You could never be neutral about
Brian Clough - you either loved him or loathed him. But whatever your
opinion of the man you couldn't take away his record as a manager. After
bringing success to one unfashionable Midlands club, Derby County, he
eventually arrived at another unfashionable Midlands club, Nottingham
Forest, and brought them unbelievable success. He took over at the City
Ground in January 1975 and led Forest to promotion from the old Second
Division in 1976/77. Incredibly the 1977/78 season saw them finish as
League champions but better followed when they finished as European Cup
winners in the two seasons after that. In the first fifteen seasons Forest
spent in the top flight under Clough only once did they finish outside the
top 10 and they won the League Cup four times and were beaten FA Cup
finalists once. Sadly he spent one season too long at Forest. Clough's
sixteenth and final season in the top flight saw Forest relegated in the
first season of the Premier League. After Clough left the club Forest
returned to the relative obscurity they had occupied before he had
arrived.
One record
Nottingham Forest achieved under Brian Clough was the longest unbeaten run achieved in League matches. Don
Revie's Leeds United had completed an unbeaten run of 34 League matches in
1969/70 but Cloughie's Nottingham Forest extended that record to 42 in
their first two seasons back in the top flight. The record set by the
likes of Frank Clark, John McGovern, Ian Bowyer, John Robertson, Martin
O'Neill, Viv Anderson, Peter Withe, Tony Woodcock, Larry Lloyd and Kenny
Burns lasted a quarter of a century until Arsenal set a new mark in 2004
with 49 unbeaten matches (Arsenal's record).
After the defeat against
Liverpool which ended the run, Clough said 'I congratulated our lads on
a magnificent run. This defeat means a light relief.' But he then
added 'But we would have felt better if we hadn't lost'.
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The 42 matches |
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1977/78 |
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Sat |
Nov |
19 |
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Division 1 |
Leeds United |
Away |
Lost |
0-1 |
| 1 |
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Sat |
Nov |
26 |
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Division 1 |
West Bromwich A. |
Home |
Drew |
0-0 |
| 2 |
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Sat |
Dec |
3 |
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Division 1 |
Birmingham City |
Away |
Won |
2-0 |
| 3 |
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Sat |
Dec |
10 |
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Division 1 |
Coventry City |
Home |
Won |
2-1 |
| 4 |
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Sat |
Dec |
17 |
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Division 1 |
Manchester United |
Away |
Won |
4-0 |
| 5 |
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Mon |
Dec |
26 |
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Division 1 |
Liverpool |
Home |
Drew |
1-1 |
| 6 |
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Wed |
Dec |
28 |
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Division 1 |
Newcastle United |
Away |
Won |
2-0 |
| 7 |
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Sat |
Dec |
31 |
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Division 1 |
Bristol City |
Away |
Won |
3-1 |
| 8 |
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Mon |
Jan |
2 |
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Division 1 |
Everton |
Home |
Drew |
1-1 |
| 9 |
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Sat |
Jan |
14 |
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Division 1 |
Derby County |
Away |
Drew |
0-0 |
| 10 |
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Sat |
Jan |
21 |
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Division 1 |
Arsenal |
Home |
Won |
2-0 |
| 11 |
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Sat |
Feb |
4 |
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Division 1 |
Wolverhampton W. |
Home |
Won |
2-0 |
| 12 |
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Sat |
Feb |
25 |
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Division 1 |
Norwich City |
Away |
Drew |
3-3 |
| 13 |
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Sat |
Mar |
4 |
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Division 1 |
West Ham United |
Home |
Won |
2-0 |
| 14 |
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Tue |
Mar |
14 |
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Division 1 |
Leicester City |
Home |
Won |
1-0 |
| 15 |
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Sat |
Mar |
25 |
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Division 1 |
Newcastle United |
Home |
Won |
2-0 |
| 16 |
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Wed |
Mar |
29 |
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Division 1 |
Middlesbrough |
Away |
Drew |
2-2 |
| 17 |
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Sat |
Apr |
1 |
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Division 1 |
Chelsea |
Home |
Won |
3-1 |
| 18 |
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Wed |
Apr |
5 |
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Division 1 |
Aston Villa |
Away |
Won |
1-0 |
| 19 |
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Tue |
Apr |
11 |
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Division 1 |
Manchester City |
Away |
Drew |
0-0 |
| 20 |
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Sat |
Apr |
15 |
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Division 1 |
Leeds United |
Home |
Drew |
1-1 |
| 21 |
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Tue |
Apr |
18 |
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Division 1 |
Queens Park R. |
Home |
Won |
1-0 |
| 22 |
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Sat |
Apr |
22 |
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Division 1 |
Coventry City |
Away |
Drew |
0-0 |
| 23 |
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Tue |
Apr |
25 |
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Division 1 |
Ipswich Town |
Away |
Won |
2-0 |
| 24 |
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Sat |
Apr |
29 |
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Division 1 |
Birmingham City |
Home |
Drew |
0-0 |
| 25 |
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Tue |
May |
2 |
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Division 1 |
West Bromwich A. |
Away |
Drew |
2-2 |
| 26 |
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Thu |
May |
4 |
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Division 1 |
Liverpool |
Away |
Drew |
0-0 |
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1978/79 |
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| 27 |
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Sat |
Aug |
19 |
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Division 1 |
Tottenham Hotspur |
Home |
Drew |
1-1 |
| 28 |
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Tue |
Aug |
22 |
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Division 1 |
Coventry City |
Away |
Drew |
0-0 |
| 29 |
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Sat |
Aug |
26 |
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Division 1 |
Queens Park R. |
Away |
Drew |
0-0 |
| 30 |
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Sat |
Sep |
2 |
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Division 1 |
West Bromwich A. |
Home |
Drew |
0-0 |
| 31 |
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Sat |
Sep |
9 |
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Division 1 |
Arsenal |
Home |
Won |
2-1 |
| 32 |
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Sat |
Sep |
16 |
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Division 1 |
Manchester United |
Away |
Drew |
1-1 |
| 33 |
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Sat |
Sep |
23 |
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Division 1 |
Middlesbrough |
Home |
Drew |
2-2 |
| 34 |
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Sat |
Sep |
30 |
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Division 1 |
Aston Villa |
Away |
Won |
2-1 |
| 35 |
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Sat |
Oct |
7 |
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Division 1 |
Wolverhampton W. |
Home |
Won |
3-1 |
| 36 |
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Sat |
Oct |
14 |
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Division 1 |
Bristol City |
Away |
Won |
3-1 |
| 37 |
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Sat |
Oct |
21 |
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Division 1 |
Ipswich Town |
Home |
Won |
1-0 |
| 38 |
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Sat |
Oct |
28 |
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Division 1 |
Southampton |
Away |
Drew |
0-0 |
| 39 |
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Sat |
Nov |
4 |
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Division 1 |
Everton |
Home |
Drew |
0-0 |
| 40 |
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Sat |
Nov |
11 |
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Division 1 |
Tottenham Hotspur |
Away |
Won |
3-1 |
| 41 |
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Sat |
Nov |
18 |
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Division 1 |
Queens Park R. |
Home |
Drew |
0-0 |
| 42 |
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Sat |
Nov |
25 |
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Division 1 |
Bolton Wanderers |
Away |
Won |
1-0 |
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Sat |
Dec |
9 |
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Division 1 |
Liverpool |
Away |
Lost |
0-2 |
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