Brian Clough was a legendary English football player and manager who was born on March 21, 1935, in Middlesbrough, England, and died on September 20, 2004, in Derby, England. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time, and his success and charisma have left an indelible mark on the sport.
Clough started his football career as a player for Middlesbrough, scoring 204 goals in 222 appearances between 1955 and 1961. He then moved to Sunderland, where he scored 63 goals in 74 appearances. He also earned two caps for the England national team.
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However, it was as a manager that Clough truly made his mark. He first managed Hartlepools United, then Derby County, where he led the team to two First Division titles and the semi-finals of the European Cup. He then moved to Nottingham Forest, where he won two European Cups, a European Super Cup, a First Division title, and four League Cups. He also guided Forest to their highest-ever league finish of third place in the First Division.
Clough was known for his charismatic personality and his ability to motivate players. He was famous for his sharp tongue and his willingness to speak his mind, often creating controversy. He was also known for his unconventional methods, such as banning his players from drinking alcohol and insisting that they wear all-white kit for away games.
Despite his success, Clough’s career was not without controversy. He was sacked by Leeds United after just 44 days in charge, and he also had a famous falling-out with the then-England manager, Don Revie. However, his achievements in the sport are undeniable, and his legacy continues to be felt in the world of football.
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Clough’s health began to decline in the 1990s, and he underwent a liver transplant in 2003. He passed away on September 20, 2004, at the age of 69. He is remembered as one of the greatest football managers of all time, and his influence on the sport is still felt to this day.
The remarkable wisdom of Brian Clough as he shares profound insights on teamwork, perseverance, and dedication. These quotes will inspire and motivate you to unlock your true potential and achieve greatness.
Famous Brian Clough Quotes
1. “I wouldn’t say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one.”
2. “We had a good team on paper. Unfortunately, the game was played on grass.”
3. “If a chairman sacks the manager he initially appointed, he should go as well.”
4. “I like my women to be feminine, not sliding into tackles and covered in mud.”
5. “Players lose you games, not tactics. There’s so much crap talked about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes.”
6. “If God had wanted us to play football in the sky, He’d have put grass up there.”
7. “When I go, God’s going to have to give up his favourite chair.”
8. “I can’t even spell spaghetti never mind talk Italian. How could I tell an Italian to get the ball – he might grab mine.”
9. “I gave my players a version of the same message at ten-to-three every Saturday: ‘I would shoot my granny right now for three points this afternoon.’ They knew how important it was to give everything in the cause of victory. Every time. That’s why my granny enjoyed more lives than my cat.”
10. “We used to go to the pictures every Saturday night but we had to leave a little bit early and get home and watch Match of the Day – and my wife still complains she missed the last five minutes of every film we saw.”
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11.“Who the hell wants fourteen pairs of shoes when they go on holiday? I haven’t had fourteen pairs in my life.”
12. “When you get to a certain age, there is no coming back.”
13. “For all his horses, knighthoods and championships, he hasn’t got two of what I’ve got. And I don’t mean balls!”
14. “I want no epitaphs of profound history and all that type of thing. I contributed. I would hope they would say that, and I would hope somebody liked me.”
15. “They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I wasn’t on that particular job.”
16. “Bill eventually became Mr Tottenham Hotspur, and produced such a dazzling team at White Hart Lane that they won the double and played the game in a way that was an object lesson to everybody.”
17. “Beckham? His wife can’t sing and his barber can’t cut hair.”
18. “Being thick isn’t an affliction if you’re a footballer, because your brains need to be in your feet. And Beckham works hard, he’s brave and he crosses a ball superbly. He treats a football like he does a wife, lovingly, with caresses.”
19. “Come and see my coaching certificates – they’re called the European Cup and league championships,”
20. “Anybody who can do anything in Leicester but make a jumper has got to be a genius.”
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21. “The river Trent is lovely, I know because I have walked on it for 18 years.”
22. “Resignations are for Prime Ministers and those caught with their trousers down, not for me.”
23. “My wife says OBE stands for Old Big ‘Ead.”
24. “Acne is a bigger problem than injuries.”
25. “Saturday comes again, welcome or not, it comes again like it always does, welcome or not, wanted or not, another judgment day – The chance to be saved, the chance to be damned.”
26. “If he’d been English or Swedish, he’d have walked the England job.”
27. “There are more hooligans in the House of Commons than at a football match.”
28. “If any one of my players isn’t interfering with play, they’re not getting paid.”
29. “It only takes a second to score a goal.”
30. “Telling the entire world and his dog how good a manager I was. I knew I was the best but I should have said nowt and kept the pressure off ‘cos they’d have worked it out for themselves.”
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31. “Walk on water? I know most people out there will be saying that instead of walking on it, I should have taken more of it with my drinks. They are absolutely right.”
32. “On occasions I have been big-headed. I think most people are when they get in the limelight. I call myself Big Head just to remind myself not to be.”
33. “Don’t send me flowers when I’m dead. If you like me, send them while I’m alive.”
34. “I’m dealing with my drinking problem and I have a reputation for getting things done.”
35. “If I had an argument with a player we would sit down for twenty minutes, talk about it and then decide I was right!”
36. “The ugliest player I ever signed was Kenny Burns.”
37. “I’m sure the England selectors thought if they took me on and gave me the job, I’d want to run the show. They were shrewd, because that’s exactly what I would have done.”
38. “I’ve decided to pick my moment to retire very carefully – in about 200 years’ time.”
39. “They love me for what I’m not They hate me for what I am.”
40. “If a player is not interfering with play then he shouldn’t be on the pitch.”
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41. “That Seaman is a handsome young man but he spends too much time looking in his mirror rather than at the ball. You can’t keep goal with hair like that.”
42. “To put everybody’s mind at rest, I’d like to stress that they didn’t give me George Best’s old liver.” – After he received a Liver Transplant.”
43.“I lost count of the number of referees who came to me both at Derby and Forest and said, ‘I’d just like to express my thanks. I love matches involving your team. We never have any trouble with them.”
44. “Ah yes, Frank Sinatra. He met me once y’know?”
45. “I only ever hit Roy the once. He got up so I couldn’t have hit him very hard.”
46. “If the BBC ran a Crap Decision of the Month competition on Match of the Day, I’d walk it.”– After Forest were relegated.
47. “We talk about it for twenty minutes and then we decide I was right.”
48. “If any one of my players isn’t interfering with play, they’re not getting paid.”
49.“I’ve decided to pick my moment to retire very carefully – in about 200 years’ time.”
50. “At last we’ve appointed a manager who speaks English better than the players.”
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51. “They didn’t want an England manager who was prepared to call the Italians cheating bastards. They failed to understand that I would have curbed my language and revelled in the relief from the day-to-day grind of club management.”
52. “Who the hell wants 14 pairs of shoes when you go on holiday? I haven’t had 14 pairs in my life.”
53. “I’m not saying he’s pale and thin, but the maid in our hotel room pulled back the sheets and remade the bed without realising he was still in it!”
54. “Tell him he’s Pele and that he’s playing up front for the last 10 minutes.”
55. “Rome wasn’t built in a day. But I wasn’t on that particular job.”
56. “We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right”
57. “I train every time I open my mouth”
58. “If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he’d have put grass up there.”
59. “You don’t want roast beef and Yorkshire every night and twice on Sunday.”