Much underrated Scottish footballer, and Nottingham Forest legend, John Robertson died on Christmas Day.

He was never the most athletic looking of men (which probably led to that underrating) but he was described by Brian Clough, the manager who got the most out of him, as “the Picasso of our game” and by his Nottingham Forest teammate John McGovern as “having more ability than Ryan Giggs.” Forest coach Jimmy Gordon rated him as “a better player than Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews.”

He is one of the few Scotsmen to win two European Cups, providing the assist for the winning goal in his first in 1979 and scoring the winner himself in the second a year later.

He also scored a winner for Scotland against England at Wembley. In 1981: Scotland have only won once there since.

John Neilson Robertson: 20/1/1953 – 25/12/2025. So it goes.