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Garry Birtles

Garry Birtles

Garry Birtles, born Nottingham, England, July 27, 1956. Garry Birtles signed with his local team Nottingham Forest in 1976 and spent four successful years at the club before he joined Manchester United for transfer fee of around £1.25 million at the front end of the 1980-81 season. And although the striker also appeared for Notts County and Grimsby Town, he will always remain part of Forest folklore.

Garry Birtles was given his Football League debut for Nottingham Forest by Brian Clough in a 2-0 Second Division victory against Hull City at the City Ground on the 12th of March 1977. The former Long Eaton Rovers and Long Eaton United player soon established himself in the Forest first team, and the free scoring frontman proceeded to win the Football League Cup Final as well as the European Cup Final with The Tricky Trees during the 1978-79 campaign. Birtles won another European Cup winner’s medal the following season as Nottingham Forest narrowly edged out German Bundesliga outfit Hamburger SV by 1-0 in the final at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid on the 28th of May 1980. Following 32 First Division goals in 87 appearances for Forest, he was bought by Manchester United manager Dave Sexton for a transfer fee somewhere in the region of £1.25 million partly into the 1980-81 campaign and was handed his competitive debut for his new employers in a 2-1 First Division win over Stoke City at Victoria Ground on the 22nd of October 1980.

Birtles netted for the first time for Manchester United in a comfortable 2-0 FA Cup Third Round Replay triumph against fellow Division One team Brighton and Hove Albion at Goldstone Ground on the 7th of January 1981, and his first Football League goal for the club arrived when he scored the winner in a hard-fought 1-0 win over freshly promoted Swansea City at Old Trafford on the 19th of September the same year. Unfortunately, the centre-forward suffered a desperate goal drought during his first season with Manchester United, and after netting only 11 goals during 58 First Division matches for The Manchester Reds, he returned to play for his old club Nottingham Forest just a mere two years later. Then, at the end of the 1986-87 season, a free transfer brought the hirsute player to crosstown rivals Notts County for whom he hit nine Third Division goals in 63 appearances before he moved to Fourth Division side Grimsby Town where he finished his soccer career in 1991. An international for England, Birtles made his senior debut for his country when he took the field as a late second-half substitute for Liverpool´s David Johnson in a 3-1 friendly victory over Argentina at Wembley on the 13th of May 1980 and went on to collect a total of three full caps. Garry Birtles Playing Career: Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Notts County, Grimsby Town. Playing Honours: English Football League Cup 1979, UEFA European Cup 1979, 1980, UEFA European Super Cup 1979.