40th anniversary of Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest retaining the European Cup
Nottingham Forest defended the European Cup on this day in 1980 as their glorious era under Brian Clough reached its peak.
Many believe Forest's back-to-back triumphs in Europe's premier club competition - as well as lifting league title in 1978 and two League Cups in the space of just three years - remains the finest achievement for an English club side despite the 5000/1 exploits of midlands rivals Leicester in 2016, while there's no doubt it cemented Clough's status as one of the greatest managers of all time.
The 1980 European Cup run
The defending champions, who also won the Super Cup after their first European success against Malmo in 1979, started off their quest to retain the title with a 3-1 aggregate win over Sweden's Oster.
Victories over Arges Pitesti and BFC Dynamo set up a semi-final tie with Ajax.
Trevor Francis and John Roberston's penalty gave Forest a 2-0 first-leg lead and they progressed despite a 1-0 loss in Amsterdam.
The final
Forest faced Hamburg in the final in Madrid, where 51,000 fans packed into the Santiago Bernabeu.
Robertson made the decisive breakthrough in the 21st minute when he fired past Rudolf Kargus for the only goal of the game.
Kevin Keegan and Felix Magath were among the stars playing in the German side but neither could find a way past the watertight defence of Forest.
The victory meant Forest became the first club to win the European Cup more times than their domestic top division.
Forest Team: Peter Shilton, Viv Anderson, Frank Gray, John McGovern, Larry Lloyd, Kenny Burns, Martin O'Neill, Ian Bowyer, Garry Birtles, Gary Mills, John Robertson. Substitutes John O'Hare, Bryn Gunn, Jimmy Montgomery
Treble attempt
The defending champions went looking for their third successive title but fell at the first hurdle. They faced CSKA Sofia but lost the first leg 1-0 before suffering another 1-0 defeat at the City Ground.
Liverpool, who had won the European Cup two times in a row before Forest's first title, to went on to win the trophy for the third time, beating Real Madrid 1-0 in the final.
Aston Villa lifted the trophy 12 months later before Hamburg finally ended English football's six-year reign in 1983.
Forest's future glory
Although Forest would never win the European Cup or league title again, Clough did lead them to a further two League Cup triumphs in 1989 and 1990 before he left the club after relegation in 1993.
The FA Cup was the only major trophy to elude him, and defeat to Tottenham in the 1991 final was the closest he'd get. That, however, can never detract from one of the most legendary football stories ever told.
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