🖤❤️ FAREWELL TO JOHN ROBERTSON: NOTTINGHAM FOREST BIDS GOODBYE TO THE “PICASSO OF FOOTBALL” – A LEGEND WHO WILL LIVE FOREVER! 🌹⚽

🖤❤️ FAREWELL TO JOHN ROBERTSON: NOTTINGHAM FOREST BIDS GOODBYE TO THE “PICASSO OF FOOTBALL” – A LEGEND WHO WILL LIVE FOREVER! 🌹⚽

 

Football has lost one of its most beloved figures. On Christmas Day 2025, Nottingham Forest legend John Robertson passed away at the age of 72, leaving behind a legacy that will forever be connected with some of the greatest moments in the club’s history.

 

For Forest supporters, Robertson was never simply another footballer. He was the winger who could change a game with a run, a cross, a piece of skill or a moment of extraordinary composure. His importance to the club was so great that legendary manager Brian Clough famously described him as “the Picasso of our game.”

 

Robertson was born in Scotland in 1953 and spent the majority of his remarkable playing career with Nottingham Forest. Under Clough, he became one of the key figures in the most successful period in the club’s history.

 

His name is permanently connected with European glory.

 

In the 1979 European Cup final, Robertson produced the decisive contribution, delivering the cross from which Trevor Francis headed Forest’s winning goal against Malmö. One year later, Robertson went even further. In the 1980 European Cup final against Hamburg, he scored the only goal of the match, securing Forest’s second consecutive European Cup triumph.

 

Those moments transformed Robertson into a Nottingham Forest icon.

 

But his achievements were not limited to Europe. He also scored the winning goal in the 1978 League Cup final against Liverpool, demonstrating his ability to perform when the pressure was greatest. The Scottish FA describes him as a player with a special flair for the biggest occasions.

 

Robertson also represented Scotland, earning 28 international caps and appearing at two World Cups. He scored eight goals for his country, including at the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

 

Yet statistics cannot fully explain what Robertson meant to those who watched him.

 

He was admired for his humility away from the pitch as much as for his brilliance on it. Following his death, Nottingham Forest chairman Nicholas Randall described him as not only the club’s greatest player but also a great man, remembering his kindness, generosity and deep love for Forest and its supporters.

 

Former teammate John McGovern also paid tribute to Robertson, remembering him as Forest’s most consistent player and saying that his former friend would never be forgotten.

 

That is perhaps the greatest tribute of all.

 

John Robertson may no longer be with us, but his football will remain.

 

The cross against Malmö.

The winning goal against Hamburg.

The celebrations at the City Ground.

The European nights under Brian Clough.

 

These moments belong forever to Nottingham Forest.

 

❤️🖤 John Robertson was more than a Forest legend. He was part of the soul of the club.

 

His final farewell may have come on Christmas Day 2025, but for generations of supporters, John Robertson will never truly say goodbye.

 

His name will continue to echo around the City Ground.

 

Rest in peace, Robbo. A Forest legend forever. 🌹⚽❤️