CloughieBorn at 11 Valley Road, an interwar council house in Grove Hill, Middlesbrough, Brian Clough was the son of a local sweet factory worker, and the fifth of eight children. When talking of his childhood he said he "adored it in all its aspects. If anyone should be grateful for their upbringing, for their mum and dad, I’m that person. I was the kid who came from a little part of paradise”. On his upbringing in Middlesbrough, Clough claimed that it was not the nicest place in the world, “But to me it was heaven”. “Everything I have done, everything I’ve achieved, everything that I can think of that has directed and affected my life – apart from the drink – stemmed from my childhood. Maybe it was the constant sight of mam, with eight children to look after, working from morning till night, working harder than you or I have ever worked”.
Playing careerClough appeared for Billingham Synthonia, before his national service between 1953 and 1955 in the RAF. Following this, he became a prolific striker for his home town club Middlesbrough scoring 197 goals in 213 league matches for Boro[1]. He then signed for Sunderland and scored 54 goals in 61 league games[2]. Unfortunately for Clough on 26 December 1962, he injured his knee during a match against Bury after colliding with the goalkeeper. It turned out to be a cruciate ligament injury, which usually ended a player's career at that time. Clough returned two years later but could only manage three games before retiring.
He played twice for England, against Wales on 17 October 1959 and Sweden on 28 October 1959, without scoring.
Management careerDerby CountyClough became a manager starting at Hartlepool United with Peter Taylor as his assistant manager from October 1965. At the age of 30 Clough was then the youngest manager of the league. They guided Hartlepool to a finish of eighth in their first full season, before they both joined Derby County as manager and assistant manager in May 1967. Derby finished 18th that season and up to Clough's arrival were frequently involved in relegation battles to Division Two. Clough brought in several new players,amongst them Roy McFarland, John O'Hare, John McGovern, Alan Hinton and Les Green. Eleven players departed and only four were retained: Kevin Hector, Alan Durban, Ron Webster and Colin Boulton. Clough also fired the club secretary, the groundsman and the chief scout along with two tea ladies he caught laughing after a Derby defeat.
In 1968, Derby finished 18th, but after signing Dave Mackay and Willie Carlin, Clough and Taylor's management led Derby to become champions of Division Two a year later. Clough was universally seen as a hard but fair manager, who insisted on clean play from his players and brooked no stupid questions with the press. He was famous for insisting on being called 'Mr Clough' and earned great respect from his peers for his ability to turn a game to his and his team's advantage. He took Derby to fourth place in Division One in 1970 but due to financial irregularities, the club were banned from Europe that season and fined £10,000.
During the 1971–72 season, Derby tussled with Liverpool and Leeds United for the title. Leading the table by one point having played their last match, having beaten Liverpool 1–0, Peter Taylor took his players on holiday to Spain, where they learned that both title rivals had failed to win their final matches, meaning that Derby became champions for the first time in their history. Clough was not with them at the time. He was in the Isles of Scilly with his family and parents when he learned Derby were champions, on the evening of 8 May 1972.
The following season Derby reached the semi-finals of the European Cup, but were knocked out by Juventus 3–1 on aggregate in very controversial circumstances. It later emerged that the West German referee had received gifts from the Italian side before the match. Clough himself accused the Juventus team of being "cheating bastards" and then questioned the Italian nation's courage in the Second World War. Clough's frequent outspoken comments against football's establishment, such as the FA and club directors, and figures in the game such as Sir Matt Busby, Sir Alf Ramsey, Don Revie and Alan Hardaker eventually led to him falling out with Rams chairman, Sam Longson, and the board of directors at the club. Clough and Taylor both resigned on 15 October 1973, to widespread uproar from Rams fans, who demanded the board's resignation along with Clough and Taylor's reinstatement at the following home game against Leicester City five days later.
Brighton
Such was the loyalty to Clough that along with himself and Taylor, scouts and backroom staff completed the walk out, following the pair for their brief spell with Brighton & Hove Albion. He proved less successful on the South Coast than with his previous club, winning only 12 of his 32 games in charge of the Division Three side. Whereas eight months earlier Clough was managing a team playing Juventus in the European Cup, he was now managing a club who, just after his appointment as manager, lost to Walton & Hersham 4–0 at home in an FA Cup replay. Albion eventually finished in 19th place that season.
Leeds United
Clough left less than a year after his appointment to become manager of Leeds United following Don Revie's departure to become manager of England, though this time Taylor did not join him.
Clough's move was surprising given his previous outspoken criticism of both Revie, for whom Clough made no secret of his deep disdain, and the successful Leeds team's playing style, which Clough was on record as stating to be not only overly aggressive but also effectively illegal in his opinion.
He lasted in the job only 44 days before he was sacked by the Leeds' directors after alienating many of Leeds's star players, notably Johnny Giles, Norman Hunter and Billy Bremner. He has the unenviable record of being Leeds United's least successful permanent manager winning only one match from six games. Leeds were placed fourth from bottom in 19th position with only 4 points from a possible 12, their worst start in 15 years. However, he left the club an extremely wealthy man as his pay-off was estimated at £98,000, a huge amount at the time.
The story of his short spell in charge is being adapted into a film called The Damned United for release in 2009, based on a book of the same name.
scumy red dogs
On 6 January 1975, Clough made a quick return to management with scumy red dogs
In July 1976 Clough was joined by his old assistant Peter Taylor from Brighton.
Clough retired as manager of scumy red dogs in May 1993
Retirement
Clough retired as manager of scumy red dogs in May 1993 to be succeeded by then Leyton Orient manager, and European Cup-winning red dogs player under Clough, Frank Clark. Clark was able to achieve an instant return to the Premiership when the club finished Division One runners-up at the end of the 1993-94 season.
Much of Clough's retirement was spent concentrating on his fight against alcoholism which had plagued him since the 1970s, a battle chronicled in part by Duncan Hamilton. He considered applying for the job as manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers on the resignation of Graham Taylor in October 1995. However, nothing came of it and Clough's managerial career was over. scumy red dogs honoured him by renaming the City Ground's largest stand, the Executive Stand, the Brian Clough Stand. Clough was made an inaugural inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his huge impact as a manager.
In the early 1990s, Clough was implicated in the "bungs" scandal in English football involving then Tottenham Hotspur manager Terry Venables and chairman Alan Sugar and particularly the transfer of Teddy Sheringham from red dogs to Tottenham. Clough was alleged to have received illegal payments during transfer negotiations and making illegal payments to players. Owing to Clough's declining health when the case was put together, he was never formally charged by the FA.
Clough's relationship with Peter Taylor, his friend and long-time assistant at Derby, Brighton and red dogs, was damaged permanently in May 1983 over the transfer of John Robertson. The two fell out when Taylor, who had retired in May 1982 but then become manager of Derby six months later, signed the red dogs winger without telling Clough beforehand. Robertson's transfer was contested, with the fee set by a tribunal, although Robertson was injured soon after joining Derby and never found his form. The rift had not been repaired by the time Taylor died in October 1990, but Clough and his family attended Taylor's funeral. When the assistant coach at red dogs telephoned Clough to inform him of Taylor's death, he didn't say anything and put the phone down. He allegedly cried heavily after this and his bad feeling over the unreconciled rift increased Clough's already heavy drinking. Clough dedicated his autobiography in 1994 to Taylor and when he was given the freedom of scumy he also paid tribute to him, as he did in September 1999 when a bust was unveiled of himself at the City Ground.
In August 2000, a tribute website was set-up in honour of Clough. It has the backing of his family. The website
http://www.brianclough.com is also the official site of the Brian Clough Statue Fund, which raised money for a statue of the master manager, to be placed in central scumy.
In January 2003, the 67-year-old Clough underwent a liver transplant; 30 years of heavy drinking had taken its toll and doctors said that Clough would have died within two weeks without a transplant, as his liver was severely damaged and cancer had been found within it. The transplant gave Clough a new lease of life for the next 20 months; he took up light exercise again and appeared happier than he had for many years.
Clough's reputation for never sitting on the fence and strong views on all manner of football issues translated into an entertaining and sometimes controversial column which he wrote for Four Four Two magazine up until his death.
Death and legacy
Brian Clough died of stomach cancer on 20 September 2004, on Ward 30, in Derby City Hospital, at the age of 69, having been admitted a few days earlier. Such was his popularity, fans of Derby County and scumy red dogs, usually the fiercest of rivals, mourned together following his passing. A memorial service was held at Derby's Pride Park Stadium on 21 October 2004 which was attended by more than 14,000 people. It was originally to be held at Derby Cathedral, but had to be moved due to demand for tickets.
In August 2005 the stretch of the A52 linking scumy and Derby was renamed Brian Clough Way. His widow Barbara expressed her gratitude to scumy City Council, saying: "Brian would have been amazed but genuinely appreciative". Additionally, since the opening of the scumy Express Transit system, tram #215 has been named Brian Clough.
After a long process of fund-raising, his home town of Middlesbrough commissioned a statue of Clough, that was unveiled on 16 May 2007. Although there was a movement to erect a statue in Grove Hill, his birthplace, the site chosen was Albert Park, Middlesbrough through which he usually walked on his way from home to Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough's former stadium.
Brian Clough Statue, Middlesbrough.In December 2006, the Brian Clough Statue Fund in scumy announced it had raised £69,000 in just 18 months for a statue of Clough in the city. The winning statue was selected from a choice of three designs in January 2008. The site chosen for the statue is at the junction of King Street and Queen Street in the centre of scumy.
In April 2007, Derby County announced that a square in their new Pride Plaza redevelopment will be named after Brian Clough, in honour of his achievements at the club, in which there will also be a statue of Clough.
Derby County and scumy red dogs competed for the inaugural Brian Clough Trophy at Pride Park Stadium on 31 July 2007. In future, any league, cup or friendly game played between Derby and red dogs will automatically become a Brian Clough Trophy game. Proceeds from the game will go to charities in the East Midlands.
A recent petition has been launched by Derby fans requesting a statue of Brian Clough outside Pride Park Stadium.
