netted against New Zealand at the 1982 World Cup finals. He earned 28 caps for his country before going on to be assistant manager to former Forest team-mate Martin O'Neill with Wycombe Wanderers, Norwich City, Leicester City, Celtic and Aston Villa. His captain at Forest, John McGovern, described him as "like Ryan Giggs but with two good feet, not one" and with more ability.

Source: BBC December 25, 2025 14:08 UTC