‘Picasso’ of football Robertson dies aged 72

John Robertson, a former Scotland, Nottingham Forest, and Derby County winger, was dubbed “the Picasso of our game” by manager Brian Clough at the age of 72.

Robertson scored the only goal as Nottingham Forest won the 1980 European Cup with a victory over Hamburg, where Trevor Francis had earlier netted the winner against Malmo.

He won the 1981 World Cup finals for Scotland and won the 1982 World Cup finals against New Zealand and scored a winning goal against England.

Before joining Wycombe Wanderers, Norwich City, Leicester City, Celtic, and Aston Villa, he earned 28 caps for his nation.

In his 2012 biography, Clough referred to him as “one of the best footballers I have ever seen, as good as the Brazilians or the Italians,” who he described as “a scruffy, unfit, uninterested waste of time.”

Robertson, who was born in the Viewpark region of North Lanarkshire, first made his debut in May 1970 with Forest, playing for the Drumchapel Amateurs and Scotland at the youth level.

Before Clough’s arrival in 1975, he joined the legendary manager and appeared in 243 games between December 1976 and December 1980. He had been on the transfer waiting list.

In the League Cup final replay victory over Liverpool in 1978, Robertson scored the winner from the penalty spot.

In 1983, Clough and his former assistant, Peter Taylor, were forced to sell him to Derby for a constested transfer fee, which strained their relationship.

Robertson’s development at County was hindered by an early injury, and despite returning to Forest in 1985, he never returned to the same form. He then moved on to non-league Corby Town, Stamford, and finally Grantham Town.

He also won the 1978 FA Charity Shield, the Uefa Super Cup, two Football League Cups, the First and Second Division titles, and the Anglo-Scottish Cup.

Robertson also topped the Nottingham Post’s list of all-time Foresters in 2015.

Robertson assisted Wycombe in achieving promotion from the Football Conference and Third Division, promotion to Leicester’s top tier, and promotion to the League Cup as well as promotion.

Following that, a much stronger Celtic spell came.

They also won the League Cup once, the Scottish Premier League once, and the Uefa Cup once in Glasgow.