English Footballs Greatest Underdog Story (It’s not Leicester City)
Whenever you hear about underdog stories, it’s easy to think of Leicester City’s amazing Premier League title triumph in 2015. Or maybe Wimbledon’s F.A. Cup win in 1988 after only playing league football for 11 years.
But neither of those are even close to being English footballs greatest underdog story.
Imagine a club being taken over by a manager that had just failed spectacularly at the best club in England (at the time). 12 weeks later he takes over a struggling second division club. Within five years, they have won promotion, immediately won the top league and then go on to win back to back European Cups. Plus a sprinkling of League Cups too. That’s the story I’m here to tell you today.
Sounds like a fairy-tale, right? Every word of it is true.
Humble Beginnings
Brian Clough took over Nottingham Forest on 6th of January, 1975. Just 12 weeks before, he had been drummed out of Leeds United after just 44 days in charge.
At the time, Forest were languishing in the second division. Their only trophies to that point were 2 F.A. Cup wins, the last one being 16 years earlier in 1959. The F.A. Cup win before that? 1898. Hardly flushed with success.
Old Big ‘Ead, as Clough was known due to his giant ego, immediately set to work. Bringing in players such as John McGovern and John O’Hare who had won the league with him at Derby County. When Clough took over, the team was in 13th place. They finished the season in 16th. Not a great start.
The season after saw a little improvement, finishing eighth.
Return of Peter Taylor
It’s hard to talk about the success of Clough without crediting Peter Taylor. His most successful periods were all with Peter as his assistant. Taylor was a great spotter of talented players and as soon as he assessed the squad in 1976, he had this to say to Clough.
That was a feat by you to finish eighth in the Second Division because some of them are only Third Division players.
Peter Taylor to Brian Clough
Regardless, they got to work. Revamping the squad, bringing in new players, some from non-league clubs (amateur players more or less).
In 1977, they scraped a third place finish and with it, promotion to the first division (now known as the premier league). Amazingly, it was the fifth lowest points total by any promoted team. Making their stay in the top division look like it might be a short one. It was anything but.
Domination
Clough and Taylor recruited amazingly well. They added Peter Shilton, Kenny Burns and Archie Gemmill.
Forest’s league campaign got underway remarkably well. They only lost 3 times in the first 16 matches. Then it got even better. They lost one other game all season, an F.A. Cup defeat in the sixth round. Liverpool, in their most dominant period ever, finished 7 points behind Forest. The newly promoted team were champions of England. They added the League Cup for good measure, a double celebration.
European Cup Entry
Only the league winners entered the draw for the European Cup in those days. An exception was made for the European Cup winners from the year before. In the 78/79 season, that team was Liverpool.
Forest were drawn against them and duly won. Beating them 2-0 at home put them through to the next round and sent Liverpool crashing out. Taylor, sensing the team needed more firepower, convinced Clough to splash out on the first ever £1 million transfer, bringing in Trevor Francis. It was a real statement of intent.
On their way to the European Cup final, Forest knocked out AEK Athens, Grasshoppers of Zurich and Koln. In the final, they faced Malmo FF.
Forest managed to win 1-0. Who scored? You guessed it, new signing Trevor Francis. It was his first goal in Europe for the club. What a time to score it!
In the league, Forest finished 2nd behind Liverpool. However, they did manage to retain their League Cup to complete a double double.
This small team from the middle of England were going places. Not bad when they had been playing in the second division just a few years before.
Back to Back European Cups
Winning the European Cup at that time put you into the European Super Cup. There they faced the might of Barcelona. Over two legs they beat Barcalona at the City Ground 1-0 before drawing with them 1-1 in Spain. The Super Cup was added to the ever growing list of trophies.
In the European Cup Forest beat Oster of Sweden, Arges Pitesti of Romania and East German club BFC Dynamo on their way to the semi-final.
In the semi-final they faced the might of Ajax. The most successful team in Holland and one that had won three European Cups in a row just a few years earlier.
In the first leg, Forest beat them 2-0 at home. Away in Amsterdam, it was another story. Forest lost, but only by one goal. They were through to a second successive European Cup final.
28th of May, 1980. The Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Home of Real Madrid. Forest face the might of Hamburg. The West Germans have Kevin Keegan, double Ballon d’Or winner in their side for the 79/80 European Cup final.
A crowd of 51,000 watch Forest repeat the feat of a year before. Winning the game 1-0, they become back to back European Champions.
In the league they trail behind in fifth place. The League Cup is finally lost when Forest lose in the final to a heart breaking defensive mistake.
Still, the European Cup and European Super Cup are safely tucked into the trophy cabinet.
Decline & Peter Taylor Exit
Forest would never climb the heights again. The squad is slowly broken up and replaced. Primarily to capitalise on the huge values of the players. The new younger side does not challenge for trophies. Clough and Taylor later admit it was a mistake.
Peter Taylor retires in 1982, leaving with this statement:
For many weeks now I don’t believe I’ve been doing justice to the partnership and I certainly haven’t been doing justice to Nottingham Forest the way I felt. And consequently after a great deal of thought, there was no option. I wanted to take an early retirement. That’s exactly what I’ve done.
Peter Taylor on retirement
A slow decline set in at Forest. Decline relative to the heady heights they had seen over the previous few years. Three third place finishes in the league during the 80’s were the best they could muster. In 89, they gave one last cup hurrah, winning the League Cup yet again. Clough’s son Nigel scored 2 goals for his dad’s team as they saw off Luton Town 3-1.
In the F.A. Cup of 1989 Forest were going well too. In the semi-finals they faced the might of Liverpool. A neutral venue was chosen. Hillsborough, home of Sheffield Wednesday. What happened that day still haunts the people of Liverpool and Sheffield. 96 Liverpool fans were trapped in a crush and died. When the replay eventually took place, Liverpool ran out 3-1 winners in an extremely emotional game.
Relegation & the end of Clough
In the 1992/93 season, Forest were relegated and Clough resigned. The season was the first ever rebranded as the premier league. It would be Clough’s last as a manager.
He died in 2004, at the age of 69. The architect of English footballs greatest underdog story may be gone, but he will never be forgotten.
The Greats on Clough:
I walked all the way [around Nottingham on a visit in 1996] and when I saw the stadium I thought: ‘Are you kidding me – this club won the European Cup? Twice?’
Jose Mourinho – Two time European Cup Winning Coach
The game is full of bluffers, banging on about ‘rolling your sleeves up’, ‘having the right attitude’ and ‘taking some pride in the shirt you’re wearing’. A manager or coach who trades in those clichéd generalisations – and there are many of them – is missing the point. Brian Clough dealt in detail, facts, specific incidents and invariably he got it right. Playing for him was demanding. I loved it.
Roy Keane on Brian Clough
He’s won two leagues with provincial teams, not the big guns, and he’s won the European Cup twice in a row with a provincial team. He was eccentric at times but I don’t think there was anything wrong with that.
Sir Alex Ferguson – Former Manchester United Manager
Sources:
Brian Clough and Peter Taylor (wikipedia.org)
When Nottingham Forest retained the European Cup (theguardian.com)
Nottingham Forest 78 – 80 (nationalfootballmuseum.com)
Brian Clough (uefa.com)
Header Image (pixabay.com)