Nottingham Forest beat Hamburg in the 1980 European Cup final.
The final was played on 28 May 1980 at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Forest, the defending champions, won 1–0, with John Robertson scoring the decisive goal in the 21st minute. Brian Clough’s side had already stunned European football by winning the competition in 1979, only two seasons after promotion to England’s top division.
Hamburg, then known internationally as Hamburger SV, were coached by Branko Zebec and featured future Germany star Kevin Keegan. They were unable to break down Forest’s disciplined defence, led by goalkeeper Peter Shilton. The result made Forest the only club to win the European Cup more times than its domestic league title at that point.
A common mix-up is with the 1980 semi-final, in which Forest eliminated Ajax. Hamburg were the final opponent, not a semi-final rival.