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Robertson in 1980 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | John Neilson Robertson | ||
Date of birth | (1953-01-20) 20 January 1953 (age 71) | ||
Place of birth | Viewpark, Lanarkshire, Scotland | ||
Position(s) | Left winger | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1970β1983 | Nottingham Forest | 386 | (61) |
1983β1985 | Derby County | 72 | (3) |
1985β1986 | Nottingham Forest | 11 | (0) |
Total | 469 | (64) | |
International career | |||
1978β1983 | Scotland | 28 | (8) |
Managerial career | |||
1990β1995 | Wycombe Wanderers (assistant) | ||
1995 | Norwich City (assistant) | ||
1995β2000 | Leicester City (assistant) | ||
2000β2005 | Celtic (assistant) | ||
2006β2010 | Aston Villa (assistant) | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
John Neilson Robertson (born 20 January 1953) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He provided theββassisting cross for Trevor Francisββto 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 1976β77 Football League Second Division, the 1977β78 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 careerβ»
Nottingham Forest (first spell)β»
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 MalmΓΆ 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... β» scruffy, unfit, uninterested waste of time...but something told me he was worth persevering with." but that "β» became one of the finest deliverers of a football I have ever seen β in Britain/anywhere else in the world β 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 careerβ»
Robertson was sold to Derby County in June 1983 on a contested transfer (the fee was set by a tribunal) 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 careerβ»
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.
Legacyβ»
Robertson was voted into first place in a 2015 poll by the Nottingham Post of favourite all-time Nottingham Forest players.
Personal lifeβ»
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 other 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 statisticsβ»
Clubβ»
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Nottingham Forest | 1970β71 | First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β | β | 2 | 0 | ||
1971β72 | First Division | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β | β | 13 | 0 | |||
1972β73 | Second Division | 32 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β | β | 35 | 4 | |||
1973β74 | Second Division | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β | β | 5 | 0 | |||
1974β75 | Second Division | 20 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | β | β | 25 | 1 | |||
1975β76 | Second Division | 39 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | β | β | 45 | 5 | |||
1976β77 | Second Division | 41 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | β | 9 | 2 | 57 | 11 | ||
1977β78 | First Division | 42 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 3 | β | β | 56 | 18 | |||
1978β79 | First Division | 42 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 63 | 16 | |
1979β80 | First Division | 42 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 65 | 19 | |
1980β81 | First Division | 38 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 9 | |
1981β82 | First Division | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | β | β | 42 | 3 | |||
1982β83 | First Division | 34 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | β | β | 40 | 9 | |||
Total | 386 | 61 | 35 | 10 | 47 | 16 | 20 | 5 | 14 | 3 | 502 | 95 | ||
Derby County | 1983β84 | Second Division | 31 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | β | β | 37 | 2 | ||
1984β85 | Third Division | 41 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | β | 2 | 0 | 48 | 2 | ||
Total | 72 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 1 | β | 2 | 0 | 85 | 4 | |||
Nottingham Forest | 1985β86 | First Division | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β | β | 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.
Internationalβ»
Scotland national team | ||
---|---|---|
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 goalsβ»
- Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first
Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 7 June 1979 | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo | Norway | 3β0 | 4β0 | ECQG2 |
2. | 19 December 1979 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Belgium | 1β3 | 1β3 | ECQG2 |
3. | 28 April 1981 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Israel | 1β0 | 3β1 | WCQG6 |
4. | 2β0 | |||||
5. | 23 May 1981 | Wembley Stadium, London | England | 1β0 | 1β0 | BHC |
6. | 9 September 1981 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Sweden | 2β0 | 2β0 | WCQG6 |
7. | 15 June 1982 | Estadio La Rosaleda, MΓ‘laga | New Zealand | 4β2 | 5β2 | WCG6 |
8. | 21 September 1983 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Uruguay | 1β0 | 2β0 | Friendly |
Honoursβ»
Nottingham Forest
- First Division: 1977β78
- League Cup: 1977β78, 1978β79
- FA Charity Shield: 1978
- European Cup: 1978β79, 1979β80
- European Super Cup: 1979
- Anglo-Scottish Cup: 1976β77
Referencesβ»
- ^ "John Robertson". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- ^ Robertson, John (2011). John Robertson: Supertramp β My Autobiography. Mainstream Publishing Company (EDINBURGH) LTD. ISBN 9781780572345.
- ^ "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 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.
- ^ pp, 152, 155, Clough, Brian (1994), Clough: The Autobiography, Partridge Press
- ^ McRae, Donald (19 October 2015). "John Robertson: 'It took Clough and Taylor for me to realise my talent'". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ "Nottingham Forest top 5 players of all-time: John Robertson simply the best". Nottinghamshire Post. Local World. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ 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.
- ^ This is Derbyshire
- ^ John Robertson at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
- ^ John Robertson profile National Football Teams
- ^ "Honours". Nottingham Forest FC. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
External linksβ»
- John Robertson at the Scottish Football Association
- John Robertson international stats LondonHearts.com
- 1953 births
- Living people
- Scottish men's footballers
- Scotland men's international footballers
- Derby County F.C. players
- Nottingham Forest F.C. players
- Stamford A.F.C. players
- Grantham Town F.C. managers
- Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff
- Celtic F.C. non-playing staff
- Leicester City F.C. non-playing staff
- Norwich City F.C. non-playing staff
- Wycombe Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff
- 1978 FIFA World Cup players
- 1982 FIFA World Cup players
- English Football League players
- People from Uddingston
- Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees
- English Football Hall of Fame inductees
- Drumchapel Amateur F.C. players
- Men's association football wingers
- Footballers from North Lanarkshire
- Scottish football managers
- UEFA Champions League winning players