SOCCER PLAYER

John Robertson

1953 - 2025

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John Neilson Robertson (20 January 1953 – 25 December 2025) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a left winger for Nottingham Forest, Derby County and the Scotland national team. He provided the assisting cross for Trevor Francis to score the only goal when Nottingham Forest won the 1979 European Cup final. A year later he scored in the final when Forest retained the European Cup, this time against Hamburger SV. At Forest he also won promotion from the 1976–77 Football League Second Division, the 1977–78 Football League First Division, the UEFA Super Cup, two Football League Cups, the 1978 FA Charity Shield and the Anglo-Scottish Cup. Robertson also played for Scotland, scoring the winning goal against England in 1981 and against New Zealand in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in 19 different languages on Wikipedia. John Robertson is the 1,317th most popular soccer player (up from 7,295th in 2024), the 2,467th most popular biography from United Kingdom (up from 6,114th in 2019) and the 85th most popular British Soccer Player.

John Robertson was most famous as the brilliant left winger for Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough, where he played a pivotal role in their miraculous back-to-back European Cup victories—providing the cross for Trevor Francis's winner in 1979 against Malmö and scoring the decisive goal in 1980 against Hamburg. Praised by Clough as "the Picasso of our game," he also won the First Division title, two League Cups, earned 28 Scotland caps (including scoring against England at Wembley in 1981), and later coached as assistant to Martin O'Neill.

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Among SOCCER PLAYERS

Among soccer players, John Robertson ranks 1,317 out of 21,273. Before him are Yvon Douis, Emil Kostadinov, Ivica Vastić, Iván Córdoba, Takayoshi Yamano, and Koichi Kudo. After him are Herbert Prohaska, Ștefan Barbu, Guillermo Gorostiza, Julián Álvarez, Satoshi Yamaguchi, and Walter Mazzarri.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1953, John Robertson ranks 170. Before him are Desmond Child, Maryam Rajavi, Dragan Kićanović, Filipe Neri Ferrão, Eric Tsang, and Halid Bešlić. After him are Paul Haggis, Zlatko Burić, Carlos Mesa, Gali Atari, Andreas Vollenweider, and Gérard Krawczyk. Among people deceased in 2025, John Robertson ranks 231. Before him are Peter Hirsch, Sly Stone, Samantha Eggar, Bernhard Vogel, Nicola Pietrangeli, and Halid Bešlić. After him are Kiril Ivkov, Rodrigo Borja Cevallos, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Gazi Yaşargil, Loretta Swit, and Åge Hareide.

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, John Robertson ranks 2,468 out of 8,785. Before him are Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1758), Martin Fowler (1963), Tessa Jowell (1947), Albert Austin (1881), William Smith (1790), and Michelle Fairley (1964). After him are John Aubrey (1626), Divina Galica (1944), John Oliver (1977), Eddie Irvine (1965), John Smeaton (1724), and Brenda Milner (1918).

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Among SOCCER PLAYERS In United Kingdom

Among soccer players born in United Kingdom, John Robertson ranks 85. Before him are Peter Crouch (1981), Gordon Milne (1937), Glen Johnson (1984), Bill Foulkes (1932), Jamie Vardy (1987), and Ernest Payne (1884). After him are Tommy Lawrence (1940), Paul Robinson (1979), Jimmy Mullen (1923), David Jack (1898), Ray Clemence (1948), and William Foulke (1874).

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