Brian Clough

Brian Howard Clough, OBE (/ˈklʌf/ KLUF; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager.

As a player Clough was a prolific goalscorer with Middlesbrough and Sunderland, scoring 251 league goals from 274 starts. He also won two England caps, both in 1959. Clough retired from playing at the age of 29, after sustaining anterior cruciate ligament damage. He remains one of the Football League's highest goalscorers.

In 1965, Clough took the manager's job at Fourth Division Hartlepools United and appointed Peter Taylor as his assistant, the start of an enduring partnership that would bring them success at numerous clubs over the next two decades. In 1967 the duo moved on to Second Division Derby County. In 1968–69, Derby were promoted as Second Division champions. Three years later, Derby were crowned champions of England for the first time in the club's history. In 1973 they reached the semi-finals of the European Cup. However, by this point Clough's relationship with chairman Sam Longson had deteriorated, and he and Taylor resigned.

Clough

Coordinates: 54°17′20″N 5°50′06″W / 54.289°N 5.835°W / 54.289; -5.835

Clough (/ˈklɒk/ KLOK; from Irish: an Chloch, meaning "the stone") is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits about 3 miles from Dundrum on the A2 between Newcastle and Belfast. The A2 continues via Downpatrick and the coast via Strangford and the ferry to Portaferry to Belfast, whilst most road traffic heads along from Clough along the A24 via Carryduff to Belfast. It had a population of 255 people in the 2001 Census. Clough is situated within the Down District Council area.

Places of interest

References

Brian

Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word meaning "high" or "noble". For example, the element bre means "hill"; which could be transferred to mean "eminence" or "exalted one". The name is quite popular in Ireland, on account of Brian Boru, a 10th-century king of Ireland. The name was also quite popular in East Anglia during the Middle Ages. This is because the name was introduced to England by Bretons following the Norman Conquest. Bretons also settled in Ireland along with the Normans in the 12th century, and 'their' name was mingled with the 'Irish' version. Also, in the north-west of England, the 'Irish' name was introduced by Scandinavian settlers from Ireland. Within the Gaelic speaking areas of Scotland, the name was at first only used by professional families of Irish origin. It was the fourth most popular male name in England and Wales in 1934, but a sharp decline followed over the remainder of the 20th century and by 1994 it had fallen out of the top 100. It retained its popularity in the United States for longer; its most popular period there was from 1968–1979 when it consistently ranked between eighth and tenth.

Leeds United F.C.

Leeds United Football Club is an English football club in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club was formed in 1919 following the disbanding of Leeds City F.C. by the Football League and took over their Elland Road stadium. They currently play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.

Leeds United have won three First Division league titles, one FA Cup and one League Cup. The club also won two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups. The majority of the honours were won under the management of Don Revie in the 1960s and 1970s. Leeds lost the 1975 European Cup Final against Bayern Munich and reached the semi finals of the tournament's successor Champions League in 2001.

Leeds United play in white. The club badge features the White Rose of York and "LUFC".

History Summary

Pre-Leeds United

Leeds United's predecessor team, Leeds City, was formed in 1904, and were elected League members in 1905. At first they found it hard to draw big crowds to Elland Road but their fortunes improved following Herbert Chapman's arrival. In 1914 Chapman declared; "This city is built to support top-flight football", but Leeds City were forcibly disbanded and forced to sell off all their players by The Football League in 1919 in response to allegations of illegal payments to players during the First World War. In 1919, Leeds United was formed and they received an invitation to enter the Midland League. Leeds United were voted into the Midland League on 31 October 1919, taking the place vacated by Leeds City Reserves. Following Leeds City's disbanding, Yorkshire Amateurs bought their stadium Elland Road. Yorkshire Amateurs offered to make way for the new team under the management of former player Dick Ray.

The Damned United

The Damned United is a 2009 British sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's bestselling novel The Damned Utd, a largely fictional book based on the author's interpretation of Brian Clough's ill-fated tenure as football manager of Leeds United in 1974. It was produced by BBC Films and Left Bank Pictures, with additional funding from Screen Yorkshire and Columbia Pictures. Sony Pictures Entertainment distributed the film. The film was originally proposed by Stephen Frears, but he pulled out of the project in November 2007. Hooper took his place and film was shot from May to July 2008. The film marks the fifth collaboration between screenwriter Peter Morgan and actor Michael Sheen, who plays Clough. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2009, and in North America on 25 September.

Plot

After failing to qualify for the 1974 FIFA World Cup, England manager Alf Ramsey is replaced by Don Revie (Colm Meaney), the highly successful manager of Leeds United. Revie's replacement at Leeds is Brian Clough (Michael Sheen), the former manager of Derby County and a fierce critic of Leeds, because of their violent and physical style of play under Revie's management. Furthermore, Clough's longtime assistant, Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall), has not joined him.