Forest Breakthrough at City Ground
Garry Birtles emerged as a first-team forward for Nottingham Forest during the late 1970s. His rise from non-league football gave Brian Clough another useful attacking option.
Historical biography archive · Updated 2026-11-03
Garry Birtles Biography and Timeline
Follow Garry Birtles through 4 dated historical records for Great Britain.
Garry Birtles, historical timeline
A chronological timeline drawn from matching World History Database records.
4Distinct records
1 of 1Page
1978–1980Years on this page
1978
1979
First European Cup Final Forward Line
Garry Birtles starts in attack as Nottingham Forest win the 1979 European Cup. His progress from non-league football becomes one of Brian Clough's notable success stories.
1980
European Cup Retention as Striker
Garry Birtles led Nottingham Forest's forward line during the club's 1980 European Cup final victory over Hamburg. His work rate allowed teammates to exploit space as Forest defended their title.
Madrid Final Centre Forward Role
Garry Birtles plays up front as Nottingham Forest face Hamburg in the European Cup final. His movement helps stretch the German defence during Forest's narrow win.
Records, sources and methodology
These dates and descriptions come from the historical_events database. Exact duplicate records have been collapsed. Names are grouped by the country, Name 2 and Name 1 fields; records with missing Name 2 cannot be reliably assigned to an individual biography. Check the underlying sources before formal citation.