EUROPEAN CUP winner Tony Woodcock will finally receive his medal from Nottingham Forest’s 1980 triumph after waiting 46 years.
The former and striker, now 70, helped lift the trophy in 1979 after starting in a famous 1-0 win over Malmo.
Tony Woodcock will finally receive his 1980 European Cup medal, 46 years after Forest’s winCredit: PA:Empics Sport
Woodcock didn’t get a medal despite playing in four of Forest’s games en route to the finalCredit: PA:Empics Sport
He should have received a second medal when Forest retained the cup the following year by beating Hamburg in the 1980 final.
Woodcock played four of their nine games in the competition during that season before signing for Cologne.
But he was never handed his second medal despite playing his part in Forest’s road to Madrid, after a sour end to his time at the City Ground.
Forest will put things right this week by awarding Woodcock his medal at a special ceremony on Thursday before their second leg against FC .
Woodcock told The Times : “I had given up on it in the early days because we thought nothing’s going to happen.
“But then suddenly you get older and wiser and think, good God, you had a big part to play in that and you deserve it, because of the games I played.
“So I thought I’ll get back on to it. I don’t like them saying he’s not a European Cup winner.”
The process took 18 months and involved former player Martin O’Neill lending his medal to create a mould so a replica could be forged by Swiss company Awardness.
Woodcock claims he was told to ‘f*** off’ by Nigel Clough’s assistant Peter Taylor before his exitCredit: Getty
Initially, had planned for Woodcock to be handed the medal before an England game at Wembley, before it was decided he should receive it in front of the Forest fans.
Tensions had arisen between Woodcock and old boss Nigel Clough after the player began seeking an exit.
Clough was keen to tie the player to a new deal but accused him of wanting too much money.
Woodcock then began talks with Cologne, but Forest dug their heels in and denied German officials access to the stadium after travelling to negotiate.
After the two clubs came to an agreement, Clough’s assistant Peter Taylor took Woodcock to the airport ahead of his exit – but he claims his ex-coach scolded him as he departed.
Woodcock added: “After the papers were signed. Taylor looked at me and said, well, ‘You can f*** off now’.
“I was a local boy, who brought some money to the club, I had to
fight my way to get in the team.
“They weren’t very happy that I’d gone. [It was a] ‘you don’t do this to us, we’ll show you,’ sort of thing.”
Woodcock also revealed Clough was so furious with him that he denied him a send-off in his final game, telling him: “I don’t want you being celebrated here, get off.”
In the months after Forest beat Hamburg, Woodcock tried to contact Clough to get his medal, but claims his manager refused to answer his agent’s calls.
Decades later there was nearly another twist to the tale when Woodcock’s medal went missing after being shipped from Eindhoven.
Thankfully, Awardness managed to make another medal in time for him to receive it on Thursday.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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