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English Football Legends Series

"I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one."
Brian Clough

Brian Clough

Clubs Managed:
Hartlepool Utd, Derby County, Brighton, Leeds Utd, Nottingham Forest

Honours:
League Championship, 2
League Cup, 4
European Cup, 2
Division 2 Championship, 1

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* League appearances and goals only

Controversial, outspoken, and abrasive, Clough is widely regarded as one of the greatest managers in the history of the English game.

Playing Career

A prolific striker as a player, Clough represented his hometown club Middlesbrough where he racked up an incredible 197 goals in 213 league matches. He also played twice for England while at Boro.

In 1961, he moved to Sunderland, and was equally successful there, with 54 goals in 61 league appearances.

Unfortunately, Brian Clough's promising career was cut short on 26 December 1962. In a match with Bury, he collided with goalkeeper Chris Harker, injuring his cruciate ligament.

Although this was considered a career-ending injury at that time, Clough attempted a return two years later.

He could only manage three games before being forced into retiring, and turned his attention to football management instead.

Hartlepools United

Clough joined Hartlepools United in October 1965, with Peter Taylor as his assistant.

He stayed until May 1967, guiding the team to an eighth place finish, before moving to Derby County.

Derby County

Derby was a step up for Clough and Taylor, but at the time the former FA Cup winners had been rooted in the Second Division for over a decade.

Clough immediately carried out a major clear out of the playing staff, retaining only 4 of the first team squad.

He also fired the club secretary, the groundsman and the chief scout.

The new players he brought in included Roy McFarland, John O'Hare, John McGovern, Alan Hinton and Les Green.

Despite the changes, Derby finished 18th. The next season, with the addition of Dave Mackay and Willie Carlin to the squad, they were Division Two champions.

A year later, they were fourth in Division One, and in 1970/71 they finished 9th.

League Champions

Then, in the 1971/72 season, Derby were involved in an exciting three way tussle with Liverpool and Leeds United for the title.

Having completed their matches, Derby led the table by 1 point, but Liverpool and Leeds still had a game to play.

Clough instructed Peter Taylor to take the players on a break to Majorca, to await there fate. There they received the news that both of their title rivals had failed to win, meaning that Derby were champions for the first time in their 88-year history.

The title win proved the high point of Clough's Derby career, thereafter there were frequent squabbles with the board - over transfers, over pre-season tours, over Clough and Taylor's drinking, but most of all over Clough's outspoken comments to the media.

In 1972/73, Derby failed to retain their title, finishing 7th, but reached the semi-finals of the European Cup. There they were knocked out, in controversial circumstances, by Juventus. Clough inflamed the situation by referring to the Italians as "cheating bastards".

In August 1973, he was in trouble for authoring an article in the Sunday Express which criticized Leeds United's disciplinary record, and called for Leeds to be relegated to Division Two.

In October 1973, he was accused of making a V-sign at Sir Matt Busby.

These sort of incidents brought Clough into constant conflict with the Derby County board.

On 15 October 1973, both Clough and Taylor resigned, and despite widespread calls for their re-instatement, they made a surprise move to Third Division Brighton & Hove Albion.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Clough spent a year at Brighton, but his time there was not a success, and he won only 12 of his 32 games in charge.

The club finished 19th in his only season in charge, but Clough was about to spring another surprise.

In July, 1974, he joined the club he so openly despised, Leeds United. This time he made the move alone, as Peter Taylor stayed on at Brighton.

Leeds United

Given Clough's open disdain for Leeds United it is perhaps unsurprising that he lasted just 44 days in the job.

On arrival at the club he immediately alienated many of the players, notably Johnny Giles, Norman Hunter and Billy Bremner.

During one of his first training sessions, he reportedly said "You can all throw your medals in the bin because they were won by cheating."

On another occasion he told the talented, but injury prone, Eddie Gray, that if he were a horse, he'd have been shot.

Clough won just one of his six matches in charge, and was fired on 12 September 1974, with Leeds fourth from bottom.

His pay-off was an estimated 98,000 pounds, a huge amount for the time.

Nottingham Forest

Clough made a quick return to management, joining Nottingham Forest on 6 January 1975.

Forest were then in Division Two, and in Clough's first season, he led them to 8th place.

He also toned down his outspoken comments and appeared less frequently on television.

In July 1976, he was joined at Forest by his old assistant Peter Taylor, and the pair set about transforming the club's fortunes.

In 1976/77, Clough's second season, Forest finished third, and won promotion to Division One.

The next year, they won the league title, making Clough the first manager since Herbert Chapman to win the English League Championship with two different clubs (a feat since also achieved by Kenny Dalglish).

They also beat Liverpool 1-0 to win the League Cup.

Champions of Europe

In 1978/79, Clough splashed out a million pounds on Birmingham City striker Trevor Francis, and Forest retained the the League Cup, but finished as runners-up to Liverpool in the league.

There was significant consolation though, as the unfashionable midlands club, a second division club just two seasons before, were crowned champions of Europe.

A year later, Clough guided Forest to a second successive European Cup triumph, beating Hamburg SV in the final.

There was also a third successive League Cup final, but this time they lost 1-0 to Wolves.

Between 26 November 1977 and 9 December 1978, the team went undefeated for 42 league games - a record that remained intact until it was bettered by Arsenal in August 2004, a month before Clough's death.

However, the trophy haul dried up for Forest. It was not until 1988/89 that they won another major trophy, beating Luton Town in the League Cup final.

A year later, Clough guided Forest to another League Cup victory with a 1-0 win over Oldham Athletic.

In 1991 Forest reached their first FA Cup final under Brian Clough, but lost 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspur after extra time. The FA Cup would remain the one trophy to elude Clough during his career.

Forest reached another League Cup final in 1992, but lost 1-0 to Manchester United

The 1992/93 season was Clough's last with Forest, but the sale of star players Teddy Sheringham and Des Walker saw them struggle.

They were bottom throughout virtually the entire campaign, and Clough announced his retirement once relegation was confirmed.

Clough's replacement was his former player Frank Clark, and he was able to secure an immediate return to the top flight a year later.

Retirement

For most of his management career, Clough had struggled with alcoholism, and he spent much of his retirement trying to overcome his addiction.

He considered applying for the vacant Wolves job in 1995, but decided against it.

Meanwhile, Forest honoured him by renaming the City Ground's largest stand, The Brian Clough Stand.

In 2002, he was an inaugural inductee to the English Football Hall of Fame, in recognition of his achievements as a manager.

In January 2003, he underwent a successful liver transplant.

He continued writing a football column for Four Four Two magazine until just before his death.

Death and Legacy

Brian Clough died of stomach cancer on 20 September 2004. He was 69 years old.

A memorial service, attended by more than 14, 000 people, was held at Derby's Pride Park Stadium on 21 October 2004. Fans of Nottingham Forest and Derby County, usually fierce rivals, were united in grief.

In August 2005, the stretch of the A52 linking Nottingham and Derby was renamed Brian Clough Way.

Derby County and Nottingham Forest competed for the inaugural Brian Clough Trophy at Pride Park on 31 July 2007.

A statue of Clough was unveiled in his hometown of Middlesbrough on 16 May 2007.

On 6 November 2008, the city of Nottingham paid their own tribute - a statue of Brian Clough was unveiled by his widow Barbara, in the Nottingham city centre - 5000 people attended.

In April 2009, Derby County announced that they are to erect a statue of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor at Pride Park.

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