Larry Lloyd dead at 75: Nottingham Forest and Liverpool pay tribute to former England defender who won two European Cups under Brian Clough

• e-mail

Nottingham Forest last night paid tribute to club legend Larry Lloyd, who has died aged 75.

The no-nonsense centre back, who won four caps for England, was part of Brian Clough’s Miracle Men who won back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980.

Clough famously convinced Lloyd to make the move from Coventry to the City Ground by giving him the club’s battered old washing machine from the laundry room as a signing-on fee.

Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo said of Lloyd yesterday: ‘Our feelings are with the family, it’s a sad moment. To win two European Cups in a row is a miracle, it’s very difficult. We are very proud. We are a club with a big history.’

Lloyd started his career with Bristol Rovers before Bill Shankly brought him to Liverpool in a deal worth £50,000 in 1969.

Former Liverpool and Nottingham Forest defender Larry Lloyd died aged 75

Lloyd (second right front row) won the European Cup in 1979 and 1980 with Forest

Lloyd lifts his second European Cup after Forest beat Hamburg 1-0 in the 1980 final 

‘Larry, I have come to the conclusion that you would kick your grandmother for a fiver,’ Shankly said during talks to take him to Anfield. Lloyd replied: ‘I would actually kick her for half of that.’

He played every game in the 1972-73 season when Shankly’s side went on to win the league and UEFA Cup double, but moved to Coventry a year later after Bob Paisley took over and preferred Phil Thompson in his position.

After joining Forest for £60,000 at the age of 27 in 1976, he began to build an iconic centre-back partnership with Kenny Burns as Forest went from the old Second Division to double kings of Europe in four remarkable seasons.

His finest moment came in winning that second European Cup final in Madrid against his former Liverpool team-mate Kevin Keegan, then at Hamburg.

‘The first is always very special but my favourite was our second European Cup win,’ Lloyd told Mail Sport in 2008. ‘The Malmo final in 1979 had been the bore of the century. We were expected to win. In 1980, everyone thought we would get hammered. We had begun as the bunch of rebels, has-beens and no-hopers.’

The defender, once described as ‘almost as big as Nottingham Castle’ by Clough, was immense against Hamburg despite tearing his ankle ligaments just 10 days earlier. Lloyd missed a pre-final ‘p*** up’ in Majorca — Clough’s idea of preparation — to have treatment in Nottingham, including a dozen injections.

He later sold the medals from his two European Cups, two First Division titles, as well as two caps and other mementos, for £12,000.

‘It is the greatest regret of my life,’ Lloyd later said. ‘But needs must when the devil drives and the devil was certainly at the wheel then.’

Lloyd played 218 times for Liverpool winning the First Division at UEFA Cup in 1973 and won four England caps 

He had been suffering depression at the time, following managerial spells with Wigan Athletic and Notts County and then the end of a PR job with Forest and his work on local radio.

He moved to Spain to become a pub landlord but returned to Nottinghamshire in 2021 to spend his final few years alongside family.

Mail Sport columnist Chris Sutton, who was born in Nottingham, said: ‘Larry Lloyd was one of my heroes growing up. He was a giant of a player, a real leader. Thoughts and prayers go out to the Lloyd family.’

Forest are set to honour Lloyd’s life when they face Crystal Palace at the City Ground tomorrow.