Nottingham Forest legend and film star Kenny Burns reveals tricks of his trade: 'I'd hacksaw my studs so that they stuck better to the skin... nowadays I see more physical contact when I shop in Asda!'

• Kenny Burns arrived at Nottingham Forest for £150,000 in 1977 with a reputation for boozing and wild behaviour
• Signing as a 20-goal striker from Birmingham, Burns became a defensive enforcer for Brian Clough's Forest
• His successes included two European Cups, a Super Cup, the league title and the Footballer of the Year award
• Clough fined Burns £50, more than a third of his £140-a-week wages, for a head butt on Arsenal's Richie Powling
• Burns also shares the moment he put Kevin Keegan, the European Footballer of the Year, on the floor squeaking
• The 62-year-old legend had a hell-raising reputation: 'If you got a chance to 'do' the centre forward, then you did it' 
• Forest legend sparkles in I Believe In Miracles, a film which documents the club's achievements under Clough

By Lee Clayton for the Daily Mail

Published: 16:32 EST, 14 October 2015 | Updated: 18:35 EST, 14 October 2015

This week on the big screen: Legend with Tom Hardy as Ronnie and Reggie, Matt Damon in The Martian and Macbeth with Michael Fassbender, while Pan opens with Hugh Jackman.

And then there is Kenny Burns, 62, in I Believe In Miracles.

A most unlikely leading man, Burns sparkles in the wonderful film that reminds us of the incredible achievements of Brian Clough's merry men from Nottingham.

Kenny Burns, pictured with a recent Sportsmail, sparkles in I Believe In Miracles which documents Forest's success under Brian Clough

Burns arrived at Forest in 1977 as a 20-goal striker from Birmingham but became a defensive enforcer for Clough's all-conquering side

The 62-year-old former Scotland international was speaking with the Daily Mail's Head of Sport Lee Clayton (right) 

Think about it: Forest were 13th in the old Second Division when Clough swept into the City Ground.

He signed Burns for £150,000 in 1977, a 20-goal striker from Birmingham with a reputation for boozing, betting and wild behaviour, and turned him into a centre half who won two European Cups, a Super Cup (scoring against Barcelona), the league title, the Footballer of the Year award and two Forest Player of the Year awards.

Burns' own story is so rich with tales, film-makers should probably consider a sequel before Hollywood tracks him down to Derby.

Maybe it is because he is an after-dinner speaker of some repute or because these days he looks more like an end of pier stand-up comedian than a professional athlete. Or maybe it is because of the head butt — Google it and you will see what I mean.

Defending a Liam Brady free kick, Burns plants his blond locks into the head of Arsenal's Richie Powling, a crude assault that would get him more than a few weeks off if he were to repeat it in the Barclays Premier League today.

'Actually, I thought I had got away with it. I looked for the linesman, then I looked at the referee and then I put the head on him,' Burns reflects. 'I tell people it was a sneeze, but what I didn't realise is that a television camera was zooming down at me and caught the whole thing.

Burns takes pride in his success at Forest - where he won two European Cups, a Super Cup (scoring against Barcelona) and league title

The Forest legend was looking back on a successful four-year spell at Forest which has seen him star in the film I Believe In Miracles

Forest's Burns (right) clears the ball from West Bromwich Albion's Alistair Brown during an FA Cup sixth round clash in 1978

Forest's John Robertson (left), Ian Bowyer and defender Burns celebrate with the European Cup in Munich in 1979

'I used to go to a local drinking establishment with my neighbour and we would have a few pints and then get back for Sunday dinner.

'So I was sitting eating my food on my lap when The Big Match came on. When I saw what I had been caught doing, I threw my plate up into the air and I shouted, 'Oh for God's sake! Jesus Christ!''

He was fined £50 by Clough, more than a third of his £140-a-week wages, but believed it was a worthwhile investment.

'I knew I was wrong,' he said. 'But I also looked upon it as a chance to send out a message. If I was watching it on television, so were my future opponents. So it was like advertising — and it would frighten some of them off.'

If it didn't, then Burns shaving his studs to expose the metal surely must have.

'The studs in those days were made of wood with three metal pins inside,' he explains. 'I'd hacksaw across each one, taking off the top layer and so exposing the metal. It meant they stuck better to the skin when I went in for a tackle.

Burns celebrates Forest's 1979 European Cup success after the English club defeated Swedish outfit Malmo 1-0 in the final in Munich

Back row (left-right): Viv Anderson, Peter Shilton, Chris Woods (behind), John McGovern, Ian Bowyer, David Needham, Trevor Francis, Frank Clark, John O'Hare. Front row: Larry Lloyd, John Robertson, Tony Woodcock, Jimmy Gordon (standing), Burns and Garry Birtles

Former Forest boss Clough holds the European Cup after winning it for the first time during the 1978-79 campaign 

Clough spent 18 years at Forest and won two successive European Cups as well as the Division One title and four League Cups

'But I also learned you should never trap the ball after doing that — or you might burst it!' Cue a deep and hearty chuckle.

'That was the life in those days. Watching football now, I see more physical contact when I go shopping in Asda.

'I played in a man's game. If you got a chance to 'do' the centre forward, then you did it.

'In the European Cup Final, we played against Kevin Keegan's Hamburg. He span to run on to a long pass and I knew he was gone and I was in trouble. So I thrust out my arm and took him out.

'Keegan, the European Footballer of the Year, was on the floor squeaking 'I can't breathe', clutching his throat. I called the referee over and knelt down, said to Kevin, 'Don't worry, I'll be coming through you again in a minute'.

'Kevin ended up taking the ball off the goalkeeper, playing so deep. Nobody has scored a goal from back there. I'd won.'

Burns shared the moment he put Kevin Keegan (right), the European Footballer of the Year, on the floor squeaking 'I can't breathe'

The Forest team with the 1980 European Cup after their 1-0 win over Hamburg. Back row (left-right): David Needham, Frank Gray, Martin O'Neill, Ian Bowyer, Viv Anderson, John O'Hare, Jimmy Gordon, John Robertson. Front row: Peter Shilton, John McGovern, Garry Birtles, Larry Lloyd, Kenny Burns, Bryn Gunn, and Gary Mills

Burns and partner Larry Lloyd were Clough's defensive enforcers, although both could play, too. Clough fined Burns for a bad pass, but only once.

It was his clever, talent-spotting No 2, Peter Taylor, who wanted to sign the Glaswegian with the hell-raising reputation. 'What do I want to do with that s**tbag?' was Clough's initial response.

Before Clough would relent, Taylor had Burns followed to the Perry Bar greyhound track with instructions to find out how much he was spending on dogs and drink. The answer: around £3 a visit.

Clough would grow fond of his new arrival and took him to a flower show he was judging on the day he signed to show him his different life. He would later attend Burns' first wedding dressed in his squash kit.

Burns has fond memories of those halcyon days. 'Clough and Taylor were masters of their art,' he says. 'We didn't do drills. Tactics? We didn't have any. A free kick? Shoot. An indirect free kick? Pass — and then shoot! If we've got the ball, they can't hurt us. He never spoke about the opposition. Ever. They created a team, a team of winners.

Burns, the Glaswegian with a hell-raising reputation, was capped 20 times by Scotland (pictured in the 1-0 defeat by England in 1978)

I Believe in Miracles was created to document the success of legendary manager Clough, who stayed at Forest for 18 years

Former Nottingham Forest defender Burns shows he believes in miracles ahead of Sunday's screening at the City Ground

'I looked at the picture published in the Daily Mail this week and I am proud to call those men my team-mates. We were good players, we were a good team — and we had a lot of fun, too.

'Clough took us to Scarborough once. We had steak and chips and a couple of beers, followed by a 20-minute walk. That was it. I asked the coach driver why we had gone all that way and he told me that Taylor had to deliver some carpets to his flat he had there!

'That's how they did business. But they knew how to find players and to turn them into winners.

'Brian would join us in the dressing room, 15 minutes before kick-off. He would send the substitute to buy him a large whisky, sit between Larry Lloyd and me, light up a cigar.'

(From left): Peter Shilton, Larry Lloyd, Colin Barrett, Viv Anderson, Garry Birtles, David Needham, Trevor Francis, Frank Clark, Archie Gemmill, Kenny Burns, Tony Woodcock, John Robertson, Ian Bowyer, John McGovern, John O'Hare and Gary Mills

The famous Nottingham Forest side pose behind the back-to-back European Cups they won in 1979 and 1980

The film is a reminder of their remarkable achievements and while Burns won more than £100,000 on the National Lottery 14 years ago, he knows his numbers came up when Clough took him under his wing.

The players will share in any profits from the film but Burns said: 'Some money would be nice, but that's not why we all did it.

'I thought the film was very good and I want to go and see it again. I had a little tear in my eye, seeing my old team-mates, my old friends, up there on the big screen. And me.

'We haven't had the recognition we deserved, but people can talk about great teams from different eras — Busby's babes, Liverpool's multiple European winners, Arsene Wenger's unbeaten Arsenal team, Alex Ferguson's Manchester United treble winners — we deserve to be talked about in the same breath. We were double European Cup winners. From Nottingham.' 

I Believe in Miracles is now out in cinemas nationwide and will be available on DVD and Blu-ray from November 16.

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