Letter from Brian Clough.

That's the season they won the league too isn't it? 1979


Edit. Actually they're already champions and about to win their first European Cup
 
Very clever man and always grounded and remembered where he came from. A class act. Players and managers should take time and have a good look at themselves and maybe a dose of reality might kick in with regards to how they conduct themselves
 
I know it's not a like-for-like situation but I think Clough might have dug into his own life experience given the tone of the letter. As a young centre forward for his hometown team Middlesboro and then Sunderland he was one of the hottest and most prolific goalscorers of that time until serious injury struck ending his playing career. He picked himself up and went on to become, with drive and an extraordinary self belief, a manager at first Hartlepool Utd and the rest is history and an amazing trophy laden career.
 
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Jan Wyck said:
I know it's not a like-for-like situation but I think Clough might have dug into his own life experience given the tone of the letter. As a young centre forward for his hometown team Middlesboro and then Sunderland he was one of the hottest and most prolific goalscorers of that time until serious injury struck ending his playing career. He picked himself up and went on to become, with drive and an extaordinary self belief, a manager at first Hartlepool Utd and the rest is history and an amazing trophy laden career.
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Yes, he was verging on Jimmy Greaves levels of goalscoring.
 
I'm reading a biography about him written by a reporter for the Nottingham Post.
In it he tells how he used to ghost write a weekly column for Clough in the paper. After a couple of months Clough told him he had told the editor to pay him part of his fee and the reporter said it helped pay his mortgage off. He would take reporters out for lunch, pay the bill and give them the receipt to claim on expenses, also buy rounds of drinks for strangers in pubs.
Reporter didn't have a bad word to say about him
 
Garrison Defender said:
That's the type of thing a Guardsman would respond to positively. Mind you, he's in a Burns Unit in hospital. All the sympathy on civvy street might be trumped by "get up off your backside". Am sure Clough thought this one out before he sent it.
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It's funny how folk can read thing differently.
My first thought was that the backside line was friendly supportive and not meant to be denigrating.

Mind you I heard a rumor that the Guardsman bunged Clough to write the letter and had to pay for the seat.

Joking ☺️
 
lou riccios chipshop said:
It's funny how folk can read thing differently.
My first thought was that the backside line was friendly supportive and not meant to be denigrating.

Mind you I heard a rumor that the Guardsman bunged Clough to write the letter and had to pay for the seat.

Joking ☺️
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I agree - it wasn't meant to be denigrating and being a supporter he'd have known his team's manager.
 
Clough was a great player and manager. I saw him once recording an interview with Clive Anderson in London and he was hilarious.
 
bilkobear said:
Yes, I suspect there will be some, but perhaps they will have forgiven him by now.
Maybe not Leeds fans mind.
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That might be more to do with Leeds at the time right enough. Whatever you think of BJK Stein, they had two of the greatest managers of their generation after Revie and both of them lasted less than 50 days! Tells me something. Like you, I thought pretty much everyone loved Cloughie, his love for the game, his extraordinary achievements, and how he entertained us with his one liners..."If God had meant football to be played in the air, he would have put the grass in the sky"...or something similar :) Genius
 
I had a similar experience with Sir Alex at Man Utd.
I had asked for some support for a 15 year-old kid (keeper) in Oregon who was diagnosed with potentially terminal cancer. He was a Man U fan and so I asked for some local support from the N American Man U fan club as I knew their VP. The support was tremendous - Peter Schmeichel sent his gloves, the club sent a host of memorabilia and Sir Alex sent a letter with tickets for a game some 5-6 months out. The kid went to the game and was treated royally by Man U. He is still alive today 25 years on. Clough and SAF were motivational geniuses and I think both knew exactly what they were doing in their letters.
 
I was fortunate to meet Brian Clough back in the seventies through my work and he had this great ability to communicate with people at all levels. He was a genius and a one off in football management and was a very accomplished player at Sunderland and Middlesbrough. Sorely missed in the modern game today with too many primadonnas around the football manager circuit these days.
 
theweebarra said:
I'm reading a biography about him written by a reporter for the Nottingham Post.
In it he tells how he used to ghost write a weekly column for Clough in the paper. After a couple of months Clough told him he had told the editor to pay him part of his fee and the reporter said it helped pay his mortgage off. He would take reporters out for lunch, pay the bill and give them the receipt to claim on expenses, also buy rounds of drinks for strangers in pubs.
Reporter didn't have a bad word to say about him
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Is the book authored by John Lawson by any chance? I studied and then worked in Nottingham between 1971-1980 and I'm pretty sure he was the journalist who covered Forest for the Nottingham Evening Post. A good football writer and a decent guy by all accounts.

I once worked with a woman whose daughter was Cloughie's Secretary and I can tell you that he was adored by everyone. He displayed many acts of kindness, not wanting or expecting anything in return, and was a genuinely caring man. I think he had a mischievous side to his character which he used to great effect but he was never a malicious man.

As someone who managed 2 modest clubs like Forest and Derby County to become Champions in the top flight in England, then brought 2 European Cups and a Super Cup back to Nottingham, he ranks amongst the greatest ever managers in my book. That said, his successes owed much to the contribution made by Peter Taylor, whose eye for a player was unsurpassed at the time.
 
Roughmussel Ranger said:
Is the book authored by John Lawson by any chance? I studied and then worked in Nottingham between 1971-1980 and I'm pretty sure he was the journalist who covered Forest for the Nottingham Evening Post. A good football writer and a decent guy by all accounts.

I once worked with a woman whose daughter was Cloughie's Secretary and I can tell you that he was adored by everyone. He displayed many acts of kindness, not wanting or expecting anything in return, and was a genuinely caring man. I think he had a mischievous side to his character which he used to great effect but he was never a malicious man.

As someone who managed 2 modest clubs like Forest and Derby County to become Champions in the top flight in England, then brought 2 European Cups and a Super Cup back to Nottingham, he ranks amongst the greatest ever managers in my book. That said, his successes owed much to the contribution made by Peter Taylor, whose eye for a player was unsurpassed at the time.
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Duncan Hamilton covered them through Clough’s era, his book Provided You Don’t Kiss Me is excellent.
 
Smkz23 said:
Duncan Hamilton covered them through Clough’s era, his book Provided You Don’t Kiss Me is excellent.
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Yes, I've read Duncan Hamilton's book and it is excellent. I know John Lawson was with the Evening Post and they published his book on the club's success in the 1979 season. He also authored a book about the Club's history.

Another recommendation is Marcus Alton's "Brian Clough: Fifty Defining Fixtures" in which he quotes several of John Lawson's reports of Forest's matches published in the Evening Post including the defeat of Liverpool, then European Cup holders, at the start of Forest's run to the Final of the 1978-1979 campaign when they beat Malmo in Munich.
 
Exemplary display of decency & support from Mr Clough.
Fair play sir.
 
Arkansasgerstill said:
That might be more to do with Leeds at the time right enough. Whatever you think of BJK Stein, they had two of the greatest managers of their generation after Revie and both of them lasted less than 50 days! Tells me something. Like you, I thought pretty much everyone loved Cloughie, his love for the game, his extraordinary achievements, and how he entertained us with his one liners..."If God had meant football to be played in the air, he would have put the grass in the sky"...or something similar :) Genius
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Didn't Jock Stein not sign a contract at Leeds?
 
What's the best book to read about him and his career / time in football.

I loved the Damned United, but I know that's been shot down by the Clough Family.
 
I got his autograph and he callled me a polite young man as I called him Mr Clough.
He did his national service in the fame regiment as my Dad - RAF Regiment
 
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