At the end of the 1976-77 season, Nottingham Forest finished
third in the old Second Division (now The Championship). They had gained promotion back to the First
Division. Twelve months later they were
League Champions for the one and only time in their history. This then qualified them for the European Cup
starting in September 1978.
Back then, the European Cup was only for the Champions of
European leagues. 32 clubs entered a knockout competition with each tie played
over two legs. The holders of the trophy
automatically gained entry for the following season, and if they weren’t the
reigning Champions of their league, that country would then have two clubs in
the competition.
This is what happened in 1978-79. Liverpool had won the European Cup in 1978
and so were automatically entered, but they hadn’t retained their league title,
which had gone to Forest, so England had two clubs entered.
Here is the list of the qualifiers
Several things to note about these qualifiers is the
political situation in Europe during this time.
This was before the Berlin Wall came down in 1990 and so Germany is
separated between West and East. The
Soviet Union has now been broken up into many countries, including Ukraine,
Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia and Russia.
Yugoslavia has now been broken up into countries such as Croatia,
Slovenia, Bosnia, Serbia and Macedonia.
As there were 33 qualifiers, a Preliminary Round was played
where Monaco beat Steaua Bucharest, 3-2 on aggregate.
FIRST ROUND
The draw was made for the First Round. For the first time since 1968-69, England had
two clubs in the European Cup.
Unbelievably, this time round they were drawn against each other. Nottingham Forest would play Liverpool, with
the 1st leg at the City Ground.
Over 38,000 packed The City Ground for Forest’s first ever
European tie. But it felt like a league
match. The home side poured forward,
looking for the breakthrough and midway through the first half, it came
courtesy of Garry Birtles. 22 year old,
Birtles had replaced Peter Withe who’d moved to Newcastle after winning his
League Championship medal. Liverpool
pushed for an equaliser, something they may not have worried about if they had
been playing a continental side, but just couldn’t get passed Peter
Shilton. Then, with three minutes
remaining, Forest gained a crucial advantage.
Birtles pounced on a mistake in the Liverpool defence and Colin Barrett
found himself free in the area to volley home Tony Woodcock’s knockdown. Forest had a 2-goal lead to take to Anfield.
When asked about his new goalscorer, Brian Clough said
“Birtles did well.
Two years ago he was laying tiles.
If he doesn’t score again on Saturday, he could be back there.”
One thing Clough had managed to master with this Forest side
was the art of defending. Forest had
turned up at Anfield in the final game of 1978 and gained a 0-0 draw. They managed this again, and so progressed to
the next round. Liverpool, who had won
the European Cup for the past two years, were out.
1st
Leg – 13th September 1978
NOTTINGHAM
FOREST 2-0 LIVERPOOL
Birtles (26)
Barrett (87)
Shilton; Anderson, Burns, Lloyd, Barrett; Gemmill, McGovern,
Bowyer, Robertson; Woodcock, Birtles
2nd
Leg – 27th September 1978
LIVERPOOL 0-0 NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Shilton; Anderson,
Burns, Lloyd, Clark; Gemmill, McGovern,
Bowyer, Robertson; Woodcock, Birtles
Other Results
Glasgow Rangers were drawn against Juventus. The Italians, managed by Giovanni Trapattoni,
contained 9 players who’d just competed
in the World Cup in Argentina in the summer.
One of the uncapped players, Virdis, scored the only goal in Turin. In the return, goals from Alex MacDonald and
Gordon Smith won it for the Scots.
The previous season’s runners-up, Bruges were up against
Polish champions, Wisla Krakow. They
were 2-0 up in the 1st leg, before Kapka got a goal back for the
Poles 7 minutes from time. Early in the
second half of the 2nd leg, Jan Cuelemans had wiped out the away
goal as the game stood 1-1 on the night.
Into the final 10 minutes, with the Belgians leading 3-2 on aggregate,
goals from Lipka and Krupinski surprisingly put Krakow through. So, both finalists from the previous season’s
competition fell at the first hurdle.
Real Madrid 12-0 Progres Niedercorn (5-0, 7-0)
AEK Athens 7-5 Porto
(6-1, 1-4)
Grasshopper 13-3 Valletta
(8-0, 5-3)
Lokomotiv Sofia 4-3 Odense
(2-2, 2-1)
FC Koln 5-2 IA Akranes
(4-1, 1-1)
Rangers 2-1 Juventus
(0-1, 2-0)
PSV Eindhoven 7-3 Fenerbahce
(1-2, 6-1)
Austria Vienna 4-3 Vllaznia
(0-2, 4-1)
Lillestrom 1-0 Linfield
(0-0, 1-0)
Bohemians 2-2 Omonia
(1-2, 1-0)
Dynamo Dresden 2-2 Partizan Belgrade (0-2, 2-0), Dresden won 5-4 on penalties
Brno 4-2 Ujpest Dozsa
(2-2, 2-0)
Wisla Krakow 4-3 Bruges
(1-2, 3-1)
Dinamo Kiev 4-1 Haka
(1-0, 3-1)
Malmo 1-0 Monaco
(0-0, 1-0)
SECOND ROUND
Forest were drawn against Greek champions, AEK Athens in the
Second Round. They would be away in the
1st leg. AEK were managed by
Hungarian legend, Ferenc Puskas. Glasgow
Rangers were drawn against PSV and Bohemians Dublin were up against Dynamo
Dresden.
Forest went to Athens for the first leg. AEK contained several players who would
appear for Greece in their first international tournament appearance in the
European Championships two years later, including strikers, Ardizoglu and Mavros. But it was Forest who struck first as
captain, John McGovern put them in front after 10 minutes. Right on half-time, Birtles then made it 2-0
and 2 away goals were like gold dust.
Mavros converted a penalty for AEK in the second half but Forest had come
away with a magnificent 2-1 win away from home.
The 2nd leg proved to be one of Forest’s finest
ever performances in Europe. Already
leading from the 1st leg, Dave Needham then put them further ahead
as he scored after just 8 minutes.
Woodcock then doubled the lead on the night, inside the final 10 minutes
of the first period. Three minutes later
and Viv Anderson made it 3-0 on the night and 5-1 on aggregate.
Five minutes into the second half and Bajevic got a goal
back for the visitors but it was merely a consolation as midway into the half
Anderson struck again. Anderson spent 10
seasons at Forest, scoring just 15 goals, 3 of them in this match as he
completed his only ever hat-trick in the 72nd minute. The win was emphatic and Forest marched on.
1st
Leg -
18th October 1978
AEK ATHENS 1-2 NOTTINGHAM FOREST
McGovern (10), Birtles (45)
Shilton; Anderson,
Burns, Lloyd, Clark; Gemmill, McGovern,
Bowyer, Robertson; Woodcock, Birtles
2nd
Leg -
1st November 1978
NOTTINGHAM
FOREST 5-1 AEK ATHENS
Needham (8), Woodcock (36)
Anderson (39, 66, 72)
Shilton; Anderson,
Needham, Lloyd, Clark (Mills); Gemmill,
Bowyer, Robertson; O’Hare, Woodcock,
Birtles
Other Results
Rangers were drawn away to PSV Eindhoven, who were packed
full of internationals who had competed in the World Cup Final in
Argentina. The Dutch had seen off
Fenerbahce in the First Round, beating them 6-1 in the 2nd leg. The 1st leg ended goalless, and
Rangers found them a goal down early in the 2nd leg. MacDonald equalised but then PSV were back in
front. Derek Johnstone equalised for
Rangers and then with just minutes to go, Robert Russell made things certain
with the 3rd.
Another of the favourites, Real Madrid, also succumbed at
this stage. They were up against Swiss
champions, Grasshoppers of Zurich. These
two were the top scorers from the First Round as Real put 12 past Luxembourg
side, Progres Niedercorn. Grasshoppers
had put 13 past Maltese side, Valletta, as Claudio Sulser scored 6 over the 2
legs. Real won the 1st leg
3-1 as Sulser grabbed the away goal.
Sulser then put Zurich in front in the return too. With just 3 minutes remaining, Sulser scored
his 9th of the competition to put the Spaniards out.
Grasshopper 3-3 Real Madrid
(1-3, 2-0)
FC Koln 5-0 Lokomotiv Sofia (1-0, 4-0)
Rangers 3-2 PSV Eindhoven
(0-0, 3-2)
Austria Vienna 4-1 Lillestrom
(4-1, 0-0)
Dynamo Dresden 6-0 Bohemians
(0-0, 6-0)
Wisla Krakow 3-3 Brno
(2-2, 1-1)
Malmo 2-0 Dinamo Kiev
(0-0, 2-0)
QUARTER-FINALS
With Real Madrid and PSV out of the way, Forest were hoping
to avoid West German champions, Koln.
They did as they were drawn out of the hat against Grasshoppers of
Zurich. Forest would be at home in the 1st
leg.
The Swiss champions had put out Real Madrid in the last
round. They were to be feared too, as
they’d already hit 16 goals in 4 games.
Striker, Claudio Sulser had already hit 9, including 5 in one match in
the First Round.
Sulser, it was who scored first for Grasshoppers and Forest
had conceded an away goal. But the rest
of the game was a joy for the home fans as Birtles equalised, and then John
Robertson converted a penalty to give Forest the lead early in the second
half. That’s how it looked like it might
end until Archie Gemmill grabbed a crucial third goal and then Larry Lloyd gave
Forest a vital 4-1 advantage to take to Zurich.
In the 2nd leg, Sulser scored again as he
converted a penalty after 33 minutes.
Grasshopper needed 2 more goals to gain the advantage, but then Martin
O’Neill wiped out their away goal as he scored 7 minutes before the break. The Swiss couldn’t break down Forest’s
defence and Clough’s men were through to the Semi-Finals.
1st
Leg -
7th March 1979
NOTTINGHAM
FOREST 4-1 GRASSHOPPERS
Birtles (31), Robertson (47, pen)
Gemmill (87), Lloyd (89)
Shilton; Anderson,
Needham, Lloyd, Clark; O’Neill, Gemmill,
McGovern, Robertson; Woodcock, Birtles
2nd
Leg -
21st March 1979
GRASSHOPPERS 1-1 NOTTINGHAM FOREST
O’Neill (38)
Shilton; Anderson,
Needham, Lloyd, Barrett; O’Neill,
Gemmill, McGovern, Robertson; Woodcock,
Birtles
Other Results
Rangers dream finally came to an end. They travelled to Cologne for the 1st
leg and the sides was separated by a goal from West German international,
Dieter Muller. Back at Ibrox and Muller
was again on target just after half-time.
Rangers now needed to score three times, but could only manage once when
Tom McLean scored 4 minutes from time.
Swedish champions, Malmo were a goal up away to Wisla
Krakow, but lost the 1st leg, 1-2.
Their away goal advantage was then wiped out halfway through the second
period in the return leg. Then Andras
Ljungberg then hit a hat-trick, which included 2 penalties, to help the Swedes
to a 4-1 win.
Austria Vienna were the other qualifiers, as they saw off
Dynamo Dresden of East Germany. The
Germans went 1-0 up in the 1st leg in Vienna, but then the Austrians
came back with 3 goals included two from Austrian World Cup star, Walter
Schachner. The Germans won the 2nd
leg 1-0, but it was not enough and the Austrians joined Forest, Koln and Malmo
who were all in their first ever European Cup Semi-Final
FC Koln 2-1 Rangers
(1-0, 1-1)
Austria Vienna 3-2 Dynamo Dresden (3-1, 0-1)
Malmo 5-3 Wisla Krakow
(1-2, 4-1)
SEMI-FINALS
Forest looked to get the tougher draw as they were up
against the West German champions FC Koln.
Koln had won their 3rd Bundesliga title on goal
difference from Borussia Monchengladbach.
To this date, like Forest, it remains their last success at that
level. They were packed with
internationals, such as Harald (Toni) Schumacher in goal, Herbert Zimmerman,
Bernd Schuster, Dieter Muller, Herbert Neumann, Roger van Gool (Belgium) and
the first Japanese to play in Europe, Yasuhiko Okudera.
The first leg at City Ground saw Koln take the lead early on
as van Gool gave them an important lead in the 6th minute. 20 minutes in and then Dieter Muller made it
2-0 to the visitors and Forest’s dream had just started to fade a little. Birtles then grabbed a goal back and they
went into the break 1-2 down. 8 minutes
after the re-start and Ian Bowyer equalised.
10 minutes later and John Robertson had the home fans in raptures as he
completed their comeback to put them 3-2 up.
Koln brought on Okudera as sub for the final few minutes and he scored a
crucial goal to level it up on the night.
Forest travelled to Cologne for the 2nd leg,
knowing they would have to defend like demons to progress. Koln had Heinz Flohe back, although only on
the bench, and they were confident of reaching their first European final. No score at half-time and the game was finely
poised. Then Ian Bowyer scored a vital
goal in the 65th minute and Forest managed to hold the Germans off
to progress to the Final.
1st
Leg -
11th April 1979
NOTTINGHAM
FOREST 3-3 FC KOLN
Birtles (28), Bowyer (53)
Robertson (63)
Shilton; Barrett, Needham,
Lloyd, Bowyer; O’Neill, Gemmill (Clark),
McGovern, Robertson; Woodcock, Birtles
2nd
Leg -
25th April 1979
FC KOLN 0-1 NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Bowyer (65)
Shilton; Anderson,
Burns, Lloyd, Clark; O’Neill, McGovern,
Bowyer, Robertson; Woodcock, Birtles
Other Result
Malmo 1-0 Austria Vienna (0-0, 1-0)
EUROPEAN CUP FINAL
Both clubs were appearing in their first ever European
final. For Malmo, they still remain the
only Swedish club to reach this far.
They were managed by an Englishman, Bobby Houghton. Houghton had a brief playing career at Fulham
and Brighton and had coached at non-league level before taking up the post at
Malmo in 1974. He had taken them to
three Swedish League titles by the time they turned up at the Final in Munich.
Forest manager, Brian Clough, had surprised many by leaving
out Martin O’Neill and Archie Gemmill.
He brought in Britain’s first £1m footballer, Trevor Francis, and Ian
Bowyer. This would be Francis first
European tie and this proved to be a masterstroke from Clough. Clough had bought Francis from Birmingham in
February 1979. UEFA rules meant he
couldn’t play in a European match for three months and so the first game he was
eligible for was…..the Final.
A fairly dull game, finally burst into life just before the
break as John Robertson took on the Swedish defence down the left. His cross to the far post was met by a diving
Francis for the only goal of the game. Malmo
created little for Forest to be worried about and, in the end, it seemed a
fairly easy win. Nottingham Forest had
made sure the European Cup stayed in England for a 3rd successive
season.
30th
May 1979
NOTTINGHAM
FOREST 1-0 MALMO
Francis (45)
Shilton; Anderson,
Burns, Lloyd, Clark; McGovern, Bowyer,
Robertson; Francis, Woodcock, Birtles
As Liverpool lifted the League Championship, England would
again have two clubs in the following season’s competition.
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