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John Robertson (footballer, born 1953)

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John Robertson
Robertson in 1980
Personal information
Full name John Neilson Robertson[1]
Date of birth (1953-01-20)20 January 1953[1]
Place of birth Viewpark, Lanarkshire, Scotland[2]
Date of death 25 December 2025(2025-12-25) (aged 72)
Position Left winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1983 Nottingham Forest 386 (61)
1983–1985 Derby County 72 (3)
1985–1986 Nottingham Forest 11 (0)
Total 469 (64)
International career
1978–1983 Scotland 28 (8)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Neilson Robertson (20 January 1953 – 25 December 2025) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a left winger for Nottingham Forest, Derby County and the Scotland national team. 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 in the final when Forest retained the European Cup, 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.

Robertson also played for Scotland, scoring the winning goal against England in 1981 and against New Zealand in the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

He then moved into coaching, acting as an assistant to his former Nottingham Forest teammate Martin O'Neill at Wycombe Wanderers, Norwich City, Leicester City, Celtic, Aston Villa and Grantham Town.

Playing career

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Nottingham Forest (first spell)

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Robertson represented Scotland at Schoolboy and Youth levels and played for Drumchapel Amateurs before joining Nottingham Forest in May 1970, making his first‑team debut later that year. Used mainly as a midfielder in his early seasons, he featured only sporadically and was on the transfer list when Brian Clough arrived in 1975.[3] Under Clough, however, he was converted into a left winger and became a central figure in the side, putting together a run of 243 consecutive appearances between December 1976 and December 1980.[4] He scored the decisive penalty in the replayed 1978 Football League Cup Final against Liverpool,[3] set up Trevor Francis's winning goal in the 1979 European Cup Final, and struck the only goal of the 1980 European Cup Final against Hamburg.[4]

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."[5] In his autobiography Clough noted that "Rarely could there have been a more unlikely looking professional athlete... [He was a] scruffy, unfit, uninterested waste of time...but something told me he was worth persevering with." but that "[He] 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."[6] 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".[7]

Later playing career

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Robertson was sold to Derby County in June 1983 on a contested transfer, with the fee set by a tribunal; the move contributed to the breakdown in the relationship between Brian Clough and his former assistant Peter Taylor.[3] Injuries soon after his arrival limited his impact at Derby, and he was unable to reproduce the form he had shown at Nottingham Forest. He rejoined Forest in August 1985[3] but remained below his previous level and later left to join non‑league Corby Town. He subsequently had spells with Stamford and Grantham Town.[8]

International career

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Robertson earned 28 international caps for Scotland between 1978 and 1983, scoring eight goals.[9] He made his full international debut on 13 May 1978, in a 1–1 draw with Northern Ireland.[9] He was then picked for their 1978 World Cup squad, playing in the 1–1 draw with Iran.[9]

He scored three goals during qualification for the 1982 World Cup, twice in a 3–1 win against Israel in April 1981 and once in a 2–0 win against Sweden in September 1981.[9] During that year Robertson also scored the winning goal in a British Championship match against England, which he later described as being his "greatest ever goal".[9][10] Having helped Scotland qualify for the 1982 World Cup, Robertson played in all three of their matches at the tournament and scored in the 5–2 win against New Zealand.[9]

Coaching career

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After retiring from playing, Robertson was variously chief scout and assistant manager to former Nottingham Forest teammate Martin O'Neill at Wycombe Wanderers, Shepshed Charterhouse, Norwich City, Leicester City, Celtic and Aston Villa.[11][12]

Personal life and death

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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.[13]

He released his autobiography, Supertramp, in September 2012. He supported Rangers as a boy but described his time at Celtic as assistant to Martin O'Neill as the best years of his life in football.[14]

Robertson suffered a suspected heart attack while playing tennis with former Forest teammate Liam O'Kane on 23 August 2013.[15]

Robertson died on 25 December 2025, at the age of 72, following a long illness.[12]

Legacy

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Robertson was voted into first place in a 2015 poll by the Nottingham Post of favourite all-time Nottingham Forest players.[16]

Career statistics

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Club

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Club[17] Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other[A] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Nottingham Forest 1970–71 First Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 — — 2 0
1971–72 First Division 13 0 0 0 0 0 — — 13 0
1972–73 Second Division 32 4 3 0 0 0 — — 35 4
1973–74 Second Division 5 0 2 0 0 0 — — 5 0
1974–75 Second Division 20 0 4 1 1 0 — — 25 1
1975–76 Second Division 39 5 2 0 4 0 — — 45 5
1976–77 Second Division 41 6 5 3 2 0 — 9 2 57 11
1977–78 First Division 42 12 6 3 8 3 — — 56 18
1978–79 First Division 42 9 3 0 8 4 9 2 1 1 63 16
1979–80 First Division 42 11 2 1 10 4 9 3 2 0 65 19
1980–81 First Division 38 6 6 2 4 1 2 0 2 0 52 9
1981–82 First Division 36 2 1 0 5 1 — — 42 3
1982–83 First Division 34 6 1 0 5 3 — — 40 9
Total 386 61 35 10 47 16 20 5 14 3 502 95
Derby County 1983–84 Second Division 31 2 4 0 2 0 — — 37 2
1984–85 Third Division 41 1 1 0 4 1 — 2 0 48 2
Total 72 3 5 0 6 1 — 2 0 85 4
Nottingham Forest 1985–86 First Division 11 0 1 0 0 0 — — 12 0
Career total 469 64 41 10 53 17 20 5 16 3 599 99
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the FA Charity Shield, Anglo-Scottish Cup, Football League Trophy, European Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup.

International

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Scotland national team[9][18]
Year Apps Goals
1978 4 0
1979 5 2
1980 3 0
1981 7 4
1982 7 1
1983 2 1
Total 28 8

International goals

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Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 7 June 1979 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo  Norway 3–0 4–0 ECQG2
2. 19 December 1979 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Belgium 1–3 1–3 ECQG2
3. 28 April 1981 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Israel 1–0 3–1 WCQG6
4. 2–0
5. 23 May 1981 Wembley Stadium, London  England 1–0 1–0 BHC
6. 9 September 1981 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Sweden 2–0 2–0 WCQG6
7. 15 June 1982 Estadio La Rosaleda, Málaga  New Zealand 4–2 5–2 WCG6
8. 21 September 1983 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Uruguay 1–0 2–0 Friendly

Honours

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Nottingham Forest

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Individual

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References

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  1. ^ a b "John Robertson". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  2. ^ Robertson, John (2011). John Robertson: Supertramp – My Autobiography. Mainstream Publishing Company (EDINBURGH) LTD. ISBN 9781780572345.
  3. ^ a b c d McNulty, Phil (25 December 2025). "Forest fulcrum Robertson – a talented, highly skilled, unbelievable outside-left". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  4. ^ a b "John Robertson: Nottingham Forest legend remembered". UEFA.com. 25 December 2025. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  5. ^ "They said it: Brian Clough". FIFA. 1 May 2009. Archived from the original on 11 May 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2009. John Robertson was a very unattractive young man. If one day I was feeling a bit off colour, I would sit next to him. I was bloody Errol Flynn compared to him. But give him a yard of grass and he was an artist. The Picasso of our game.
  6. ^ pp, 152, 155, Clough, Brian (1994), Clough: The Autobiography, Partridge Press
  7. ^ McRae, Donald (19 October 2015). "John Robertson: 'It took Clough and Taylor for me to realise my talent'". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  8. ^ "'Picasso' of football Robertson dies aged 72". BBC Sport. 25 December 2025. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g John N Robertson at the Scottish Football Association
  10. ^ McNulty, Phil (25 December 2025). "John Robertson obituary: Nottingham Forest great was 'the Picasso of football'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  11. ^ Luckhurst, Josh (25 December 2025). "Former Nottingham Forest and Scotland winger John Robertson dies aged 72". The Independent. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  12. ^ a b Nakrani, Sachin (25 December 2025). "John Robertson, Nottingham Forest and Scotland legend, dies aged 72". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
  13. ^ "Footballer in court appeal". The Herald. 6 June 1996. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  14. ^ Mark Guidi (11 November 2011). "John Robertson: If Martin O'Neill calls up I'll be back in football in a minute". Daily Record. Media Scotland. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  15. ^ This is Derbyshire
  16. ^ "Nottingham Forest top 5 players of all-time: John Robertson simply the best". Nottinghamshire Post. Local World. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  17. ^ John Robertson at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  18. ^ John Robertson profile National Football Teams
  19. ^ a b c d e f "Honours". Nottingham Forest FC. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  20. ^ a b Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 141.
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