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Many an eyebrow was raised when Brian Clough paid out £270, 000 to bring
Peter Shilton to Nottingham Forest a few games into the start of the
1977-78 season - not least by the Forest board! The fee represented a
new world record for a goalkeeper and in a day and age where forwards
attracted all the money it was a huge amount to pay. Clough, of course,
was nobody's fool and he believed that a top class keeper could save you
anything up to 18 points a season - and Peter Shilton was certainly of
the very highest class. The England keeper was playing for second
division Stoke City at the time and, for all his talent, had yet to win
an honour in the game, even though he had clocked up nearly 400 League
appearances for first Leicester City and then Stoke before his move to
the City Ground. He would not have to wait long for that fact to be
rectified. Peter had the frustration of missing out on Forest's League
Cup success, due to the fact he had played for Stoke against Bristol
City earlier in the competition, but that disappointment was soon put
behind him as the Reds continued their unstoppable march towards the
League title. His 37 appearances produced the highly impressive return
of 23 clean sheets - the huge fee that Brian Clough had paid out was
reaping a handsome reward. The title was secured with a 0-0 draw at
Coventry City with 4 League games still remaining and it was Peter's
superb save from City striker Mick Ferguson that earned Forest the vital
point they needed. Nottingham Forest had proved all the doubters wrong
with their stunning triumph and Peter Shilton, after 12 years in the
game, had his first medal to his name. (David Scranage)
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Peter Shilton playing for Nottingham Forest in 1980. Photo G. Herringshaw. ©
| His appetite whetted following Forest's magnificent championship
success, Peter Shilton went on to play no small part in the club's
glorious next couple of years. If the opposition strikers found their
way past the formidable pairing of Kenny Burns and Larry Lloyd they were
then faced with the imposing figure of Shilton blocking their path to
goal. The League Cup was retained in 1979 with a 3-2 victory over
Southampton but far more importantly came that unforgettable May evening
in Munich when Nottingham Forest clinched the European Cup with a 1-0
victory over Malmo. Less than two years after joining the club Peter
Shilton had won the biggest prize that club football could offer.
Shilton was once again at his imperious best in Forest's league
campaign, conceding just 26 goals in 46 games and keeping 19 clean
sheets. Any other season Forest, who lost just 3 games, could well have
won the title but Liverpool set a points record of 68 to finish 8 clear
of the Midlanders. It had been a truly remarkable achievement for a club
of Forest's size to lift the 1979 European Cup but the following year
they were to confound the experts once again by retaining the trophy.
Peter was to concede just five goals in eight games as the Reds won
through to a meeting with Hamburg in the final, who could boast England
captain Kevin Keegan amongst their ranks. Once again Shilton was not to
be beaten and a John Robertson strike was sufficient to secure a
memorable victory for the East Midlands club. That proved to be the last
medal that Peter would win in his time at the City Ground and, after
five years with the Reds, he moved on to Southampton in the summer of
1982 for a fee of £250, 000. Nottingham Forest enjoyed a spell of
phenomenal success between 1977-80 and Peter Shilton can be rightly
proud of the major role he played in their rise to kings of Europe.
(David Scranage) |