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 Forest achieved under Clough was the longest unbeaten run achieved in League matches. Don Revie's Leeds United completed an unbeaten run of 34 League matches in 1969/70 but Cloughies 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'.