Boro Mania

Brian Howard Clough [OBE], A Middlesbrough legend... a footballing icon.

Born at 11 Valley Road, an inter-war 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".

Brian only stayed with Boro for six years but he captured the hearts and the minds of the people through his achievements and his out-spoken personality. He is a true son of Middlesbrough.

Clough began his legacy... his destiny, playing for Billingham Synthonia only to have his start in football cut short by his two-year spell in national service in 1953. Upon his return to the North-East, he signed for Middlesbrough becoming one of the most prolific strikers ever to grace the books. Over a six year spell, Clough amassed 213 appearances, scoring an amazing 197 goals.

He then signed for Sunderland and scored 54 goals in 61 league games. 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.

A lot of good came from his unfortunate exit to what would have been a prolific playing career. He turned out to be one of the greatest English managers in the history of football, managing five clubs, most notably Derby County and Nottingham Forest.

Derby County

Clough 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.

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.

Clough told ITV Calendar his short reign at Elland Road was due to bad results.

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.

Nottingham Forest

On 6 January 1975, Clough made a quick return to management with Nottingham Forest, who at the time were an unremarkable Division Two side, replacing Allan Brown. Clough's first game in charge was the third round F.A. 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. During the 1978–79 season, on 9 February 1979 Clough signed the 24-year-old Birmingham City F.C. 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 Malmö 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, though 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 26 November 1977 and 9 December 1978, the team went undefeated for 42 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 49 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 F.C. 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 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 18th with Forest – and his last. They were one of the 22 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 16 years in the top flight, Clough announced his retirement as manager.

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 Nottingham Forest, 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 Nottingham and Derby was renamed Brian Clough Way. His widow Barbara expressed her gratitude to Nottingham City Council, saying: "Brian would have been amazed but genuinely appreciative". Additionally, since the opening of the Nottingham 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 Nottingham 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 Nottingham.

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 Nottingham Forest 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 Forest 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

He is survived by his wife Barbara and three children; Simon, Elizabeth, and Nigel. The latter, Nigel, was also a professional football player and currently manages Burton Albion.