[a] Trevor Francis scored the only goal of the match, as Nottingham Forest of England defeated Malmö FF of Sweden 1–0 to become European champions for the first time in club history.

The competition had provided many great stories and had thrown up a final that no-one could have predicted when it had started the previous August.

Unfortunately, with two of their best players – midfielder Bo Larsson and defender Roy Andersson – already ruled out with injury and with their captain and key midfielder, Staffan Tapper, breaking his toe in training on the eve of the final, Malmö resorted to the same defensive tactics that Belgian team Club Bruges had used at Wembley in the final twelve months earlier.

Back in February, Brian Clough had elected to spend the money that Forest had made from winning the league title in 1978 on a forward from Birmingham City.

Both Garry Birtles and Robertson missed good chances in the second half, but it did not matter, as Malmö never looked likely to score.