# 1979–80 Nottingham Forest F.C. season

The 1979–80 season was Nottingham Forest's 115th year in existence and third consecutive season in the First Division.

## Summary

During summer chairman Stuart M. Dryden reinforced the squad with several players, Left-back Frank Clark announced his retirement and the club bought Frank Gray from Leeds United for £500,000 to cover the position. To replace Archie Gemmill in midfield, the club bought Asa Hartford from Manchester City only to sell him on to Everton F.C. for a small loss after just three games and two months at the club. With the team plummeting to mid-table by winter the club loaned in Forward Charlie George from Southampton F.C. who only played 4 matches and failed to reinforce an attack already weakened after the departure of Tony Woodcock to 1.FC Köln and the injury of Trevor Francis. Also, signing in mid-season was midfielder Stan Bowles from Queen's Park Rangers but the transfer did not work out owing to differences between Bowles and manager Clough. The relative lack of impact of many of these signings led to a 5th place league finish after being title contenders in the two previous seasons.
The club refused to play the Intercontinental Cup against Paraguayan side and Copa Libertadores Champion Club Olimpia. In the FA Cup the team was eliminated by Liverpool F.C. in fourth round. In the League Cup the squad fell short of a third consecutive win at the last hurdle, losing in Final to Wolverhampton Wanderers by a single goal. However, the squad won its first European Super Cup with a 2–1 aggregate score after two legs against FC Barcelona. In the European Cup as the holders, the club which advanced again to the Final and clinched its second successive title after defeating 1–0 West German side Hamburg SV who fielded the then-England captain and ex-Liverpool fan favourite Kevin Keegan.

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ENG | Peter Shilton |
| — | GK | ENG | Jimmy Montgomery |
| — | GK | ENG | Steve Sutton |
| — | DF | ENG | Viv Anderson |
| — | DF | ENG | Larry Lloyd |
| — | DF | SCO | Kenny Burns |
| — | DF | SCO | Frank Gray |
| — | DF | ENG | Bryn Gunn |
| — | DF | ENG | David Needham |
| — | MF | NIR | Martin O'Neill |
| — | MF | SCO | John McGovern (c) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | SCO | John Robertson |
| — | MF | ENG | Ian Bowyer |
| — | MF | ENG | Gary Mills |
| — | MF | SCO | John O'Hare |
| — | MF | SCO | Asa Hartford |
| — | MF | SCO | Colin Walsh |
| — | FW | ENG | Trevor Francis |
| — | FW | ENG | Stan Bowles |
| — | FW | ENG | Garry Birtles |
| — | FW | ENG | Tony Woodcock |
| — | FW | ENG | Charlie George |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| FW | Charlie George | Southampton F.C. | loan |
| GK | Jimmy Montgomery | Birmingham City | |
| MF | Asa Hartford | Manchester City | £385,000 |
| DF | Frank Gray | Leeds United | £500,000 |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| GK | Chris Woods | Queen's Park Rangers | £250,000 |
| DF | Frank Clark | | Retired |
| MF | Steve Elliott | Preston North End | |
| MF | Archie Gemmill | Birmingham City | |
| MF | Steve Burke | Queen's Park Rangers | £125,000 |
| MF | Asa Hartford | Everton F.C. | £308,000 |

#### Winter

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| FW | Stan Bowles | Queen's Park Rangers | |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| FW | Tony Woodcock | 1.FC Köln | £875,000 |

#### Spring

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| DF | Colin Barrett | Swindon Town | |
| MF | Stan Bowles | Leyton Orient F.C. | £100,000 |

## Competitions

A list of Nottingham Forest's matches in the 1979–80 season.

### First Division
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 3 | Ipswich Town | 42 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 68 | 39 | +29 | 53 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Arsenal | 42 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 52 | 36 | +16 | 52 | |
| 5 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 63 | 43 | +20 | 48 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 6 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 58 | 47 | +11 | 47 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 42 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 46 | |
* ↑ Transferred in on 18 August 1979
* ↑ Transferred in on 18 August 1979
* ↑ Transferred out on 25 August 1979
* ↑ Transferred in on 22 December 1979
* ↑ Transferred out on 17 November 1979
* ↑ Transferred out on 18 April 1979
* ↑ Transferred out on 9 May 1980
* ↑ Nottingham Forest qualified for the European Cup first round as the 1979–80 European Cup winners.
* ↑ Wolverhampton Wanderers qualified for the UEFA Cup as the 1979–80 Football League Cup winners.

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | W | D | L | D | W | W | D | L | W | L | W | L | L | L | D | L | L | W | W | L | W | W | D | D | L | W | L | W | W | L | W | L | W | D | W | W | D | W | L |
| Position | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Super Cup
## Statistics
### Players statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Football League Division One | Football League Division One | Football League Cup | Football League Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup | European Cup | European Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ENG | Shilton | 63 | -43 | 42 | -43 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Anderson | 61 | 4 | 41 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Lloyd | 62 | 4 | 42 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Burns | 51 | 3 | 33+1 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Gray | 62 | 4 | 41 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| | MF | NIR | O'Neill | 44 | 5 | 27+1 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | McGovern | 60 | 2 | 41 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Bowles | 22 | 2 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Robertson | 63 | 19 | 41+1 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 3 |
| | FW | ENG | Francis | 42 | 17 | 30 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| | FW | ENG | Birtles | 62 | 16 | 42 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 2 |
| | GK | ENG | Montgomery | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Woodcock | 25 | 11 | 16 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| | MF | ENG | Mills | 16 | 1 | 6+4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | O'Hare | 12 | 3 | 6+1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Needham | 13 | 1 | 6+2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Bowyer | 27 | 7 | 5+7 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| | MF | SCO | Hartford | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | George | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Gunn | 3 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | GK | ENG | Sutton |
| | MF | SCO | Walsh |
* Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/nottingham-forest/tab/players/season/1980/