John McGovern, 76, keeps training-ground role as Forest’s European Cup-winning captain | OneFootball

John McGovern, the 76-year-old who captained Nottingham Forest to European Cup wins in 1979 and 1980, remains a near-daily presence at the Nigel Doughty Academy. In a season with four different men in the manager’s job, he greets players and watches from the fringes.

“When the new signings come in for the first time, a lot of them ask the same question: who is the old guy?” Ryan Yates told The Athletic.

Invited by Steve Cooper after promotion in 2022, McGovern says, “I come up every day that I can, generally most days.” He often returns stray balls with his left foot and jokes that being a ball boy keeps him warm.

Officially a club ambassador who leads stadium tours and attends events, he prefers the tracksuit to a suit. The emotions of training still grip him, and while modern methods can baffle, he insists the basics do not change.

He recalls sessions on municipal pitches, even being chased off by a park keeper, and a 16-man squad that played small-sided games virtually every day. The haul that followed spoke for itself, the league title and two European Cups.

Since Vitor Pereira’s appointment, McGovern has sensed positive energy and praises the application of Elliot Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White, while noting nobody is perfect. After 674 professional appearances, including 334 for Forest, he now has two new knees and two new ankles yet can still jog. “Always a trier. Never give up. You have to keep going.”

Source: NY Times