In his ninth season as manager Brian Clough transferred in Dutch midfielder Frans Thijssen from Ipswich Town[1] only to be a flop and he left the club within months. On the contrary of the last three seasons, this campaign the offensive line had a good performance with Davenport, Birtles aimed by a superb midfield with Hodge and Walsh despite club legend John Robertson left the club during summer and signed with Peter Taylor's Derby County. After two early eliminations on FA Cup and League Cup the squad reached the UEFA Cup semifinals against RSC Anderlecht. In the first leg, the team took a 2–0 score in Nottingham and for the second leg the Belgian squad won 3–0 classifying to the 1984 UEFA Cup Final. According to Constant Vanden then Anderlecht club President, the club paid a bribe to Spanish referee Emilio Guruceta Muro before the match.In 1997 the UEFA banned the Belgian club for 1 season for competing in its continental tournaments.[2] In 2016 it was revealed that UEFA had evidence of the match-fixed scandal since 1992.[3][4] Meanwhile, in League the squad finished on a decent third spot only 6 points below of Champions Liverpool and clinching a UEFA Cup spot for the second consecutive campaign.
Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
