As Nottingham Forest look to finish off their best season in decades, event management company, Sporting Evenings, will be celebrating that success come the end of May with their ‘European Evening with the Stars’ at Nottingham Rugby Club.

For Nuno Espirito Santos and his band of Merry Men, all eyes are on both FA Cup success, and returning to Europe’s top table for the first time since the early 1980s, whilst Sporting Evenings, hosted by BBC Radio Nottingham’s Colin Fray, with a selection of Forest Legends.

Among those partaking in the evening will be Frank Clark (1975-79 player; 1993-96 manager), Ian Bowyer (two spells in 1973-81, and 1982-87), Paul Hart (1983-85, twice former youth coach, and 2001-04 manager), and of course, Garry Birtles, who we caught up with for an exclusive interview with the Nottingham Sport.

Born in nearby Long Eaton, in the mid-fifties, Birtles began his playing career in his local non-league scene, before being picked up by legendary Forest boss, Brian Clough, in March 1977, when the Reds were in the old Second Division.

A lot would change, both for the winger, and for the club itself, over the two spells he’d enjoy at the City Ground, over a decade that would see sandwiched between, a brief spell at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United.

His was a career that would see him play over 500 games, and more than three-quarters of those in Nottingham, at Forest, and with their near neighbours, County; it’s perhaps sacrilege then that he was only capped three times by England, in 1980.

“I was turned down by Aston Villa when I was 15-years-old,” began Birtles.

“I was a left winger back then, but I kept playing, in the non-league scene, and was actually recommended to Manchester United, but Cloughie (Brian Clough) was having none of it.

“He was incredible, you just never knew what was going to happen from one day to the next with him, and both he, and Peter Taylor (Clough’s hardy assistant throughout those heady days) were a classic combination.

“He (Taylor) used to make Cloughie laugh all the time, and it was a privilege to only play for them, but to also play football.”

It took a while for Birtles’ playing career to take off when at Forest, in fact over a year-and-a-half elapsed between his debut, and his second appearance in the famous Garibaldi Red.

Once he got going though, there was no looking back, for him, or his team-mates; promotion was achieved from the Second Division, when finishing in third place, ahead of those somewhat heady days of the late seventies.

“It was great being there, not only to win things but to also be able to get tickets for family and friends, it was a fantastic time.

“Those two European Cup successes, the second was the best one for me (against Kevin Keegan’s Hamburg, at the Santiago Bernabeu, May 1980) when we got battered throughout, and defended for our lives.”

On the continent, Birtles and Forest would lift two European Cups (1979 and 1980) and the European Super Cup (1979, 2-1 against Barcelona), whilst also enjoying domestic success along the way.

But it was those journeys across the globe that excites Birtles, even to this day (attend the event for some of those stories).

“We went to Berlin when the wall was still up, seeing police with machine guns,” recalled Birtles.

“Robbo (John Roberston) was even taken into custody whilst there, for something he was reading at the time.

“But yes, we went everywhere in the world back then, we just travelled for fun.”

Having initially been scouted by Manchester’s Red Devils though, prior to his career starting, Birtles got the chance to play at Old Trafford when he left Forest, for United, at the start of the 1980-81 season.

In his two seasons at Old Trafford, Birtles would score a dozen goals, in over sixty appearances, and, quite bizarrely, both his first and last appearances for the club were against the same side, Stoke City.

Although with the Red Devils at the start of what would have been his third season there, he wasn’t picked for the first team, and was granted a return to the City Ground, picking up where he’d left off.

“Manchester Untied was always my second team, and playing for a club like that, it doesn’t come around too often,” admitted the former Forest star.

“Although it didn’t work out for me at Old Trafford, I was desperate to play football.

“When I joined them, I went there carrying an injury which also meant I missed pre-season, but they were great, both the club and fans alike, and I wouldn’t change any of it for the world.”

Birtles’ playing career finished with a brief spell across the Trent, at Notts County (1987-89), before moving to Lincolnshire, and Grimsby Town (1989-92), with whom he enjoyed back-to-back promotions.

Under ex-Forest player, Alan Buckley (1967-73), The Mariners were promoted as runners-up of the old Fourth Division, to Exeter City in 1990, then twelve months later as runners-up in the old Third Division, to Cambridge United in 1991.

“It was rather nice to finish my playing career with two promotions,” beamed Birtles.

“Not many people can do that; their manager was an ex-Forest player as well.

“As for the worst day of my career, that would be with County, when we lost to Walsall in the play-offs (4-2 on aggregate in the 1988 semi-finals).”

Fast-forward to the present day, and Birtles’ two former Nottingham employers, Forest and County, are both doing rather well in their respective divisions, the former flying high in the Premier League, and the latter pushing for promotion from League Two.

“County are doing rather well, although they’ve been under some pressure a little during the season,” concluded Birtles.

“Forest though, it’s just ridiculous how well they are doing, and it’s great to see.

“I do think they’ll get a Champions League place, and they deserve to be where they are in the league.

“We just have to enjoy the moment, and getting into Europe again would be great, especially as we’ve done really well against the so-called, big teams, this season.

“It’s also been nice to see clubs like Brighton & Hove Albion, and Bournemouth, doing well also.”

Garry Birtles was speaking ahead of his upcoming appearance at the Sporting Evenings’ upcoming event, ‘European Evening with the Stars,’ which takes place at Nottingham Rugby Club, on Friday 30 May; ticket information is available HERE

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*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).

*Main image @NFFC Garry Birtles won the league and two European Cups with Forest.