The inside story of Brian Clough at Leeds | The Independent Football The inside story of Brian Clough at Leeds The Damned United, the movie dramatisation of Brian Clough's notorious 44-day tenure as manager of Leeds, is released this month. It's great entertainment &ndash; but the real story is even more thrilling, argues James Lawton Wednesday 11 March 2009 00:00 BST Click to follow The inside story of Brian Clough at Leeds 1/4 4/4 Getty To a younger generation, the mid-Seventies must seem like a bizarre age. There was the hugely popular television warbler Val Doonican parading each week in a new and gruesome piece of knitwear, and Edward Heath glowering at an upstart named Margaret Thatcher. There were power cuts and three-day working weeks. And in football, we had rioters pouring like lemmings through cities both at home and abroad, while the superstar players lived in what seem now to be inconceivably modest suburban semis, with equally inconceivably big hair and kipper ties.

It was a bizarre enough time for those who can remember that decade in all its glory, let alone those coming to this era afresh, as many now will. But judging by the level of anticipation sparked by the film of The Damned United, which is released at the end of this month, it's an era easily as compelling as it is curious. The movie of David Peace's controversial novel which, published in 2006, tells a partly factual, partly fictionalised account of Brian Clough's catastrophic 44 days in charge of Leeds United in 1974, allows that age to live once again. Those who go to watch the film will see the cars, the hair, the wallpaper and the clothes in a way that no novel can possibly deliver. They will see, too, another masterful performance by Michael Sheen who, after taking on the role of Tony Blair in The Queen and David Frost in Frost/Nixon, turns in an uncanny performance as Clough. And they will get to relive the tale of Clough's brief reign at Leeds, without doubt one of the most dramatic of sporting tales. Yet the most fascinating facet of this film is that it provokes a whole series of intriguing questions.

They spring from the line trodden between fact and fiction, a line that has prompted Nigel Clough, Brian's son, to publicly state that he won't be among the many thousands who will flock to see this sure-fire blockbuster. The bare bones of the story are surely familiar to anyone who will go along to see the film: Clough succeeds the legendary Don Revie as manager of Leeds, the most powerful club in British football; he tells the team to discard the many medals they have won, accusing them of gamesmanship and winning ugly; the team gets off to a disastrous string of results, leading ultimately to Clough leaving, just 44 days after he joined. For all the uncanny parallels of their journeys from the poor streets of Middlesbrough, including the pride that came when they played for England, Brian Clough and Don Revie did indeed become locked in a rivalry marked by contempt and, in the end, something that could not be distinguished from outright hatred. Thanks to the film and book, the animus burns on. These great football managers, who had nothing so much in common as the ferocity of their ambition, now have been exhumed.

The Damned United will no doubt achieve a flood of rave reviews and box-office reward, but it will also delve into a drama which, in its current telling, is critically short of persuasive answers for those survivors who were most intimately involved. Could John Giles (by far Leeds' most influential player despite the fact that Revie had given the captaincy to his fiery but much less secure Scottish team-mate Billy Bremner) have been so ambitious for the managerial succession that he was a conspirator-in-chief hell-bent on destroying the new manager? Were the Leeds team, who had brilliantly annexed the first division title a few months earlier really no more than a gang of surly, nicotine-addicted, cheating recidivists who had been controlled not by a man of relentless achievement who had created the most powerful team in the land and had just been appointed manager of England but a master of nothing so much as the dirty trick? This is the thunderous implication of the book and the film, and in this at least they are firmly in line with the prejudice of Clough when he drove into the Elland Road, Leeds' ground, with an aggression many ascribe to than pure fear.

Fear, partly, it is theorised, of a team he had reviled even as they moved to levels of performance that eventually outstripped their grim reputation for relentless gamesmanship and brutal tackling, and maybe most crucially, the fact that for the first time in his managerial life Clough was tackling a challenge without his former team-mate and mentor Peter Taylor. Some time later Clough, still carrying the bruises from his humiliating dismissal from Leeds, told a reporter, "It's not true that Mafia headquarters are in Sicily. They are in Leeds and the top man is Johnny Giles." More than 30 years later, at the publication of Peace's book, Giles successfully went to law with a battery of supporting witnesses, to impose what he considered a necessary separation of fact from fiction, debunking Clough's claim that Giles was the conspirator-in-chief who sided against the incoming manager.

*** Yet perhaps the most damning verdict on a hugely praised work and an undoubtedly entertaining film – superb performances also come from Jim Broadbent as Derby County's cigar-drooling chairman Sam Longson and Timothy Spall as Clough's much abused sidekick Taylor – is supplied by Joe Jordan, a young player at Leeds when Clough arrived and one who would go on to play for Manchester United and Milan and appear and score in three World Cups for Scotland. I called Jordan, now first-team coach at Tottenham, to ask him about the film. He said: "I read the book but I will not be seeing the movie. I read the book because I thought it was about a part of my life, but the more I read the less I believed it had any real connection with my past. "There were just too many inaccuracies, too many people were saying things they didn't say, and doing things they didn't do, and being in the wrong place at the wrong time and of course you lose faith in what you are reading.

There is no doubt that Brian Clough failed at Leeds – or that he had proved before and would again later that he was a brilliant football manager – but I never suspected that he was ever drunk in the presence of the players, and if you read the book you have to imagine that it would have been inevitable. "I'm told that in the film there is a scene where Norman Hunter [the fabled destroyer of opponents] attempts to cut Clough in half with a tackle on the training field, and almost succeeds. It didn't happen. I'm also told there is a scene where Clough, putting out the players' kit in the dressing room, lays out ashtrays. That, no doubt, is a guaranteed laugh but the fact is that of all the players at Leeds, the only ones I recall having a cigarette after a training session or a match were Billy [Bremner] and Big Jack [Charlton] – and Jack had left when Clough arrived at Elland Road." In boycotting the film, Jordan joins Clough's son, Nigel, who also played for England and is now doing the job that launched his father into the football stratosphere, managing Derby County. Clough Junior's reservations echo Jordan's.

"If you base a film on a book filled with so much that isn't fact, then that film is not going to be so far removed." The film, like the book, constantly cuts between Clough's successful reign, and then his fall from grace at Derby and his misbegotten Leeds mission, which came after a brief and troubled hiatus at Brighton and Hove Albion. But it is a lot of ground, a lot of football, and, those who know the story best, say, a lot of fiction to cover. The result is mesmerising and often extremely funny, but it doesn't help if you knew Revie – and know that there was a lot more to him than a desperate need to acquire an edge, and more, certainly, than the description handed to Taylor by the film script, that he was a "superstitious twat". Revie was a more interesting character than the film portrays, larger in life than on screen. Indeed, he had his rabbit's foot foibles and special suits and was obsessive about the need to succeed , and there were also times when his players yawned when he extolled the virtues of the northern songstress Gracie Fields.

But then the widely experienced Jordan is quick to insist: "In his planning, his knowledge of the game and the way he treated his players, he was the greatest football manager I ever knew." Clough's own protégés, Martin O'Neill, the highly-rated manager of Celtic and now Aston Villa, and who has modelled his career on his former boss, routinely makes a similar claim. Yet in Clough's meteoric rise there were also signs of a terrible vulnerability, and it was not hard to see it on a tube ride across London I took with him back then. Following his departure from Derby County in 1973, Clough had, for the first time in his career, separated himself from his assistant and ultimate confidante, Peter Taylor, who had elected to stay on the south coast, which Clough found impenetrably alien. Clough was retreating from Brighton, where he had wearied of the challenge of again fighting his way from the lower leagues, a task he thought he had put behind him after his and Taylor's eye-catching work at Hartlepool United. Clough was alone now – and plainly lonely. He confessed to me that he might walk out of football.

It was a possibility that emerged again after his failure at Leeds, and was banished finally only by Taylor's decision to join him at Nottingham Forest for the years which confirmed his status with the triumph of European Cup wins in 1979 and 1980. The film's casting of Giles as an ageing player embittered by the appointment of Clough, and the fact that Revie's recommendation of him to the board had not been accepted, is apparently uninformed by the fact that, days before Clough arrived at the ground with his young sons Nigel and Simon, Giles had been offered the job, accepted it – and then turned it down when Bremner expressed his anger that he had been overlooked. Peter Lorimer, the Scottish international and Leeds defender known as Thunderfoot for his formidable shot, recalls those days. "John probably made a mistake when, after telling Manny Cussins, the chairman, that he would take the job, he called the lads and told them what was happening," he tells me. "Billy was very upset, thought he should have been in the running and demanded an interview with Cussins.

"When John went into the ground the following day he was told by Cussins that while the offer was still on the table, the board had decided to delay an announcement until the smoke [metaphorically speaking] had cleared. John said that they could keep the job, he hadn't sought it and though he was at the time of his career when he had to start to think about the future, in the circumstances he would rather carry on as a player." *** But that's not to say that the film paints an entirely false picture of Clough at Leeds. Johnny Giles still recalls vividly his disbelief, and that of his team-mates, when Clough advised them to throw all their medals into the nearest dustbin. "It didn't make sense. We were the champions and like all players in every situation we were committed to doing well. Clough had had his success and whatever he had said about us in the past, we imagined he would be as keen as us for the club to succeed." Most famously, Clough told the brilliant but injury-troubled Eddie Gray that if he had been a horse, he would have been shot long ago. He told Norman Hunter that he was hated across the land but really he yearned to be loved.

Hunter, a superb player whose ferocious tackling was also accompanied by such natural ability that he would have been an automatic choice for England but for the misfortune of being born at roughly the same time as World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore, muttered that he did not give a "fuck". The story of Clough's verbal assault on his new players swept through the game and left no one more bemused than Ian St John, the celebrated star of Liverpool and Scotland who back then was making a strong impression as the young manager of Scottish club Motherwell. The first move of the Leeds directors after hearing that Revie had accepted the England job was to approach Jock Stein, the legendary manager of Celtic and the first British winner of the European Cup. Stein declined but strongly recommended the young St John, who had deeply impressed Stein with first impact in the managerial business. St John met Cussins at Scotch Corner on the A1 and felt the interview had gone well. Indeed, Cussins suggested that the job was probably his, but the club had one more candidate to interview. Stein called St John to say that he understood Cussins had been very impressed and that, "it seems to me the job is yours".

Of course, the last candidate was Clough. I asked St John how he felt about this twist of fate. "You could only say, 'Fair enough, Cloughie has a hell of a record for a young manager,'" he replied. "But then you heard the stuff coming out of Elland Road and you could hardly believe it. When I thought I'd got the job I could only think, 'Well what a basis for success – you're taking over the first division champions.' I'd fought some tough battles with Gilesey and Bremner on the field, but believe me they were guys I would always want on my side. No, for a young manager, getting the Leeds job was basically a dream assignment." It was St John's dream, Clough's nightmare, and Revie's hopelessly fractured legacy.

The Damned United, the film, moves at a blistering pace, borrows massively from the brilliance of Sheen, and then you come out into the street and think about all the shades of painful fate that lay behind its matter-of-fact conclusion provided by the lines playing across the closing shots: Revie failing with England, running away to the Middle East amid charges of financial impropriety, and then the supreme vindication of Clough, an unprecedented winner of back-to-back European Cups. That, plainly, is too neat. Revie was indeed charged with bringing the game into disrepute for the way he ran away from the England job and suspended for 10 years by his former employers, the Football Association, but it was an open secret he was about to be sacked before he jumped and the ruling was revoked when he went to court. There was no doubt Revie played his tricks, and though charges that he attempted to bribe opposing teams were never proved, there is a telling example of the lengths to which he would go to gain an advantage. The referee for an FA Cup tie between powerful Leeds and lower-division Bristol City was surprised to see an envelope addressed to him on the table in his dressing room.

When he opened it he didn't find banknotes but a sheaf of newspaper cuttings, all on the subject of a spate of misbehaviour by Bristol players in recent games. Near the end of his life (he died of motor neurone disease at 61), Revie was visited by Giles. They had a long and poignant conversation in which the manager expressed his one great regret: "I should," he told Giles, "have believed more in the ability of you lads, I should have seen sooner that I needed only to let you play." In the end, he did – and the result was some of the greatest football ever seen on English fields. Leeds had days when they touched the football heavens. If Clough had regrets they were, we know, largely submerged in the tides of alcohol that so sadly lapped over the last years of a life which had been so vital, but which so near its end was also touched by ignominy when he was named in an FA "transfer bungs" inquiry.

The closing scenes of The Damned United declare Clough the winner and Revie the loser, but what it could not do, those closest to both men will always swear, was to begin to assess the price of the war. 'The Damned United' is released on 27 March 'If we didn't want to stay on the training field, we had to let Clough win': By Peter Lorimer Playing in midfield for Leeds United from 1963 until 1979, Lorimer was part of the squad Brian Clough inherited from Don Revie. I know, like all of football, that Brian Clough was a brilliant football manager, but at Leeds United he was not brilliant – he was lost. The whole period of 44 days didn't begin to make sense. We all knew that things had to change when Don Revie left, new players had to come in, old ones had to go. The process had started before Clough arrived. Then, when he joined Leeds, he gathered us together to tell us that we should throw all our medals in the rubbish bin, because we hadn't won them fairly. Imagine being told that a few months after winning the league title by a mile.

Big Jack Charlton had left us by then, and I can't imagine how he would have reacted. I should probably have been more aware of what to expect – a little while earlier, Clough had insulted me while speaking at a Yorkshire Television dinner for sportsman of the year, which I had won. I wasn't there when it happened, because I only went to the dinner to receive the trophy, and Revie's order was that I leave straight after the ceremony. But Clough's speech was apparently very embarrassing. Harold Wilson was in the audience, which was shocked almost from the moment Clough got to his feet. The press were all over me the following morning, but I was just a bit bewildered. It was the same when he made his speech about Norman Hunter wanting everyone to like him, and Eddie Gray being shot if he'd been a horse (because he was injured so often), and how we had to throw away the medals. It seemed that Clough had it in his head that John Giles was desperate for the job as manager of Leeds, and would do anything he could to bring him down.

But Gilesey had already been offered the job and turned it down after Billy Bremner had got involved (Bremner was said to have objected after he was overlooked). In the film, there's a big training-pitch incident between Norman and Cloughie, but that's just not true. In fact, the trainer, Jimmy Gordon, did most of the work, warming up and so on, and there wasn't much involvement from the manager. When Cloughie did participate, it was mostly in the five-a-sides, and we learnt very quickly that if we didn't want to stay on the training field for ever we had to let Clough's team win; so we'd play for a while, and then throw a couple of goals into our own net. When the 44 days were over, and then later when you saw Clough succeed at Nottingham Forest, you could only could conclude that a big factor in him losing the plot at Elland Road was that he missed Peter Taylor so much. He faced a big job, and it seemed to get to him at the start; he had had good players at Derby County, but John and Billy would have been great players in any age.

At Leeds we didn't see anything of Clough the great manager, and that was the biggest mystery of all, after seeing what he had done at Derby and then his work at Forest. Frankie Gray went on to play for Forest, and he explained that no one really knew why they played so hard for Clough, though perhaps one reason was that they never knew what to expect next. On one occasion, he gave the Forest lads three days off after a match and when they came into training they expected a very hard session. But Clough told them not to bother getting changed. They were all going for a walk beside the Trent. He had brought his dogs. The class of '74: Where are they now? Billy Bremner Went on to play for Hull City and Doncaster Rovers, where he became manager before becoming a columnist and speaker. He died in 1997. David Harvey The goalie also had spells at Bradford and the Vancouver Whitecaps. He was last seen working on the Orkney Islands. Paul Reaney A former mechanic turned England right back, Reaney went on to coach football to kids at a Norfolk holiday resort.

John Giles After playing for Philadelphia Fury and Shamrock Rovers, "Jonny Giles" is now a football pundit in his native Ireland. Norman Hunter Part of the 1966 World Cup winning England squad, Hunter has gone on to join the after-dinner circuit and work for Yorkshire radio stations. Trevor Cherry The defender and one-time England captain more recently ran a promotions company, a waste paper firm and a five-a-side football centre. Joe Jordan Scottish striker who scored in three World Cups, Jordan made the switch to the touchline. He's now coach at Tottenham under Harry Redknapp. Gordon McQueen McQueen played for St Mirren before Leeds and went on to coach. Last year he moved to Middlesbrough to be an assistant scout. Paul Madeley The "player without portfolio", who occupied every position for Leeds except goalkeeper, is now retired and has Parkinson's disease. Peter Lorimer The winger's career suffered post-Leeds with stints at Toronto, Vancouver and York. Lorimer is a publican in Leeds and a radio pundit. Allan Clarke A striker who scored 10 goals for England, "Sniffer" Clarke quit football after a brief spell as a manager to become a salesman.

Terry Yorath The Welsh midfielder and father of TV presenter Gaby Logan went on to manage a string of clubs. He's now at Margate. Eddie Gray Gray went on to manage Leeds in the early 1980s and again in a stormy 2003-2004 season. He's now a radio pundit. John O'Hare One of only three players (with McKenzie and McGovern) to be signed by Clough at Leeds, O'Hare later coached, most recently at Aston Villa. Duncan McKenzie The mercurial striker has forged a new career as a columnist and radio pundit. John McGovern A Clough favourite, McGovern went on to coach children in Azerbaijan and the US. More about: The Damned United (2009) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends.

Error From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC The story of the controversial Brian Clough 's 44-day reign as the coach of the English football club Leeds United. Director: a list of 25 titles created 01 Feb 2011 a list of 29 titles created 28 Dec 2011 a list of 45 titles created 15 Apr 2013 a list of 49 titles created 04 Jan 2015 a list of 35 titles created 8 months ago Title: The Damned United (2009) 7.6/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. The extremely talented Santiago Munez is given a chance at professional football, after being spotted by a scout who has ties with Newcastle United. Director: Danny Cannon United is based on the true story of Manchester United's legendary "Busby Babes", the youngest side ever to win the Football League and the 1958 Munich Air Crash that claimed eight of the ...

See full summary » Director: James Strong The Class of 92, a cinematic documentary detailing the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United footballers (David Beckham, ... See full summary » Directors: Benjamin Turner, Gabe Turner Stars: David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X Police officer Dirk Hendricks (Bartlett) files an amnesty application for Alex Mpondo (Ejiofor), a member of the South African Parliament who can't remember the torture he once endured as a captive political activist. South African-born attorney Sarah Barcant (Swank), meanwhile, returns to her homeland to represent Mpondo, as well as Steve Sizela, Mpondo's friend who was arrested along with him ... See full summary » Director: Tom Hooper A wrongfully expelled Harvard undergrad moves to London, where he is introduced to the violent underworld of football hooliganism.

Director: Lexi Alexander When Newcastle United soccer star Santiago Munez is offered a spot with Real Madrid, he accepts, but the move - accompanied by big money and fame - tests his ties and loyalties to family, friends and business acquaintances. Director: Jaume Collet-Serra Edit Storyline Taking over England's top football club Leeds United, previously successful manager Brian Clough's abrasive approach and his clear dislike of the players' dirty style of play make it certain there is going to be friction. Glimpses of his earlier career help explain both his hostility to previous manager Don Revie and how much he is missing right-hand man Peter Taylor who has loyally stayed with Brighton & Hove Albion.

Written by Jeremy Perkins {J-26} Taglines: "They say Rome wasn't built in a day, but I wasn't on that particular job." See more » Genres: Rated R for language | See all certifications » Parents Guide: 27 March 2009 (UK) See more » Also Known As: Az elátkozott Leeds United See more » Filming Locations: £618,929 (UK) (27 March 2009) Gross: Did You Know? Trivia Three cast members, including Jim Broadbent , Ralph Ineson and Joe Dempsie , have all taken part in the award-winning series Game of Thrones (2011). See more » Goofs The player described as Clarke in the 27.01.68 game wears 3 on his back while Clarke usually wore the number 8 when he eventually joined Leeds United See more » Quotes Brian Clough : Don Revie. Prepares a file on every game. Leaves nothing to chance. Knows every opponent's formations, strategies everything. Peter Taylor : I've heard he's a superstitious twat.

Brian Clough : [Ignoring him] We grew up just a few streets apart in Middlesbrough... Close to Ayresome Park. He'll have known my street: Valley Road. Probably bought sweets from Garnett's factory where me dad worked. Peter Taylor : I heard he wears the same suit to every game. His lucky blue suit. See more » Frequently Asked Questions Michael Sheen is Brian Howard Clough... 30 March 2009 | by the_rattlesnake25 (Sheffield, UK) – See all my reviews Brian Howard Clough. "The greatest English manager never to manage the English National side." Whether you agree with that sentiment or not, everybody knows Brian Clough was one of the great personalities of the game. Based around David Pearce's bestselling novel 'The Damned United' (which Johnny Giles called: "fiction based on fact"), the films narrative follows the events preceding and during those fateful 44-days of management from the perspective of Cloughie (played by Michael Sheen). Sheen turns in, yet another brilliant performance as the arrogant, stubborn, distant, bitter, intelligent, yet highly flawed man who went on to become a legend of British football.

From his mannerisms to the way he speaks, Sheen projects the outward personality of Brian Clough through to the audience to a tee. And more importantly he takes the film away from the touchlines of simply being 'another football film', and instead creates a human drama about one man's battle with jealously, bitterness and ambition and how that can destroy everything around you, quicker than Billy Bremner could break your legs. While Morgan's script keeps up the dry wit and humour, and Hooper's direction carries the colourful scenery of 1960's and 1970's Britain, the film could have spent more time centred around the other players on the pitch, more specifically Clough's second in-command in Peter Taylor and the Leeds United side of the Revie era. They are shown to be Revie's surrogate sons and nothing more. With that said however, I found it a hugely enjoyable film that went way beyond the stereotypical association we have football films today and instead created a profile of a man who encompassed everything that was good, bad and all that in between about the beautiful game. 36 of 41 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes The Damned United: Peter Lorimer: Film puts record straight on Brian Clough's Leeds reign - Telegraph Leeds United The Damned United: Peter Lorimer: Film puts record straight on Brian Clough's Leeds reign It won’t matter to Peter Lorimer that he knows how the film ends. He is intimately familiar with every twist and turn of the story. He just wants to see it all again. On the big screen. Then, he trusts, the record will be put straight. [ERROR:UNKNOWN VIDEO EMBED] By Derick Allsop 1:20PM GMT 19 Mar 2009 The Damned United recounts one of the more bizarre, contentious and enduringly fascinating episodes in the history of English football, Brian Clough’s 44 days as manager of Leeds United at the start of the 1974-75 season. The film, based on David Peace’s book, has already aroused emotions and re-opened old wounds. Clough’s family have said they are dismayed at his portrayal. Some of Leeds’ players were fearful they would be vilified for their part in his demise.

Many connected with the club merely questioned the motive and wisdom of uncovering deeply embarrassing events of 35 years ago. Lorimer, a prominent member of that team, was among those consulted by the film-makers before the club gave their approval. Paul Reaney, who heads the ex-player’s association, was another. "Paul was a bit anti but I wanted the film to be made," Lorimer said. "Because I want everybody to see that we didn’t get Brian Clough the sack. After an hour’s conversation they assured us the film would not make it look like we were a set of villains. Paul rang the other boys and they said, “let’s go ahead”. "I’m going to see it at a local cinema. I’m looking forward to it. I think it’s quite amazing that here we are, 35 years down the line, and there’s still such a great interest in Brian Clough and his time at Leeds.

Wherever I go, I’m always asked, “what was it like?”." Clough had been scathing in his criticism of Leeds and the man who lifted them from Second Division obscurity to win two League titles, an FA Cup, a League Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup twice, Don Revie. Despite their phenomenal success, Clough characterised them as cheats and bullies. But the players could not have anticipated the regime they encountered after Revie left to take charge of England and his successor moved in. Lorimer perhaps should have been forewarned better than most. Clough had launched an extraordinary attack on the Scotland international when he was named Sports Personality of the Year at a Yorkshire Television awards dinner attended by the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson. "I had to leave before Brian Clough spoke because we had a Cup replay the following night," Lorimer said. "But I was told he was introduced and said, 'right you lot, I’ve been sat here listening to a load of crap about Lorimer. Now I’m bursting for a p*** so you can all sit and wait while I go and relieve myself'. "He came back and said, 'we’re on about Lorimer, Sports Personality of the Year.

Well, he is a good player, but I don’t call him a sportsman because he dives and gets people in trouble'. After two minutes he was booed down by the Leeds public. I was quite amazed when our board appointed him because they were at that dinner. "It didn’t really worry me when he got the job, though. I’m fairly easy going anyway and managers often say things to wind up the opposition. Look at Fergie. We had a top quality side. We were League champions. We’d consistently won trophies. The fence wasn’t broken, so why mend it? But he wanted to make it his team, playing in a different style. With more flair." Clough’s managerial style soon became obvious and resented. "He was on holiday when he was appointed and said he wasn’t going to break his holiday to start the job. He arrived on a Monday, appeared at the training ground but just wandered around, in his shorts, and watched everything while Jimmy Gordon took the training. "On the Friday he called a meeting and said he’d wanted to form his own impressions, which was fair enough. But then he said: 'before I start working with you lot I’m going to tell you what I think about you”.

And then he launched a personal attack on every player. "He told me I dived, rolled around as if I was injured when I wasn’t. He told Billy Bremner he cheated and was always at referees, getting decisions for Leeds. And to poor Edddie Gray, who was a fantastic player but had calcification of the thigh, it has gone down in legend that he said: 'and you Gray, if you’d been a racehorse you’d have been put down years ago'. "His famous finishing gambit was, 'over the last 10 years you’ve won everything going, but as far as I’m concerned you can throw every one of those medals in the bin because you never won one of them fairly'. The lads just stood up and walked out of the room. "We had a pre-season match at Villa Park and he took us to a grassy bank by a dual carriageway and said, “Right, sit down. We’ll have the team talk here”. It was a nice day but a big cloud came over and it poured down. The lads stood up and he said, “hey, what do you think you’re doing? You stand up when I tell you'.

"Lads like Billy said, 'if you think we’re sitting in the rain you must be joking'. He knew then that bullying wouldn’t work. Not surprisingly, we lost 4-1. "This was his way of trying to belittle us. He kept us waiting for training, sometimes playing with his young son, Nigel. He’d join in six a side games and we’d have to go on till his side won. "He was just a lunatic, so pathetically childish. I found it quite funny, but some of the lads used to get really irate. He was disrespectful to the players and the club. There was a bad atmosphere around the place." Leeds won only one of their six League matches under Clough and were fourth bottom of the First Division when the directors called a meeting with the players. "We told the directors the way it was," said Lorimer. "It was just not working. The following night we had a League Cup match at Huddersfield and drew 1-1. When we got back to Elland Road Manny Cussins, the chairman, said he wanted a meeting with Clough. The next morning we heard he’s been relieved of his post.

He didn’t come to say bye-bye to the players. "There was never any plot by the players to get him out, but we couldn’t give 100 per cent for him the way we did for Revie. We played for Revie because he looked after us. In the end it was down to results." Clough’s six League Division One matches in charge - Stoke City, away, lost 3-0; Queen’s Park Rangers, home, lost 1-0; Birmingham City, home, won 1-0; Queen’s Park Rangers, away, drew 1-1; Manchester City, away, lost 2-1; Luton Town, home, drew 1-1. Leeds were 19th, fourth from bottom, with four points from a possible 12. Leeds ended the season 9th. Lorimer does not doubt Clough’s capabilities, but believes his judgment at Elland Road was undermined by jealousy and hatred. "He was obviously a talented manager and had he just been normal I think it could have worked, even though he’d said a lot about us before.

My view is that from Day 1 he wanted to prove he could do it better than Don. I think there was an element of jealousy and he hated Don. Mind you, Don didn’t like him, either. "They were both from Middlesbrough, England internationals, but Brian had to fight his way up in management after injury cut short his playing career. They were rivals and of course Don got the England job. "Don was shrewd and wasn’t outspoken. If Clough hadn’t been so outspoken he would have got the England job. He deserved it for what he achieved in management, but the FA didn’t dare touch him because of what he would say. "His plan at Leeds was to clear a few out. To be fair, I think one or two did need clearing out. One or two were into their thirties. But I was 28 and a lot of the lads had plenty of years left. We’d just won the League so there weren’t that many problems. "Brian said himself that he tried to do it too quickly. Jimmy Armfield, who took over from Brian, told me he got the hard job – the job of splitting up the team.

It was only at the meeting we had with the directors that we learned Brian wasn’t their unanimous choice. One of the directors wanted to give the job to Ian St John. "I’ve got every respect for Brian Clough for what he did in the game and I feel it’s quite sad the way things turned out for him at Leeds. At least he had a good pay-off (estimated at £98,000) which he said made him secure for life. "I’ve been led to believe his family won’t like the film and I would hate that to be the case. But I think the whole episode needs putting to bed and I hope the film will do that. People will still have their opinions that maybe we were wrong, but at least everybody can see for themselves what went on." Taking A Look At Brian Clough's Short-Lived Leeds Tenure - World Soccer Talk Thariq Amir September 11, 2014 Leagues: EPL , Leeds United No Comments It has been 10 years to the month since the passing of the greatest manager England never had, Brian Howard Clough OBE. His time in football was dotted with highs and lows.

Clough’s achievements with Derby County and Nottingham Forest have gone down in folklore but it’s safe to say he had his fair share of trouble too. Arguably, the most infamous period of Clough’s managerial career was his ill-fated 44-day tenure at Leeds United . Clough sensationally succeeded his rival Don Revie as manager of Leeds on the 31st of July 1974 but the former’s reign of the then league champions was as disastrous as it was short-lived. Before arriving at Leeds, Clough described the side as “the dirtiest, most cynical team in the league”. When Clough became manager of Leeds he famously (or infamously) remarked to his players “the first thing you can do for me is throw your medals in the bin because you’ve never won anything fairly; you’ve done it by cheating”. Needless to say he didn’t ingratiate himself to his players. The disastrous opening to Leeds’ 1974-75 campaign sealed Clough’s fate. On the 12th of September 1974, Brian Clough was sacked by Leeds United. On that very evening Brian Clough went on the program Calendar to discuss his dismissal.

Sitting next to him was his nemesis Don Revie. It was a spectacular piece of television between two giants of soccer. It may have been 40 years since the program first aired but it is utterly compelling viewing as two giants of the English game came face to face. It’s safe to say that we won’t see something like this again any time soon. Cloughie at Leeds Cloughie looks back at those 44 days at Leeds ï¿½ Brian Clough spent just forty-four days as manager of Leeds United in 1974. He succeeded Don Revie who had led the club to the League Championship the previous season before becoming England manager. Much has been said about what happened - but for the truth we look to Cloughie's own words. Cloughie said he wanted to manage Leeds so he could try to win the European Cup - something he had missed-out on at Derby County. Leeds had already qualified for the competition as league champions. "Did I say the European Cup? I hardly lasted long enough to be given my own teacup at Leeds," Cloughie said in his first autobiography in 1994 (Partridge Press).

Before arriving at Elland Road on July 31st, 1974, Cloughie had made it clear he didn't like the way Leeds played football and often criticised their players. "Leeds had been the dirtiest and most cynical team in the country in the late Sixties and early Seventies, and from my soap-box as manager of Derby and the best pundit on television I had said so on numerous occasions." Cloughie felt Leeds' cynicism devalued the marvellous football they produced. But it meant the players were wary of him when he arrived as their boss. "Little did I realise the extent of the dislike and resentment - if not downright hatred - waiting for me at Elland Road." He repeated the criticisms when he met the players face-to-face. Later, he admitted he failed to win their confidence or support. Feeling that Leeds were not really 'his team,' Cloughie phoned Don Revie and asked if he would like to lead the players out for the 1974 Charity Shield match at Wembley. Revie declined, so it was Brian who walked out ahead of the players, along-side Bill Shankly whose Liverpool team had won the FA Cup.

Charity Shield Looking back, Cloughie admitted that he tried to make changes at Leeds too quickly. He said he had inherited an ageing team - "a side on its last legs." There were several contracts that needed negotiating and the players were concerned about their futures. Don Revie had recommended Johnny Giles to be his successor, but Clough says he didn't get the chance to know Giles and only wished he had been able to do so. He felt Giles may have become his new Peter Taylor - his right-hand man who had shared the success at Derby and would do so again at Nottingham Forest. "Reflection tells me that the biggest mistake of all was my eagerness to accept the job in the first place," Clough says in his second autobiography in 2002 (Walking on Water, Headline Publishing). "Leeds weren't for me and I wasn't for them." In an ITV documentary (March 2009) Johnny Giles commented: "Brian Clough's attitude to football was the direct opposite of the attitude at Leeds at that time.

It was a clash which neither of us could understand." Leeds under Clough lost the first league match 3-0 and things went from bad to worse, with just four points from six league games. Just seven weeks after arriving at Elland Road, Clough was sacked - but ensured his contract was fully paid-up. That meant he received a pay-off of around ï¿½100,000. For the first time in his life, Cloughie was financially secure. "In denting my ego and showing me the door, Leeds United did me the biggest favour of my professional life." The financial security meant Cloughie was still smiling - and could take on any job without fear of the consequences. The Leeds money allowed him to pay off his mortgage and move to a larger house in the country. Just hours after being sacked, Cloughie appeared on a live television programme, alongside his Leeds predecessor, Don Revie, who had become England manager. It was a Yorkshire TV Calender Special. At one point in the programme, Revie asked Clough why he had taken the job when he been openly critical of them. "Because it was the best job in the country," replied Clough. "I was taking over the league champions.

I wanted to have a crack at the European Cup and win it. I wanted to do something you hadn't done." At the end of the programme, the interviewer Austin Mitchell asks Clough where he goes from there - after his resignation at Derby and disappointment at Brighton. "Aren't you in a difficult position, after the argument at Derby, you left Brighton under a cloud and now this with Leeds. Who's going to touch you with a barge-pole?" Thankfully, Nottingham Forest had the largest barge-pole available and pulled the Master Manager into the most successful job of his amazing career. You can watch the video of that classic TV interview HERE . ï¿½ Leeds United F.C. History Leeds United F.C. History 1974-1974 (Manager Details) (Manager Details) Born in an interwar council house in Grove Hill Middlesbrough on 21st March 1935, he started with Billingham Synthonia and Great Broughton Juniors before doing his National Service in the RAF from 1953 to 1955.

He joined Middlesbrough on 1st May 1953 but did not make the first team until after completing his National Service, playing nine games and scoring three goals in the latter part of the 1955-56 season. He became a first team regular and a prolific striker for Middlesbrough, scoring one hundred and ninety-seven goals in two hundred and thirteen League games. He then signed for Sunderland, on 1st July 1961, and had scored fifty-four goals in sixty-one League games, before, on 26th 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 had played twice for England, against Wales on 17th October 1959 and Sweden on 28th October 1959, without scoring. He also represented his country three times at Under-Twenty-three level as well as playing for the 'B' team and the Football League on two occasions.

Clough became a Manager starting at Fourth Division Hartlepools United, with Peter Taylor as his Assistant Manager, from October 1965. Clough, being only thirty, was then the youngest Manager in the Football League. They guided Hartlepools to a finish of eighth in their first full season, before they both joined Second Division Derby County as Manager and Assistant Manager in May 1967. Derby, up to Clough's arrival, had been frequently involved in relegation battles in the Second Division. 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 eighteenth, 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 8th 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 15th 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. 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 was on a five year contract at �20,000 per year.

He proved less successful on the South Coast than with his previous club, winning only twelve of his thirty-two 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 nineteenth place that season. Clough left less than a year after his appointment to become Manager of Leeds United following Don Revie's departure to become the Manager of England. 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 faced the huge task of breaking up and replacing the ageing Leeds team that had been so successful for so long. He was also aware that Johnny Giles had been put forward by Don Revie as the man most suited to replace himself.

He lasted in the job only forty-four 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 with only four points points from a possible twelve, their worst start in fifteen years. He took the appointment on 31st July 1974, brought Jimmy Gordon along as his trainer, quickly signed the charismatic but largely unproven Duncan McKenzie from Nottingham Forest for �250,000 and led out the Leeds team at Wembley for the annual Charity Shield match between Leeds, as League Champions, and Liverpool, as FA Cup winners, on 10th August 1974. The United team was: Harvey; Reaney, Cherry; Bremner, McQueen, Hunter; Lorimer, Clarke (sub McKenzie), Jordan, Giles, Eddie Gray.

His discomfort was plain to see and with the dual sending off of his Captain and inspirational leader Billy Bremner and Kevin Keegan the day was the first of many diasasters and embarrassments soon to ensue. Following Bremner's long sentence by the FA it meant that he would be without his services for eleven games and in fact Bremner only played at Stoke City on 17th August 1974 in the opening League fixture, which was lost 3-0, during Clough's time with the club. Clough was also not best pleased that he had inherited a team lacking the services of Norman Hunter and Allan Clarke, who both missed the opening fixture and also the first home game of the season, on 21st August 1974, against Queens Park Rangers, which was also lost, by 1-0, due to suspension. To find his team bottom of the League with no points and no goals scored and four goals conceded, should have been a dent to his pride as he had fourteen full internationals at his disposal, which excluded the injured Mick Jones and Eddie Gray.

The team of Harvey; Reaney, Cooper; Bremner/Bates, McQueen, Cherry; Lorimer, Madeley, Jordan, Giles and McKenzie should have been good enough to do much better and thankfully the return of Hunter and Clarke and the introduction of two of Clough's ex-Derby reliables, John McGovern and John O'Hare, who were signed for a total of �125,000, was enough for United to gain their first points of the season with a one-nil home win over Birmingham City on 24th August 1974 courtesy of a strike from Allan Clarke. Terry Yorath was introduced for his first game of the season and his goal was enough to gain a point in the return fixture at Loftus Road against Queens Park Rangers on 27th August 1974. Although Allan Clarke was on the scoresheet again it did not stop another loss, this time at Maine Road on 31st August 1974 where Manchester City took the points with a 2-1 win.

On 7th September 1974 lowly Luton Town were the visitors to Elland Road and, although Allan Clarke scored, United could only manage a disappointing draw and were nineteenth in the table with just four points after six games. Peter Lorimer was on the mark as United were held 1-1 in the Second Round of the League Cup by Second Division Huddersfield Town at Leeds Road on 10th September 1974. On the following Thursday 12th September 1974, the Chairman of the Directors, Manny Cussins, detecting a great deal of unrest and apprehension from the players at a meeting with them, called a special board meeting and it was agreed that the club would part company with Clough. The press reported that'player power' was behind the dismissal but Cussins said it was for 'the good of the club'. Clough commented 'I think it is a very sad day for Leeds and for football'. However, he left the club an extremely wealthy man as his pay-off was estimated at �98,000, a huge amount at the time. Clough told ITV Calendar his short reign at Elland Road was due to bad results.

The story of his short spell in charge was adapted into a film called 'The Damned United' for release in 2009, based on a book of the same name. On 6th January 1975, Clough made a quick return to management with Nottingham Forest, who at the time were an unremarkable Second Division club, where he replaced Allan Brown. Clough's first game in charge was the Third Round FA Cup replay against Tottenham Hotspur, a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal by Scottish Centre Forward Neil Martin. In July 1976 Clough was joined by his old assistant Peter Taylor from Brighton. They transformed the club's fortunes rapidly: the first success at the club came in Clough's second full season (1976�77) when they won promotion to Division One, finishing third. In their first season after promotion they won the League Cup, beating Liverpool 1�0 in a replay at Old Trafford, and were crowned Champions of Division One, finishing seven points clear of nearest challengers Liverpool. This made Clough the first Manager since Herbert Chapman to win the English League Championship with two different clubs.

However he failed in his ambition to manage the national side, being turned down for the England job in 1977. During the 1978�79 season, on 9th February 1979 Clough signed the Twenty-four-year-old Birmingham City striker Trevor Francis Britain's first �1 million footballer, although Clough insisted that the fee was actually �999,999. Forest retained the League Cup with a 3-2 victory over Southampton, but finished as runners-up to Liverpool in the League. The season was rounded off with victory in the European Cup final, thanks to a 1�0 victory over Malmo FF. A year later, Clough guided Forest to a second successive European Cup after victory over Kevin Keegan's Hamburg and a third successive League Cup final, although this time they were defeated by Wolverhampton Wanderers 1�0. Despite winning the European Cup twice, Clough regarded his greatest achievement to be the record breaking unbeaten run his team set between 26th November 1977 and 9th December 1978, the team went undefeated for forty-two league games, the equivalent of a whole season.

The record stood until August 2004 when it was bettered by Arsenal, who went on to play forty-nine League games without defeat. It was not until 1988�89 that Clough and Forest would enjoy another major trophy success, this time over Luton Town in the League Cup again. For a time, Forest were on course for a treble that season, but ultimately had to settle for third place in the League and a defeat in the FA Cup Semi-Finals. Clough had to manage the team from the stands in the latter half of the season as he was serving a touchline ban after hitting a supporter who had invaded the pitch. A year later, Clough guided Forest to another League Cup victory with a 1�0 triumph over Oldham Athletic. In 1991 Forest reached their first FA Cup final under Brian Clough but lost 2�1 to Tottenham Hotspur. They reached the League Cup final again in 1992, but lost 1�0 to Manchester United. The 1992�93 season was Clough's eighteenth with Forest, and his last.

They were one of the twenty-two clubs in the new Premier League, but the sale of key players like Teddy Sheringham and Des Walker, combined with the Manager's increasingly uncontrolled alcoholism, saw the club's fortunes take a sharp decline and they were bottom virtually all season. Just before a 2�0 defeat against Sheffield United confirmed the club's relegation after sixteen years in the top flight, Clough announced his retirement as Manager in May 1993 to be succeeded by then Leyton Orient manager, and European Cup-winning Forest 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. 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. Nottingham Forest 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 Forest 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. He was given the freedom of Nottingham and on receiving the recognition he acknowledged his debt to Peter Taylor. He also paid tribute to him, in September 1999 when a bust was unveiled of himself at the City Ground. Clough was never successful as a Manager without Peter Taylor. In January 2003, the sixty-seven-year-old Clough underwent a liver transplant. Thirty 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 twenty months and he took up light exercise again and appeared happier than he had for many years. Brian Clough died of stomach cancer on 20th September 2004, in Derby City Hospital, at the age of sixty-nine, having been admitted a few days earlier. Such was his popularity, fans of Derby County and Nottingham Forest, usually the fiercest of rivals, mourned together following his passing. A memorial service was held at Derby's Pride Park Stadium on 21st 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. Competition Leeds United player Peter Lorimer gives his blessing to The Damned United | Film | The Guardian Close This article is 7 years old It has not proved popular with the family of the late Brian Clough , who say it paints the legendary football manager in an unfair light. But one Leeds United alumnus at least is backing The Damned United, the new film about Clough's ill-fated 44-day reign at the club in 1974.

Peter Lorimer , the Scots attacking midfielder who played under Clough, told the Telegraph he had initially been concerned that the movie would vilify former Leeds players, but had given it his blessing following a meeting with producers. "I wanted the film to be made," Lorimer said. "Because I want everybody to see that we didn't get Brian Clough the sack. After an hour's conversation they assured us the film would not make it look like we were a set of villains. "There was never any plot by the players to get him out, but we couldn't give 100% for him the way we did for [previous manager Don] Revie. We played for Revie because he looked after us. In the end it was down to results." The Damned United, which stars Michael Sheen as Clough, depicts the self-styled "Big Head" as a tactless bully who, in his first meeting with the players, told the championship-winning team that they had achieved their remarkable successes at home and in Europe only through cheating. "He told me I dived, rolled around as if I was injured when I wasn't," confirmed Lorimer. "He told Billy Bremner he cheated and was always at referees, getting decisions for Leeds.

And to poor Eddie Gray, who was a fantastic player but had calcification of the thigh, it has gone down in legend that he said: 'And you Gray, if you'd been a racehorse you'd have been put down years ago.' "His famous finishing gambit was, 'Over the last 10 years you've won everything going, but as far as I'm concerned you can throw every one of those medals in the bin because you never won one of them fairly.' The lads just stood up and walked out of the room." Tom Hooper's film, based on David Peace's unlikely bestseller and written for the screen by Peter Morgan, also stars Timothy Spall, Jim Broadbent and Stephen Graham. It hits UK cinemas next weekend.

David Cox: Brian Clough's family were right to object to The Damned United: it is a cliched fiction that dares to masquerade as truth Published: 30 Mar 2009 Michael Sheen and Peter Morgan team up again for an engaging and evocative 93 minutes on the football pitch, writes Philip French Published: 28 Mar 2009 David Lacey: The outspoken manager's legendary career was dogged by one acrimonious spell at Leeds United, now the subject of a controversial new film Published: 10 Mar 2009 He's famous as the great pretender, portraying real-life figures such as Blair, Frost - and now Brian Clough. But as far as Michael Sheen is concerned, he is barely acting at all.

By Simon Hattenstone Published: 19 Mar 2009 Brian Clough Biography -Biography Online Brian Clough Biography “They love me for what I’m not… They hate me for what I am.” – Brian Clough “T’ best bloody manager England never had – and t’best bloody centre forward England hardly ever used.” – Brian Clough Brian Clough is one of the most memorable characters in English football. Possessing immense self-belief and confidence, he bought a unique style to football management. His attitude may have upset many in the English football establishment, but, his results speak for themselves. In a football fairytale that is hard to imagine in the present age. He took two unfashionable midland football clubs Derby and Nottingham Forest from the second division to the first division and then led them to victory in the English football championships. With Nottingham Forest he also won the prestigious European cup in 1978-79 and the following season as well. Brian Clough was born in Middlesborough and had ambitions to play for Yorkshire cricket club, but, his great talents lay in football. After completing his national service he broke into the Middlesborough first team.

His record as centre forward was phenomenal scoring 197 goals in 213 games. After Middlesborough he moved to Sunderland before a knee injury bought an early end to his playing career. Despite a phenomenal goal scoring record he only played twice for England. Brian Clough then became the youngest football manager taking on Hartlepool in partnership with Peter Taylor. Under Clough and Taylor Hartlepool did well. This led to a chance to manage Derby. He built a formidable side which rose to the first division before winning the football championship. There then followed the ‘Leeds United episode’. He was invited to manage Leeds United, one of the great sides of the decade. However, his reign lasted only 44 days and he was evicted by ‘player power’ – after his cocky arrogant style conflicted with the fashionable Leeds United side. However, the set back at Leeds United was followed by his most successful period as manager at Nottingham Forest. In 18 years, he won many trophies including the League Championship, the European Championship twice and the League cup twice. His career ended with disappointment as Nottingham Forest were relegated in 1993.

By 1993, Brian Clough was said to be a shadow of his former self as he was increasingly addicted to drinking. He himself admitted that drink had played a role in his (and Forest’s downfall) Nottingham Forest have never regained the success of the Clough years and currently languish in the Championship. Brian had a son – Nigel Clough who played under him at Nottingham Forest. His acerbic and outspoken style meant he was never considered for England manager. The English FA were probably worried he would run the show too much “I wouldn’t say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one.” Looking back at his success.” – Quote by Brian Clough

Question: How long did Brian Clough reign as manager at Leeds United?
Answer: 44