In the European Cup (yes, the famed historic competition!!) in season 1978/9, a first round tie, Juventus was beaten by Glasgow Rangers and Real Madrid by Grasshoppers Zurich.....two shock results. The beaten clubs could easily have been Finalists (but they weren't!!). Liverpool was the reigning European Cup holders and hadn't been knocked out of European tournaments for four years; having won the UEFA Cup in 1976 and the European Cup in 1977 (somehow that works out as four years!). The Merseysiders were drawn against Nottingham Forest who had beaten Liverpool to the English Football League title and in the League Cup the previous season. But of course it was a typical Brian Clough master class that ruined the Pool's record!
On September 13th, the first leg of the tournament, at The City Ground, Forest won 2-0 and it was a 22 year old Garry Birtles, thrown into the "deep end" by Clough for only his third appearance for Forest. "Birtles did well," said Clough, "Two years ago he was laying tiles on roofs and if he doesn't score again on Saturday, he'll be up there again!!" Birtles didn't score but was retained by his "generous" manager!! With a large prize at stake, Forest were nervous going up to Anfield two weeks later. Always ready to show his lads something special, Clough said to one of his younger lads, "Right get the players a drink!" remembered Tony Woodcock, who said, "We each had a bottle of beer and later, the boss encouraged us to have a glass of wine, or two, with our pre-match meal, at the locally booked hotel." With a couple of hours of sleep on the coach to Anfield, Forest was relaxed and held out for a 0-0 draw in a match Liverpool never threatened to score!
"They threw everything at us, except the docks," smiled Clough, "but we didn't panic and Forest went on to WIN the European Cup. Clough also pulled the same stunt that season, before their League Cup Final against Southampton, producing a crate of beer, ordering his lads to "tuck in". Result? Forest won 3-2. En Route, Forest beat AEK Athens aggregate (1-2,1-5) = 7-2, Grasshopper (4-1,1-1)= 5-2 , Koln (3-3,1-0) = 4-3. In the FINAL (30th May) at The Olympiastadion, Munich.... Malmo 0-1 Forest. Trevor Francis scored the goal after 45 minutes. 57,000 saw it! NOTE...not a Forest player holding the Cup of course!!
| Event | 1978–79 European Cup | ||||||
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| Date | 30 May 1979 | ||||||
| Venue | Olympiastadion, Munich | ||||||
| Referee | Erich Linemayr (Austria) | ||||||
| Attendance | 68,500 | ||||||
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