Gary Birtles
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 27 July 1956 | ||
| Place of birth | Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England | ||
| Playing position | Centre Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Long Eaton Rovers | |||
| Long Eaton United | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1976–1980 | Nottingham Forest | 87 | (32) |
| 1980–1982 | Manchester United | 58 | (11) |
| 1982–1986 | Nottingham Forest | 125 | (39) |
| 1987–1988 | Notts County | 63 | (9) |
| 1989–1991 | Grimsby Town | 69 | (9) |
| Total | 402 | (100) | |
| National team | |||
| 1979–1980 | England U21 | 2 | (1) |
| 1980 | England B | 1 | (0) |
| 1980 | England | 3 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1997–1999 | Gresley Rovers | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Garry Birtles (born 27 July 1956) is an English retired footballer, who played as a forward in the Football League between the 1970s and 1990s. He is best known for his time at Nottingham Forest, during which he won the 1979 and 1980 European Cup Finals. He was also capped three times by England.
Birtles was signed by Nottingham Forest from non-league Long Eaton United for £2,000. He made his Forest debut as a winger in March 1977 in the old Second Division, against Hull City. From that point on he disappeared from first team contention, not making his second appearance until September 1978. Peter Withe had been sold to Newcastle and so-called prodigy Steve Elliott failed to make the grade, allowing Birtles an unexpected chance which he grasped, scoring his first goal for the club in his third match, in the European Cup against Liverpool. Birtles kept his place for the rest of the season, capping his success by scoring 2 goals in a fantastic display in the 3–2 win over Southampton in the 1979 League Cup Final and a 1979 European Cup winner's medal via the 1–0 victory over Malmö FF of Sweden in Munich's Olympic Stadium. He was quickly established as one of the top strikers in England, having scored 14 times in the league alone that season.
He gained another winner's medal in the following season's European Cup against Hamburg. He also played in every First Division game for Forest that season, scoring 12 goals.
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