Brian Clough

Lore & Background

Clough was born on 21 March 1935 at 11 Valley Road, Grove Hill, Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire. He was the sixth of nine children. He failed his Eleven-plus and attended Marton Grove Secondary Modern School, later becoming a prefect. He left school in 1950 without qualifications, worked at ICI, and did national service in the RAF Regiment between 1953 and 1955. As a player, he scored 204 league goals in 222 matches for Middlesbrough and 63 goals in 74 matches for Sunderland, with a total of 251 league goals in 274 matches. He won two England caps. His playing career ended at age 29 after a knee injury in December 1962. He entered management in October 1965 at Hartlepools United, appointing Peter Taylor as his assistant. He moved to Derby County in 1967, winning the Second Division title in 1968–69 and the First Division title in 1971–72. He resigned from Derby in October 1973 after a strained relationship with chairman Sam Longson. After an eight-month spell at Brighton & Hove Albion, he managed Leeds United for 44 days in 1974. He joined Nottingham Forest in January 1975 and was re-united with Taylor in summer 1976. Forest were promoted in 1977, won the league title in 1977–78, two consecutive European Cups (1979 and 1980), and two League Cups (1978 and 1979). Taylor retired in 1982. Clough stayed as Forest manager until 1993, winning two more League Cups (1989 and 1990) and reaching the FA Cup final in 1991. Forest were relegated from the Premier League in 1993, after which Clough retired. He was an inaugural inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

In Their Own Story

The night of 30 May 1979, the Heysel Stadium in Brussels hummed with a noise that was not quite a roar and not quite a whisper. In the Forest dressing room, Brian Clough stood with his hands behind his back, saying almost nothing. He did not need to. The men around him—many of them from the same streets, the same pubs, the same terraces—knew what was expected. When the final whistle blew and the scoreboard read 1-0, the silence in the tunnel lasted perhaps two seconds before the noise that came out of that dressing room shook the concrete walls. Clough, usually the loudest voice in any room, simply removed his tie, rolled it into a tight ball, and held it in his fist. He did not celebrate. He did not need to. Somewhere in Nottingham, a city that had been told for generations that its ambitions were too large, a million people were already weeping.

Reader's Guide

Clough is remembered for his charismatic, outspoken, and often controversial personality. His teams played attractive football and showed good sportsmanship. He was never appointed England manager despite applying several times, and has been called the 'greatest manager England never had'. His managerial partnership with Peter Taylor was central to his success. He gave frequent radio and television interviews with controversial remarks.

Did You Know?

• Clough scored 204 league goals in 222 matches for Middlesbrough, including 40 or more goals in four consecutive seasons.
• He has the highest goals-per-game ratio (0.916) among players with over 200 goals in the English leagues.
• He was the youngest manager in the league when he took over Hartlepools United at age 30.
• Clough's assistant Peter Taylor was sacked by Hartlepools chairman Ernest Ord on 15 November 1966.
• He once had to tour local pubs raising money to keep Hartlepools United afloat.